I’m so ready to throw in the towel with baby E and just pump and feed her with a bottle.
Today she decided she’s going to eat about every 2 hrs and only latching on each side about 5-8 min. In the meantime I want to cry! My nipples are sore again and all I can think is I bleeping HATE this. Insert nervous laughter for sanity sake.
So yes, nursing is a challenge for me. It was awful with our first one and it’s been relatively the same with our second.
I clearly remember being in tears (like bawling) with our first baby and telling my husband “this is NOT bonding, this is the most horrible thing ever!”
Not much has changed. Those images of the happy baby latched on perfectly to the nipple is so not my experience.
Sometimes I feel I’m going to go out of my mind. Her Doctor says to put her on a schedule – every 3 hours. La leche league tells me no, it’s best to feed on demand. Meanwhile neither seems to work, and my breasts are taking a beating. Really.
How do I get my girl to figure out that I’m not a fast food restaurant she can just rush into for a quick nibble and run? That I’m more of a Michelin 3-star restaurant where she needs to take her time and savor each flavor.
I love her and I want to do my best for her. I’m slowly losing my hope and tolerance for this though. And of course it doesn’t help that I’m still sleep deprived.
Purse Meets Diaper Bag 
I am feeling your pain over here 😦 I breast fed both of our children. My daughter until she was 15 months and our son for 13 months. I do think that setting a schedule and allowing my babies to develop an appetite was one the smartest things I ever did for two reasons. The first was that it gave way for my baby to develop some self soothing abilities. Crying is a form of anxiety release for babies who have no other way to express themselves. Secondly it gave me some physical relief, and allowed me to approach my baby in more calming nurturing way. At first you may have to pump excess milk for your own relief, but I can promise you that it will eventually lead you, and your child to the kind of experience you are both longing for. Sending you all my positive thoughts! 😉 G-uno
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I completely agree with you about setting a schedule. I did that too with our first and it was such a blessing! I just can’t seem to figure out how to get our second to stay latched on and eating longer.
Thank you so much for the positive thoughts! I could especially use them right about now. I can’t wait until her and I both are at that happier feeding place!
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