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I did....and when LO was almost 6w switched to exclusively pumping and bottle feeding. It just got to be so stressful for me and I felt like it was impacting my mothering experience and ability to be a good mama.

Here's my struggle: http://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-you-know-to-throw-in-the-towel

My milk never really came in, so I had extremely low supply. After working w/ a lactation consultant and getting no improvement, I decided to continue breastfeeding to the extent that I could (but not stress about it) and supplement with formula. We continued BF plus formula supplementation for 3 months until I went back to work, and now DD is almost exclusively formula fed (although I'm still pumping a small amount of milk each evening).

I had a blister from a bad latch. I had to pump to let things calm down again. I am going on 11 months of BFing though!

@autumnlove: big hugs to you - I totally understand that emotional mess. I had bfing issues myself that had DH asking if I was going to be okay if he left the house. and what an amazing rebound you've had!

We had a great latch right off the bat, but by DS's one month appointment he was still well below his birth weight and I was asked to supplement. I was devastated. I continued to breastfeed and went back to work at 7 weeks ppd. My supply has never been great but (after trying everything, including domperidone) I have finally come to accept that it is what it is and DS gets mostly bm and formula as needed. Now that he's almost 7 months old he's also starting solids and doing really well. I hope to continue to provide bm for at least the first year.

Yes. I only BF for about 3 days and then stopped and then tried to relactate when C was 6 weeks and was able to give her a bottle a day for about 3 weeks before I made the decision to quit.

I had complications from delivery that caused my milk to never fully come in. She had a great latch and we probably would have been successful if it hadn't been for medical issues.

Yes and no. Even though they tell you colostrum is enough the first few days that was NOT the case for M. She cried and cried and finally under the advisement of a hardcore "breast is best" LC we supplemented. A few days she cried horribly again, come to find out it's because she's hungry. My bm was not enough and we were not supplementing enough. Then about a month ago she started fussing at the boob. It's gotten better now, the fussing, but she still does occasionally. Probably because it's not coming out fast enough for her.

@marriedandlovingit: you know, I think M never gets full from a BF session either. The milks there but she'll nurse then want to nurse sometimes less than an hour later. I'm considering transitioning her to all bottles of bm during the day. But I'm afraid of my supply dropping even more. And I do love the closeness with BFing her.
Anyway, I don't know if that's really the case or it's all mental because my mom keeps telling me M doesn't get full from BF.

I struggled with sore nipples and supply issues but ended up BF (with formula supplementation) for 14m. Was going to throw in the towel at 5w but got some comforting advice from good friends that 1) I wasn't alone in my struggles as both of them had experienced similar things and 2) having to supplement with formula did not make me a bad mother.

I had the hardest 6 weeks ever with BF. I had blisters and bleeding and cracking... but I had been told previously that I could only BF for 6 weeks, and when the doc said that I could continue, I didn't care if my nipples were going to fall off... I was bound and determined to keep going. I cried every single time she latched for 2 months, but I always smiled at her through it!

I'm glad because it was my one and only chance to BF!

Breastfeeding was probably the most emotionally and physically difficult experience of my life. My milk didnt come in for over a week and LO lost too much weight...it was heartbreaking to me bc I didn't know. I felt like I was going to have a mental breakdown and it physically hurt sooo much and you are also so sleep deprived bc it takes them forever to feed in the beginning and we had to wake her every 2 hours to eat and then pump afterwards to get my supply up. But once things got settled in after a month or so it got so much better and then things finally got easier after a few months.

And now at 8 months I feel so incredibly blessed and fortunate that I am able to keep breastfeeding bc I know not everyone is able to...it was so hard for me. I knew it was hard but I really had no idea. When I reached out to my mom friends they all let me know how incredibly difficult it was for them too and I was like "why didn't you tell me?!?!"...I think people don't want to scare first time moms but it made me feel so much more normal knowing I wasn't alone in having such a hard time with breastfeeding.

Oh man yes. I have had 2 kids and issues with both. With both I have ended up taking Motherlove More Milk Plus as well as a full dosage of Domperidone for a full year and drank nursing tea 3 times a day for the first 2 months. I was able to nurse my older daughter for 15 months before we stopped, and it was a great and very gradual weaning. We supplement with formula. I am 4 months in to nursing baby 2 now, also supplementing.

LO is a little over 2 weeks and BF is something we ate struggling with. 4 days after birth our pediatrician told us her bilirubin levels were dangerously high (20+) and that we had to make sure she was getting enough milk, unfortunately at that point my milk had just come in and she had latching issues. As a result we started feeding her pumped milk so she could get rid of the excess bilirubin ASAP. She is 100% better now and we are working on Breastfeeding again however it's a struggle.

We had a ton of issues: LO was super small and had difficulty latching, then nipple confusion, siringe feeding, blocked ducts, mastitis etc. All in all the first two months of BF were a nightmare, but I was stubborn about it, and at 3 months it suddenly got a lot easier. LO just turned one and we are still BF. In retrospect it was definitely worth it but those first weeks there was lots of crying involved.

Wow, everyone has such difficult stories and it makes me feel like such a whiner! My LO is gaining PLENTY and is in 0-3 and 3-6 month clothes at 7 weeks old. And nursing from the right side is a dream, pleasant like everyone told me it would be.
But nursing from the left side is horribly painful. I would switch to pumping on that side, or a nipple shield. I change nursing positions and still it is just horrendous and very painful. I can't figure it out. I went to the lactation consultant and she showed me what to do and it didn't hurt very much, but somehow I can't replicate it at home.
And I have an oversupply at certain times of day (again only on that side) so he screams or chokes. It is so sad!
@HeatherlovesKenny: Hand expressing takes me just as long as pumping with my machine and it hurts WAY less. I think back in the day people maybe hand expressed? It is a lot messier....

I struggled for the first two months or so. LO really hated my right boob, as a result he mostly ate from the left side and my right never produced as well. I had to pump for for at least one night feeding for my sanity, so I was able to use milk from the right one mostly in the beginning. I also had pain, cracking, and bleeding issues like everyone else described. The beginning really is tough, but for me it luckily got easier or I wouldn't have lasted as long as I did. I've finally pretty much weaned, and my left boob is now noticeably bigger than my right, lol. I definitely don't regret breastfeeding, and hopefully things work out for you. If not, remember that's okay, too!

No real issues.. Took a while for my milk to come in completely, but nursed for 15 months. My milk's dried up but I still comfort nurse my Lo when she wants it.

My son was born almost 6 weeks early and was in the NICU for ten days - the NICU nurses actually discouraged me from nursing him. They said he would burn too many calories trying to get too little milk and they wouldn't know how much he was getting. This sounds like complete crap to me now - esp given we were at one of the major hospitals in Chicago. I think they were very intervention happy. After 10 days of that he was wise to the game that he could get milk faster and easier from a bottle and didn't want anything to do with BF'ing. At any rate, I pumped and gave him breastmilk in bottles for 7 months before moving to formula. I can't believe I lasted that long exclusively pumping when I look back at it - I had mastitis terribly twice and struggled with all kinds of issues. I hope that when we go for #2 it works out better though!