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Unforunately, the wasting formula/BM thing is par for the course. It always really bugged me too. Im sorry.

Did you get to see that LC yet? I know you made an appointment.

Uhm, eff him and breastfeed! Then find a new ped who is more in line with your way of thinking.

I'm sorry you're having a rough night, you're doing a fantastic job so hang in there!

And go kick your DH for snoring

@septemberlove: Thats not cool. Well, hopefully the LC can help you.

I know your LO had growth issues and such, so I hesitate just to say "Screw your ped and do whatever you want." What is his reasoning? If he has a legit reason for not wanting you to, maybe just disregarding him isn't the best thing for your LO, despite what you may want to do.

And seriously, I would have made DH get up and deal with it. For real.

@septemberlove: I mean, I think his concerns are somewhat legitimate. I definitely think you should see this LC and then maybe get her to contact your ped and maybe work something out? He doesnt sound overly informed on breastfeeding but he IS still a doctor and he still has your LO's best interests at heart. Don't completely disregard him.

Second, bonding happens no matter what. C was on the bottle from day 1 and we are still very closely bonded. We didn't have to try, it just happened. BF is NOT the only way to bond with your baby. I also wanted to add that bonding was what made me quit trying to BF/pump. It was stressing me out and interfering with my bond with her. Best advice my LC ever gave me.

As a bottle-feeding mom, dealing with growth spurts is rough. As much as it sucks, its best to overfill the bottles a little and let a bit go to waste. Unfortunately, it's just the nature of the beast. From my own experiences and from what everyone told me, a little waste is good because thats how you know that they need to increase their intake. When they drain a couple bottles in a row, increase the amount in the next bottle by .5oz, and so on and so forth.

Im sorry, thats so frustrating.

I reheat breast milk for the next feeding if its within, say, 4 hrs. We haven't had any problems.

@septemberlove: oh yeah, I forgot about that part.

Okay, pardon my french, but your ped. sounds like a f***er. I really, really do not like him. It is not a "super scale," it is called a scale. And yes, it can measure intake fairly accurately. Have you considered doing the fortification through an SNS? Also, you can rent one of those "super-scales" from home health if you are really concerned and want to track for every feeding. Medela makes a great one. The LC could teach you how to do it, or you can just look up the scale and follow the tutorial they have (here is one example: http://breastfeedingmiracles.blogspot.com/2011/05/feeding-test-weights.html). Then you could use a small amount of pumped milk in the SNS (or just the fortifier, if it is a liquid already) with the fortifier and just nurse. I understand the concern about weight gain, truly I do, but I think you have some options here and it is frustrating to me to see what I perceive to be ignorance (or misinformation, or whatever you want to call it) turning this into such a rough situation for you. Babywearing can be great for bonding, and you can also do skin to skin that way (similar to Kangaroo care). Being close to your body that way mimics what he was used to in utero (the sounds, the movement, your familiar smell) and has been found to help with weight gain and also to have positive impacts on self-regulation (heart rate, breathing...). You definitely don't have to do any particular feeding method to have wonderful bonding with your kids. I didn't feel any different bonding-wise with Ellie, who took a bottle at every feeding in addition to nursing, and Lorelei who never took a bottle. Bonding happens in so many different ways, and is really as unique as each parent-child pair.

@septemberlove: I just want to say that I completely understand everything you are going through. I was so frustrated and disappointed to give up on nursing. I felt like a failure and every bottle just made my feel guilty and irritated. At 11 weeks now, I pump and use formula, and I'm mostly okay with it finally. I still have times that I get down but there aren't tears amd massive guilt all the time anymore. I give them as much pumped milk as I can, an give them that. Then, I give a bottle with just a little more formula than what they typically finish because I'd rather waste that then breastmilk. Also, I get both bottles ready before I start to avoid te screaming banshee part.

I really hope you are able to get nursing to work for both of you, but if it doesn't, know that this isn't the hill you die on. Do everything you can to meet your goal, but I promise you will definitely end up strongly bonded with a growing, happy, healthy little one no matter how you end up doing feedings. Also, your ped sounds like a jerk. I mean, we struggled with nursing and I had to supplement, but he was always supportive of me trying to BF as much as I could as long as I was willing to supplement if needed to make sure my peanuts were gaining weight. Good luck with the LC!

@Septemberlove; I'm sure he really means well in terms of wanting health and growth for your son, I just think he is presenting his advice in such a dire and forceful way that it makes me a little angry. Mostly angry that if you were not the type to ever buck authority you would probably just let yourself be bullied into doing it the way he is suggesting without investigating alternatives. I really believe that there are other ways to make sure your son is getting the nourishment he needs. I hope you find the LC to be really helpful!

@septemberlove: honestly I feel more bonding time just snuggling with her. I just have felt bonded from the beginning. I mean she came from me and we made her, so it is just natural to me. Maybe BF helped her with bonding, not sure. She is with me all day, well for another week:(, so I think that helps her attachment to me.

I know most bond with BF. I might not so much cause I am not loving BF. It is better then the beginning but I still don't love it. I won't be one to do it fod a year at all. I think if I do 6 months that will be great for me.

I say F the ped, too. Our ped had concerns about an eating issue, too, but we did what WE, as the parents, thought was best and DD has gone from the 0 percentile to 35th.