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You can absolutely still bond with a bottle so please don't let this make you lose that. There is nothing wrong with what you are doing and work can be a large stresser (I personally hated pumping). The only thing you could try would be to drop the bottle nipple to a much slower flow. BUT only if you still want to struggle with it which really may not be worth. Enjoy what you have while you have it. No baby goes to college on the boob so everyone has to quit sometime.

I don't have anything helpful to say, but I think it's totally fine to be sad about this. Just let yourself feel whatever you're feeling, but know you are (obviously) a good mom because you care about bonding and taking care of your baby.

Just want to give you a big hug because supply issues are stressing me out so much right now and it probably won't be long until we're there with you. Just remember you're a great mama to H however you feed him

@MamaMagpie: 3 oz all day or 3 oz per pumping session so 6 or 9 a day? I know other than the first morning pump while nursing, that I didn't get much more than that.

Big hugs. I was there. I was broken.

A friend of mine told me something that I thought was very helpful. One day, your baby will grow into a little toddler/child who will hold your hand, make you draw 20 buses, hug you, smiles and runs to you and screams mommy, when he fell he'd cry and run to mommy and mommy alone, and just no one else in the world is better than you in his eyes. Then you'd look back, and you'd realize the bonding for breastfeeding is very small compared to what you will have. I couldn't relate to that back then because I was so heartbroken, but I am here now, and she can not be more right about that.

Big hugs mommy...!

You are a fabulous, wonderful mother. Your son is so loved and that is the most important part!

As a side note, a prescription for domperidone really helped boost my supply.

H is a very lucky little guy who is and will be bonded to his mama no matter how he gets his food. Worrying over nursing and supply issues is so stressful, I'm sorry you are going through this.

Slow flow nipples on the bottles were a big part of our success of switching between bottle and boob regularly. Whoever was bottle feeding him just had to deal with feedings taking a while.

Maybe set a timer our alarm to remind you to grab a handful of food? Getting hungry isn't just rough on you physically, but mentally too.

You have to think about what will make your family happiest in the long run. Also remember that it doesn't have to be all or nothing, feel out what situation is going to keep mama happy- everyone else will be ok if you are.

@lemondrop: I have the same issue at home. I thought it was just me! How weird.

@MamaMagpie: one issue I've had is overfeeding. My daycare lady gave J 25 ounces in 9 hours one day and used a different bottle than he's used to. We use dr brown and the slowest nipple they have. After a discussion with his dr and the daycare lady she now just uses what I pump (about 15 oz). Also I've completely given up on trying to lose weight I eat a ton of food everyday and it helps. Finally a not stressed mama is a better one so do what you need to do to take care of yourself. breastfeeding is the absolute hardest thing I've ever done.

@MamaMagpie: I thought the same thing but from what I've researched unless you are doing paced feedings (which she doesn't do!) they'll eat and because the bottle is quick not realize they're full until after they're long past it. Also my dr office said absolutely no more than 32 oz a day. I have no idea how much J is getting but if he gets 25 at daycare plus 6-7 feeds at home its more than that! The dr office suggestion was no more than 4 oz every 4 hours. Daycare lady didn't like that and says he's unhappy so she feeds 5 oz every 3 hours.

@jetsa: I'm giving up on trying to lose weight too. My supply has tanked this week. This morning I barely got three ounces combined, and I usually get 5 or 6. I'm celebrating with a large sandwich today. I feel better already.

@MamaMagpie: I'm glad to read your update! I've noticed that if I don't keep up on the calories/water, I don't produce enough. I'm a little worried about what they will say at our 4 month appointment, since H has only gained a pound in a month and a half.

@jetsa: Exactly. I've only got 15 pounds to go, so I'm going to focus on eating healthy foods, drinking a crap ton of water, and toning up.

@jetsa: @avivoca: FWIW I had to eat HEAPS of food to keep my supply up and I'm still eating oatmeal for breakfast at fifteen months pp

@MamaMagpie: 4-6 months is quite often the age when babies will either gain or drop towards their natural percentile based on their genetics so providing your LO doesn't drop too many more percentiles you might not have an issue

@mamamagpie: I just wanted to say my supply dropped about the same length of time after going back to work and I stressed out but it has since recovered so this may just be a phase. Don't let it stress you out. Just do what you can and supplement with formula if necessary. Hugs mama!