Oscar is 6 weeks old on Sunday and i'm bf'ing him. It's getting to the point now where i'm wanting to get out a bit more and meet up with friends for lunch or go to a baby group, but i have problems feeding him in public and it's becoming an issue and getting me down.

I have an old back injury which means he is too heavy for me to support him in a feeding position for any amount of time without the help of a cushion or pillow, which obviously i can't carry around with me everywhere! I also have g cup boobs which he and i can struggle with a bit sometimes, and it sometimes takes a while to get a good latch.

I have no problem feeding in public from an embaressment point of view, i love to see it and wish i could do it.

I wondered if i give him the odd bottle during the day will it affect my supply? I dont want to jeapordise feeding him, i love doing it, but he feeds every two hours still so if i go out anywhere chances are i will have to feed him.

He takes a bottle of formula before bed to give me a few hours sleep, and he enjoys it and switches between breast and bottle well at the moment.

Expressing and storing is so confusing, plus with him feeding every 2 hours as it is would leave me no time to do anything! So i'm not too keen on that.

Any advice would be appreciated.

A frustrated Steph and hungry Oscar xxx

Sorry to hear you're so frustrated and i understand your concerns as he is feeding every two hours which makes life in general more complicated. It's a difficult call but one i feel will be solved by trial and error. You say you give your baby formula at night so i presume that for the odd occasion when you're out you don't have a problem giving it to him in the day? You also say he already swaps between breast and bottle well so if that's the case, and you don't feel happy expressing, then i can't see what harm it would do substituting a BF with a bottle feed when the need arises. As long as your milk supply is good, and i assume it is with your LO demanding every 2hrs, then missing a breast feed shouldn't overly interfere. The only problem I can foresee is that your breasts will feel really full when you don't feed. As long as you don't leave it too long (your breasts will tell you your time limit i'm sure!) and he empties them properly at the next feed i think all will be fine. In regards to expressing-if you'd rather give him EBM then why don't you express once a day, say at bedtime when he's had a bottle anyway. You may not get that much milk but over a few nights you may get enough for one feed that can be used whilst you're out. If you have a nice cold freezer breastmilk can be stored for up tp 6mnths. Just an idea anyway! Hope this helps, good luck X

Hey huni,

I know how you feel Amber is 7 weeks tomo and is feeding around 2/3 hours in the day and 3/4 hours at night sometimes 5 if its a very good night. I have been expressing roughly 2oz a day since she was 2 weeks old and have stored up quite a bit in the freezer, I have used a lot too when I go out. I put the ebm in the fridge overnight to defrost - Amber will only take 4oz so I don't need much.

I also have G boobs were a D!! So to be honest I don't feel comfortable getting them out in public as you cant miss them even with a muslin I end up drawing attention to myself even more!! This is why I express so I always have some in for going out - which is quite often. I really wouldn't worry though if you would rather use formula for the odd feed when you are out shouldn't make much of a difference but you will find your boobies will be so full a gust of wind will make them leak lol!! Your boobs will just keep producing as much as you feed so if you cut out one a day your boobs wont produce that feed.

You are doing so well, you need to do what is best for both of you and if it is getting you down then maybe mix feed so he is still getting breast milk and then formula when its difficult for you to b'feed, he will pick up on it if you are getting down, Amber picked up on it when I got stressed in the early days and just cried for ages before she would latch on.

I hope I have helped though our bubs are the same age so I am in the same boat as you!! Amy xxxxxxxxxx

If you don't mind me asking why is expressing confusing for you? I ask purely as someone who is hoping to combine breastfeeding and expressing and am interested in peoples' experiences - I am not in any way, shape or form judging you.

I hope that you work something out soon, it must be so difficult balancing everything.

35+2

Hi JamDonut. Firstly Congrats on getting to 6 weeks with the breastfeeding they can be the hardest to get through.Plus with your back injury it must of been difficult - I found my back killed me at times and I have no old injury to deal with.You may find that your little sleeps for longer when you are out and about the fresh air or a car journey makes newborns very sleepy.....You could always feed in the car before you go anywhere - that way you could keep pillows etc handy in the car.

I complety understand where you are coming from with the expressing.My lo fed so much their never seemed to be a time to express.Plus I found the breast pump a real pain to assemble and sterilise etc... I think that a bottle of formula for when you are out and about as a back up shouldn't be a massive problem

.I was always to scared to give my little one a bottle in case my milk went but I was probarly over cautious as I didn't succeed with breast feeding my first .If it means the difference between you having a life or not then go for it. I never managed to produce anything with expressing so always found a deep sofa in costa coffee to breastfeed.Good luck. xxxxxxxxxxxx

[Modified by: MLM on October 31, 2008 08:39 PM]

Double post xx

[Modified by: MLM on October 31, 2008 08:39 PM]