pump breastfeeding or formula?

Firstly do nottt feel guilty! You need to be happy and healthy to keep your little baby happy and healthy 💕 plus we are so fortunate in the UK to have so many different types of formula to try and sometimes you have to try a couple to find the right one for your baby! My little girl is breastfed but still struggles terribly with colic so I don’t think it makes a difference x Also, are you being referred for the tongue tie?

Hey! My baby has breast milk only and has REALLY bad colic. Don't feel guilty at all. Xxx

I breastfeed/pumped for the first week, my gorgeous boy wasn’t latching right and I also has engorged/infected boobies so had to stop everything anyway but deep down I felt the pumping was overwhelming with everything else… I wanted to exclusively pump all throughout my pregnancy but now he is here and was a 9lb boy, he needs a lot of food and yes there’s the saying breast is best but also a fed baby is a happy baby, we’re personally on Aptamil and he’s thriving. I do get sad and feel guilty sometimes but he’s nearly 3 weeks and I feel a weight is off my shoulders as we’re in a routine with just formula than the faff of trying to get him to latch or pump - hope this helps🫶

Thank you all for your encouraging/kind messages 🥹 it is all very overwhelming and yes I feel it is just too much for me right now with pumping and thinking about everything else. You're all right... she'll be happy regardless and hopefully I will too 🫶🏼 thank you x x x

Hey, I would say just do what is best for you and your baby, fed baby is best! I found it super difficult too with guilt and I feel like everyone really pushes breastfeeding but it just didn’t work for me, and the pumping to try wasn’t enjoyable for me so I stopped and honestly it’s made the world of difference to us both! It took off a lot of pressure of baby not feeding enough as now I know what she’s having but also made it so much easier for me to share the load and others feed her, whilst also being able to rest in the day - we’ve been on formulas since D3 now! A friend told me if we were to look around now you’d have no idea who was and wasn’t BF as a baby! Also the more I talk about it the more people have said they didn’t BF , I feel like it’s not spoken about enough how difficult it can be for some - so definitely don’t feel guilty and do whatever’s best for you and bubba 🥰 x

I always think that in theory pumping seems like a great life hack cause it’s breastmilk in a bottle - but actually the reality is that pumping enough for a baby’s full daily intake is incredibly hard work and a massive faff with all the cleaning and sterilising etc. not to mention it’s really hard to find the time to do that AND actually look after the baby. My March 2025 baby is my second, and if she hadn’t taken to breastfeeding it would have been straight to formula, having experienced pumping with my first baby

Have you had the tongue tie cut to see if baby will latch? My daughter’s latch was immediately better after having hers cut and a week later she is thriving on the boob. I can’t imagine having to pump as you are basically doing both with using your boobs and then doing all the washing and sterilising of bottle feeding so you are doing amazing no matter what route you choose!