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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Dear OP, I feel your pain and frustration. Everyone's different, but in my experience, after 3 months, breast is really so so so much easier than formula, having done it both ways. If BFing baby and I needed to run and errand or do an outing, it was so much easier to just grab diaper bag and go and not have to worry about preparing and bringing bottles. If we got delayed somewhere, food was always there. When I got sick, I could still BF in bed (and pass on antibodies) versus having to get up in an exhausted fog and prepare bottles.

It was so hard at first to breastfeed, but ultimately after the first couple months, it was way easier to be a social mobile human being with the baby who could breastfed than the one who couldn't.

Good luck![/quote]

These are good points and probably very true for a situation where baby ultimately does figure out breastfeeding.  I do want to add another perspective, though, because I think we sometimes tell moms over and over to keep trying, even when it is to the detriment of their own mental/emotional health.  Here, OP has said she hates this and is forcing herself to do it out of fear.  This can't be good for OP and, really, a miserable mom is a much bigger concern than formula feeding (which I would argue isn't a concern at all, outside of the potential shortage).

OP, your baby may still figure this out, but if you're at 9 weeks and have had many lactation visits with no real success, your baby also might not figure it out -- and that's okay.  (I have a nine month old who never really figured it out, even with months of work with a LC.  I still breastfeed some, pump, and, more recently, provide formula.  Trying to breastfeed was a source of constant stress for many months (and meant breastfeeding in public was a nightmare)).  If breastfeeding isn't working for you, as others have suggested, exclusively pumping is a great option.  I've been almost an exclusive pumper at times, and it is a pain and can be hard to find time, but if your baby is otherwise a very slow eater, this might be a great option.  Regardless of what you do there, try a different formula that is staying stocked.  We're using Enfamil Neuropro and have had no issues finding it locally and online.  Do you have limitations on which formulas you can use?  If not, I would highly recommend trying a different formula to help your sanity.  [/quote]

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