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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I white knuckled it, too. Back then, you couldn’t do tele-health appointments so going to see a therapist with an infant felt like a very tall order. These days you could do a phone or telehealth appointment, which I think would be valuable as a starting point. They will likely have some ideas.

[b]Stopping breastfeeding and getting 5hrs per night of uninterrupted sleep were what ultimately pulled me out of it. [/b]For me, both didn’t happen until my child was 2. Which is to say: if you don’t take action, it may stick around for a while.

[b]Stopping breastfeeding is a fraught thing, but many women will attest to the hormonal impact on mood. [/b]Once I got down to 1x per day (before bed) I felt better. But my mood improved even more—back to my old self—once I stopped entirely.

Lack of sleep also compounds PPD. It really, really does. If you can get 5 uninterrupted hours, that will really help. But the more the better. [/quote]

I chose not to breastfeed my second and now it’s easier for me to see how harmful breastfeeding is to many women. First, it makes the mom the primary caregiver from day one and the baby prefers mom. Secondly, it’s a time suck and the mom can’t stray far from the baby. I feel bad for women suffering through PP because of breastfeeding. Formula is freedom and I’m so glad I formula fed my subsequent children. I enjoyed holding my babies and was more than just a food source. [/quote]

Yes, this. I nursed my kids both for 5 years combined and am still resentful about how much it tethered me to them
and to our home. DH would roll over when they cried after the first month or two at night, but not me. I honestly - in hindsight - feel that nursing can be very oppressive for women. At the time I thought it was so
Important and I had to Do it. But now that I can look back?  I can see it compromised my mental Health, hormonal state, and ability to Function well at work because I was Pumping constantly, it limited my ability to travel and go out publicly and see friends (my kids didn’t nurse easily in public and wouldn’t tolerate covers and would get distracted and not empty me and then I’d get clogged ducts and mastitis). I also got mastitis multiple times and got seriously ill. And I needed psychiatric meds but waited to go on them
For years because I was nursing.  Meanwhile DH got to resume his work travel within a couple months, could
Go out at night, didn’t have to structure his days around feeding and pumping, etc.  I wish I had formula fed because the resentment feelings have never gone away. (By the time I wanted to switch to Formula the kids refused it.) I wish someone had clued me into this earlier. [/quote]

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