Anyone who breastfed their first or first couple of babies and couldn't breastfeed a later baby, how did you stop feeling guilty?

Visceral Mercenary • May you find your worth in the waking world.

I wanted to breastfeed all of my kids until 2 years. The first stopped at 16 months because I was 4 months pregnant and my supply disappeared. The second weaned himself at 13 months.

My third baby will 3 months old on Wednesday. He has had bad latch issues since birth, but I haven't been willing to possibly expose him to Covid 19 to see a lactation consultant.

I ended up having to introduce expressed breastmilk because he wasn't having enough wet/dirty diapers at a week old.

At two months old, I had to start introducing formula a couple of times a day because I don't respond well to the pump and as you can imagine, it is hard to pump when I have a 3 month old, 2 year old, and 3 year old even with me not responding to the pump aside.

The past week, his latch issues have gotten worse and I am still not responding to the pump. So he's had formula even more.

It's come time that I'm considering dropping breastfeeding entirely (he will only latch first thing in the morning and at night before bed.) It's become frustrating for me (and for him as well).

And I know at this point, that switching to exclusively feeding formula is best. He isn't getting enough from the breast and latch issues are leaving us both irritated, which isn't fair to the two toddlers I have.

And even knowing that this is what is best for him, the guilt is absolutely eating me alive. And most of the guilt is stemming from the fact that I exclusively breastfed his brothers.

So, anyone who had to formula feed after successively breastfeeding prior babies, how did you get over feeling guilty or like you were being somehow unfair to the later baby who couldn't/wouldn't breastfeed?

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