Here's the situation - bulleted below
- My wife has PCOS
- We have a 3 month old baby boy
- He does not have a good suck
- She does not generate a lot of breast milk (based on the baby's need for formula to supplment and the amount of milk she is able to pump)
- Based on advice from our lactation consultant, we started with finger feeding formula to him in week 2 because he had lost so much weight
- We introduced a bottle in week 5 or 6 for the same reason, he was not putting on a lot of weight
- After 12 weeks, he is 6th percentile in weight adn 60th percentile in height
- The baby now has nipple confusion and when it cranky/hungry/unhappy, he rejected her nipple
- The only way to calm him is with the bottle to placate his hunger
This is really affecting my wife
- Since she isn't generating enough milk, she feels like she can't support her child
- Now that the baby has nipple preference and is taking the bottle more, she cries
- She now beats herself up over our decision to use the bottle even though the baby wasn't getting any breast milk was was losing weight
The bottom line is I'm watching my wife and there isn't anything I can do to help her. I can't fix anything this time, all I can do is listen to her, support her, etc. I wish I could do more, but really is all on her. Is there anything I'm missing? Is there anything else I can do?