5 questions!

I have a few questions....

1. How much spit up is too much? I keep reading things that say it's rarely a problem for babies, but I also see a lot of people who end up putting their child on AR formula to reduce spit up. As long as my daughter is having enough wet/dirty diapers I have nothing to worry about, right?

2. My daughter seems to have a very strong urge to suck, as most babies do. She won't take any pacifier, I've tried everything. She will, however, take my pinky..which is fine with me, but when does the intense urge to suck go away? I mean, is she going to be 5 months old and still wanting to suck on my pinky? Or will that stop when she finds her own hand/finger/ect?

3. Is it normal to feel totally jealous/envious of the women who can breastfeed? I had some unfortunate medical issues come up recently that have forced me to quit, against my will. I'm very jealous of women who can breastfeed....and I seem to keep running into women who are nasty towards me when they see me pull out a bottle. I had to feed my daughter while at the mall so I went into the nursing room, I got my bottle ready and sat down to feed her & the woman in the room started telling me how terrible formula was...she didn't even stop to think that I have a medical issue which prevents me from bf'ing. I guess it just hurts my feelings....this seems to be more of a rant, onto the next question.

4. While I was breastfeeding I was told not to go any longer than 3 hours without waking my daughter to feed her. Now that she's on formula she's taking roughly 3 ounces each feeding, which lasts roughly 3 hours. Sometimes she'll only eat 2 ounces & then want to eat every 2 hours. If she falls asleep for longer than the 3-4 hours do I need to wake her up now? Or is she past that stage (she's a month old on the 22nd).

5. My right breast looks like it has a red rash on parts of it & where the redness is it's also been very sore. I do have to say that the soreness has felt better today, but the redness is still there (and it's a bit swollen). My left breast is perfectly fine, and no issues. Is this another possible issue with my breast that I should call the doctor about?

OK, I think that's it. I had a billion questions run through my mind while I sat down to feed Kayleigh earlier today...I'm not sure if this was all of them. I do plan on talking to my ped. about everything, but I'm just looking for your opinions/input.

I cant help you with all the ?'s but I can for 2...

1st you shouldnt be jelouse of the breastfeeding women bc you HAD to give it up...there was a very good reason for it and that is not your fault.

2-you dont need to wake her up to eat, she will wake up when she is hungry and will not let you starve her so rest assured you will know when she is hungry.

Good luck with the rest and Id also like to know about the spit up thing...

Up until about two weeks ago my daughter would pretty much empty her stomach everytime she spit up. It was astronomical! So long as your baby is gaining enough and like you said, having enough diapers, you should have nothing to worry about. I wouldn't worry about waking her up either, unless she goes for maybe 7 hours or so, so long as during the day she normally wakes up more frequently.

My daughter used to spit up all of the time, if it seems as if she is keeping nothing down at all, or it is projectile, then I would worry.
As for the sucking have you tried different pacifiers? I hear the soothie ones are great, I have never had a pacifier issue so I can't help you too much there.
I am sure it is normal to feel a bit jealous of the women that can nurse, I am sorry you had to give it up   and as for the bitch that thought she needed to inform you of how bad formula is, just ignore her. You are doing what you have to do  
Formula fed babies can go 4 hours between feedings, longer at night.
AS for the rash and soreness on your breast, could be a clogged milk duct, or maybe mastitis..

Quoting dee0331:“ I have a few questions.... 1. How much spit up is too much? I keep reading things that say it's rarely ... [snip!] ... sure if this was all of them. I do plan on talking to my ped. about everything, but I'm just looking for your opinions/input.”

My daughter sucked my pinky until she discovered her fingers around 3 months old. Now she is a hardore finger-sucker.
The redness/soreness on your one breast could be mastisis, or another type of breast infection - I'd maybe call the doc.
If your baby seems to be spitting up everything she's eaten, or doesn't seem to be thriving, then it's a problem. Your pedi might switch her formula.
You might want to experiement with different paci's, b/c even though my daughter wasn't big on paci's, she would take a certain kind better than others.

good luck, mama!

Thanks everyone.

I think I'm just paranoid about the spit up issues since the formula thing is so new to me, and my daughter didnt' spit up at all with breastmilk. I'll keep an eye on her weight gain and continue to monitor her diapers.

I have tried different pacifiers, but that's OK...I don't mind the pinky situation, I just was nervous I would have a 5 month old screaming for my pinky one day. I would rather not use a pacifier anyways, I just want to make sure she gets all the comfort she needs.

And I will call my doctor again about my breast (I called once, and the advice nurse talked to me like I was an idiot "well, of course your breast hurts....you stopped breastfeeding") She completely ignored the red rash & swollen spots I guess.

Thanks everyone.