Oh Mel...I'm hearing you. I've just been sitting on our bed blubbering all over DH for the past half an hour. I'm just not coping with the breastfeeding thing either....Maddy wants to feed ALL of the time and my body (specifically my breasts) just can't cope. She feeds normally at the start and then wants to keep going; and I can tell half of the time she is just comfort sucking. The problem is she just rips at my nipples; I don't get a break to sleep and I'm totally knackered.

I can't get her to accept a dummy of any size, so I can't even pacify her for short periods. I've tried expressing so that DH can help me with feeds to give me a break; but after several attempts I still can't get the pump to work properly.

What scares me the most is that last night DH & I were so tired with the lack of sleep, we both don't remember half the night. I'm so scared I'm going to hurt her, because I'm literally falling asleep whilst feeding her and wake up later with her hanging off my lap.

Oh my god, I'm crying as I say this but am I bad mother if I'm considering just switching her to formula feeds so that I can cope? I honestly believe that my milk is better for her, but god I just can't cope with this all. She's only a week old, but I want to just curl up in a corner and cry at the thought that it might take another four weeks or so to get her settled into her feeding properly.

DH is supportative and says if I feel I can't cope, he's happy for us to use formula. I don't know why but it just feels so wrong...I'm disappointed in myself for not being able push through this all!