Exclusively breastfeeding vs Pumping?

[jasonryantruthalways]

@robinrocks I exclusively pumped for nearly a year and a half. My baby had some health challenges that made him unable to breastfeed directly as I'd originally hoped.

If nursing had been option, I think I still would've ended up pumping at least part time. Once I had a solid routine it was a great way to build peaceful downtime into my day, get away from everyone, and not become the default parent. What made it doable for me was having plenty of pump parts, so that I could run them through the dishwasher each night instead of spending hours a day at the sink, and using the pitcher method to pool milk.

There are oral/facial development benefits to nursing, which a bottle can't match (yet). The other benefit you'll hear about is that nursing allows you to give your baby more antibodies. That said, I know that my milk looked VERY different when I or my baby was sick, so it was definitely changing based on the needs of the moment-- perhaps it would've changed more straight from the tap, but obviously there's no way to know.

 

[enduring_until_the_end]

@jasonryantruthalways I think recent research shows us that lots of skin to skin, cuddles and kisses with baby will help produce antibodies as well!

 

[jasonryantruthalways]

@enduring_until_the_end Yep. It's definitely not just via saliva exchange. ETA I said "not just". I am well aware that saliva exchange is a thing.

 

[dishfarmer]

@jasonryantruthalways As a dad, a significant benefit of pumping was me being able to do night feeds.

 

[drtraci]

@robinrocks My mom’s an IBCLC, and I asked her about this, here’s what she says. Evidence based research has shown that breastfeeding significantly reduces the risk of cancer for moms and possibly for their baby as well. HAMLET is the acronym for human alpha-lactalbumin made lethal to tumor cells. However no matter how your baby gets breastmilk, it’s still very beneficial.

Here’s a link to a study regarding HAMLET: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12665051/

 

[89burban]

@drtraci This question is about expressing milk v direct breastfeeding. Surely this benefit extends to milk production and removal whether through direct BF or expressing?

 

[drtraci]

@89burban *In this reply I’m paraphrasing from some studies. *Two (of many others) reasons feeding at the breast is different and more beneficial than feeding expressed milk: The way a baby sucks at the breast vs an artificial nipple is different, breastfeeding has a positive impact on jaw and airway development.

*During breastfeeding baby saliva mixing with breastmilk produces metabolites that regulate gut microbes and boosts early immunity.

*Breastfeeding contributes to exfoliation of breast tissue. The changeover of skin cells decreases breast cancer by eliminating cells with DNA damage or mutations.” One of the reasons I emphasize the benefits of breastfeeding for moms is that her risk of breast cancer and ovarian cancer are reduced. Hence possibly adding years to the life of mom, which means she’ll be around longer!

I’ve shared just a small amount of evidence based research which I think shows feeding at the breast is more beneficial than feeding pumped breastmilk. However, I do need to point out that since breastmilk is the best nutrition for baby, feeding expressed milk is still very beneficial.

Also I want to let you know that I am not discouraging or disparaging pumping and feeding expressed breastmilk. There are many reasons why mothers choose to pump and feed, not the least of which is being separated from their baby, almost always due to returning to work. On the other hand, some moms are unable to nurse their babies, for a variety of reasons, thus they have to pump and feed. Some moms choose to do a combination of feeding at the breast and feeding expressed milk, again, for a variety of reasons. Some moms choose to never put their baby to the breast, and just feed expressed milk. It’s a very personal choice, and I never judge nor discourage moms about their choices. Breastfeeding, feeding breastmilk, isn’t just about the baby, it’s also about the mom! There were many instances where I had to help a mom make the decision to stop putting the baby to the breast, and just pump and feed, or stop breastfeeding and/or pumping all together. For the sake of her health, mental or physical. Sometimes I had to ensure that baby’s feedings were supplemented with formula, because ultimately you have to feed the baby!

 

[chels12]

@drtraci I’m sorry, but do you truly think that a baby sucking on a woman’s nipple is what reduces the risk of breast AND ovarian cancer? Rather than just the biological process of lactation and milk removal? “Exfoliation” of the breast tissues” does not mean literal, topical, external exfoliation - otherwise this could be achieved artificially and everyone would be doing it. It refers to internal exfoliation of the breast tissues through lactogenesis and milk expression.

I appreciate you’re trying to be encouraging and non-judgmental, but let’s not oversell direct nursing when the benefit over expressed breastmilk is largely limited to nursing vs bottle impacts on oral development.

 

[89burban]

@drtraci Just re the cancer, the studies I have seen seem to either not be able to pinpoint the reason for the reduction in risk, or attribute it to the delayed onset of menstration. If you pump regularly enough, many women have delayed menstration (and I know direct BF mums that have their period within weeks of birth), so I assume those benefits would apply to expressing mums (if that is indeed the reason). I haven’t seen anything about exfoliating the breast…

 

[grace4grace]

@robinrocks Want to begin by saying whatever feeding method works for you and your baby is the best. however for the discussion, as others have commented, pumping is far more labour and prep than exclusively breastfeeding. Additional benefits to baby getting it directly from your breast are the antibodies your body produces that are specific to your baby as your nipple reads the information from your baby's saliva. There are also noted benefits to controlling flow and pace. In the beginning, getting a feel for how to eat at the breast can be frustrating but most of the time, that frustration is resolved through endless practice. In my own experience, I tried to pump as well so my partner could feed but I found it very difficult to keep up with pumping during the growth spurt phases where my son wanted to eat round the clock.

 

[bubblegum2021]

@robinrocks First kid was a NICU baby for two weeks and nurses said her sucking wasn’t strong enough and my let down was too strong. Second kid was born later and we almost exclusively breastfeed. I wish I had tried harder to keep up with breastfeeding with first kid but she was exclusively on pumped milk. This time around exclusively breastfeeding is so much easier. Try to stick with it if you can. We get more sleep and have more time without the pump.

 

[delphinus85]

@robinrocks I found it hard to fit pumping in as my baby became more active and my husband went back to work. Like I’d have to bottle feed, then pump, each feed. If baby wouldn’t settle, or pooped, or I needed to attend to other things, the time to just sit and pump felt like an annoyance and was hard to fit in.

I think baby gets a the same benefits from being held and cuddled while taking a bottle as they would from breastfeeding. Really by pumping you’re taking more time but perhaps getting more sleep if someone can take a night feed. (Although I had to pump in the night to keep up my supply).

 

[dinkold]

@robinrocks Something about being on the breast makes our milk adjust to the baby. As she gets older, the composition of the milk changes; it gets fattier and more filling, so even though baby is bigger she doesn’t need to drink more volume. It can also affect their poops - if you give an older baby milk from the newborn days they will have poop like a newborn again.

In contrast, pumped milk does not change composition and you’ll need to pump more volume as baby gets older.

You’re in the very beginnings now, baby is still learning how to suck, breath, and swallow at the same time. For us, my LO would take an hour to feed and pumping was only 20 minutes. At around 2-3 months old, he started getting more efficient until a total feed was less than 5 minutes.

Edit: looks like I was mistaken, pumped milk does change to a degree over time. Electric pumping combined with manual pumping helps.

 

[agape9]

@dinkold I would love to see the studies behind your claim that pumped milk doesn’t change composition. I have read otherwise.

 

[dinkold]

@agape9 looks like I was mistaken, pumped milk does change to a degree over time. It does not have all the enzymic changes of milk at the breast but it does change. Electric pumping combined with manual pumping helps.

https://www.romper.com/parenting/will-your-milk-change-if-youre-exclusively-pumping-science-explains-79999#:~:text=The%20milk%20has%20more%20fats,study%20in%20Early%20Human%20Development.

https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2012/01/differences-in-pumping-affect-breast-milks-nutritional-value.html#:~:text=The%20researchers'%20findings%20confirmed%20that,relying%20on%20electric%20pumps%20alone.

 

[fatoldladies2000]

@robinrocks I thought I had read somewhere that the saliva from baby's mouth helps adjust the breastmilk to fit baby's needs. I'm not sure if that occurs with pumping or not?

I was trying to find a journal article to support that claim, and this was the closest I found.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4556682/#:~:text=During%20breast%2Dfeeding%2C%20baby%20saliva,providing%20growth%2Dpromoting%20nucleotide%20precursors.

 

[calmron]

@robinrocks I'm from a country where they really push for exclusively breastfeeding (we can also have 3 years of maternity leave) and some of the things they told me on the postpartum prep course are:
Breastmilk's supply-demand drive isn't only about the amounts, it's about the components too. So it usually starts off more watery, and ends more fatty in a feeding session, first solving thirst and second have the baby fed. This is all mixed up if it comes in a bottler.
If you catch a virus, in 3-4 hours antibodies show up in breastmilk to protect the baby, this is not working if you give milk from another day.
The morning milk contains more cortisol, the evening milk contains more melatonin, but this you can mark when you store it too.
Also, it seems to me that here they really suggest that emotionally both for mother and baby it's just a more connecting experience.

I'm too lazy to find research now, but these all sound legit to me. But also, I don't have to go back to a full time job after a few weeks, so I think realistically there are ideals and there are necessities, and babies grow into healthy adults most of the times either way.

 

[sisters18]

@robinrocks I exclusively pumped for 13 months with my first and just wrapped up 19 months of breastfeeding with my second. While pumping has its advantages as you listed, it's such a pain to wash pump parts and bottles. It's is objectively easier to feed at the breast because of that. It's also isolating if you have to leave somewhere to pump (like work or a party). But however is best for you to feed your baby is the right way to do it!

 

[audastic]

@robinrocks Breastfeeding takes more effort and pressing the nipple against the roof of the mouth stimulates the expending of the maxilla

 

[lisap4god]

@robinrocks My baby was preemie and we used nipple shields for the first month she was home because otherwise she couldn’t latch well!

I pump and breastfeed (baby is 7 months), she’s still getting milk regardless of how You’re doing great!