Exclusively breastfeeding vs Pumping?

@robinrocks Your baby is not missing out on anything. I used nipple shields for the first 3 months before we managed to successfully breastfeed without them and although it was hard I'm glad I made it work for the simple fact that I hate pumping and washing pump parts and bottles etc. But I'm lucky to live in a country with proper maternity leave so I could be home for the first 12 months, and breastfeeding worked for me. It does have its drawbacks though, as he's now 18 months and I've never spent a night away from him because we're still breastfeeding 3 times a day and I'm scared to get mastitis if I miss a feed, and again I hate pumping so it feels more hassle than it's worth to go away! But getting time to myself, especially the first 6 months, was near impossible because he fed frequently. We did pump and use bottles so I could get some extra sleep, but apart from that I felt so much pressure to always be around him (from myself and my fear of my supply tanking).
 
@ytrevino1977 Yeah most of the benefits of breastfeeding are experiential on the moms part - special cuddle time, easier, feels better (hopefully) than pumping, no cleanup.

There are a couple benefits for baby, but these usually aren’t a big deal in modern life - formula can cause more gas in baby which may be an issue if you’ve got one with a sensitive tummy, and breastfeeding can help give your baby antibodies to certain infections without having the virus infect the mum systemically.
 
@dcg A lot of the benefits in countries with safe access to clean water are overblown when people talk about them. I read research once that showed minimal reduction in illness that levelled out by 12-18 months depending on the illness/infection. It's so minimal that I don't consider it a real benefit, because it was like 1 in a quite high number will have 1 less illness over formula fed babies, so for most babies the effects are negligible. I don't have the article on hand though unfortunately. Plus babies still get all of the antibodies through exclusive pumping (which is considered exclusive breastfeeding - I should have made that note in my original comment).
 
@robinrocks My daughter also had a short nicu stage of 5 days. She was born at 36 weeks. I had to triple feed for 8 weeks until she got better at transferring milk. After that, she could just nurse or just bottle feed depending on what we wanted to do. I think it was just her getting bigger that helped. She ended up loving nursing once she got the hang of it.
My second has never taken a bottle. He was really fussy about positioning and kind of still is. If you want to work on nursing and latching, try different positions. Both pumping and EBF are very hard, especially at first.
If just pumping works for you, that's fine. If you want to stop and use formula, it is fine. If you want to work on nursing the baby, that's fine. Trust your mom instincts. You're doing a great job feeding your baby.
 
@williamandcarol Honestly hearing that her growing was what helped gives me hope. I’d love to breastfeed and am just scared it will never be possible at this point - my daughter was full term but again, had a bit of a struggle with her start - I have to remind myself that she is only 2.5 weeks old!! Were there any positions you found more success in when working with yours?? Thank you so much for your comment.
 
@robinrocks Positioning depends on your baby and your own anatomy. My daughter liked cradle and a pillow. My son would eat on the right side in football position. Now that he's bigger he likes side laying. He would scream and not latch for certain holds. I hope it gets easier. If you can see an LC that would probably help too.
 
@robinrocks EBF is easier. You don't have to wash parts. The milk is the perfect temperature. Your less likely to have clogs because babies are more efficient than pumps. You get the immunity benefits of backwash to alter the milk. It's just so easy to pop a boob in a mouth.

Please find and work with a lactation consultant if you can.
 
@eazye I was going to say all of this. I’ll add that because breastfeeding is more efficient than pumping it’s easier to keep your supply up. I’ve heard of people who exclusively pump needing to stop before they had wanted to because their supply goes down.
 
@robinrocks Some benefits of latching are that it’s better for jaw and some oral development. It has built on skin to skin, whereas you have to be more intentional about that with bottle feeding.
 
@robinrocks If you do a lot of contact parenting, she isn't missing out. I am talking skin to skin, contact naps, baby wearing, co-bathing, plenty of cuddles. But breastfeeding is a lot more convenient for both of you.
 
@robinrocks I was semi forced into (mostly) exclusive pumping due to baby girl being unable to transfer enough milk, gaining weight too slowly, severe reflux and possible food intolerances creating feeding aversions where she screamed and cried when I tried to feed, you name the problem, we faced it. I exclusively pumped for the last few months, but was able to nurse her at night if she was sleepy enough and lately she's been letting me feed her in the morning. I still mostly pump (she goes to daycare so this switch was going to need to happen anyway). Once I stopped trying to force her to nurse, it got a lot better mentally for both of us. As long as baby if fed and you're happy and healthy, do what works best for you! I have 3 sets of parts, multiple pumps, do the fridge hack during the day, sterilize at night, and it's not too tedious.

Also I've heard all the things about it being good for jaw and dental development, but anecdotally, I was 100% breastfed as a baby and still had some of the worst baby teeth out there. I also needed jaw surgery, so it's not a guarantee. Do what works for you.
 
@robinrocks I exclusively pumped after trying to triple feed for 6 weeks and seeing two LCs, the second of whom actually helped me figure out how to make pumping more comfortable and long term sustainable. Pumping is still breastfeeding, it’s just not nursing. My LO was exclusively on breastmilk since he was 6 weeks old, and I had such an oversupply, he is still drinking breastmilk today (from a straw cup) at 1.5 years old.

EP is not for the faint of heart, though. It’s super time consuming in the beginning, but once you’ve built up your supply and have your bottle / cleaning system down, it gets much easier. I liked that I didn’t always have to be the one to feed the baby (especially the MOTN feeds), and could often pump on my own time and have milk ready for my LO when needed. If you have good support form your partner and also work (if/when you go back), it makes the transition back to work much easier because you’ll already know how to pump efficiently. My partner cleaned ALL of the pump parts and bottles while I was pumping — for over a year — I “made the food” and he “did the dishes”. I figured out a system that worked for me when pumping on the go and didn’t feel like it was isolating at all. In fact, for two weddings that I attended, I bonded with other moms who had also dragged their pumping gear with them.

Also, my bond with my LO hasn’t been affected by the fact that I wasn’t the one who was often feeding him in the early days — he follows me everywhere, and if anything, I am the preferred parent now (he’ll start crying if my partner tries to hold him).
 
@robinrocks My kiddo was born 37 weeks with a super awful tongue tie. He sucked at breastfeeding and honestly, I just didn’t like doing it. It was uncomfortable and exhausting and made me hate being a mom. I’ve pumped for 8 months. We’ve supplemented with formula at times due to me having some health issues, but little man is thriving. He was born 6lbs 3oz in the 4th percentile. He was somewhere around the 60th percentile last drs appt.

We are just now trying to ween at 9 months onto formula and he’s adjusting very well. We’ve never had any kind of bottle rejection which made going back to work so much easier. This worked for our family and has made me a much better mom who gets sleep and doesn’t resent her baby.
 
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