Calling all SAHMs who EP

katfaz

Are there any other mothers that stay home with LO who EP that feel guilty about spending so much time pumping?  Since being an EPer essentially means every feeding takes twice as long when you count the time it takes to feed the bottle, then to pump the milk for the next feeding (never mind the time spent storing milk, washing pump parts and bottles).  EPing takes commitment and obviously if I could EBF, I would.  I'd trade EP for EBF in a heartbeat, but I also want to provide BM for my LO since I realize the benefits are so wonderful for her.  But I feel like it takes away from time I could be spending with her.  When I pump, she is playing on her activity mat and is content (most of the time) so it's helping her build independent play time which is good, but at the same time I feel like I spend SO much time pumping and cleaning parts and bottles that I wish I could trade that for spending quality time with LO.  Just wondering if there are others out there who feel the same way and how do you deal with it?

katfaz

theresat858 said:

Could you feed the bottle while you pump? I only had to EP for the first 2 weeks, but giving the bottle while I pumped was a huge time saver.

That would be great but I don't have enough hands,   I do breast compressions while I pump to maximize output, so it's a two-hand job.

kelly422

I'm an EPer and have been for 4 months now.  It takes about 10 min to feed LO, so I prop her on my leg if she needs to feed the same time I pump.  I run the pump for as long as it takes to feed her and then as soon as I'm done, I do breast compression.  If she's just hanging out when I'm pumping, I put her in her bouncy chair or swing right next to me and talk to her and bounce her while I'm pumping.  

Yes, it is a lot of work, but to me, the benefits of BM outweigh all the extra work!