Pumping and FF

prplz

I cant believe ive been pumping for almost 2 months. I thought i wouldnt last a month. I feed her 80% breastmilk and 20% formula aprox. I plan on keeping at it for as long as i can since ive gotten use to the routine and all the critizing i get which wasnt helping in the beginning since im a FTM i thought of myself as a failure for not being able to breastfeed. How long are you planning on pumping?

mamajama3

Right on! I'm pumping now for nine weeks and still trying to get DD to latch well (a nurse just discovered her tongue tie and we had it clipped) and hopefully BF better, but for now we are almost exclusively pumping with maybe 1-2 quasi-successful BF sessions a day (she gets 1-2oz per session). I plan to try to get to 6 months pumping and then go from there if we make it. That feels like an eternity from now. Pumping takes patience, discipline and dedication. I have never washed so many bottles in my life. DD better take good care of me when I'm an old lady.

saric83

I'm shooting for at least four months of 100% breastmilk since that's how long my maternity leave is, but once I'm back to work, I'll probably start to cut back and transition to more and more formula.

This shit is exhausting, and I hate it very much, so kudos to you for already hitting the two-month mark!

onyg

Nice job! I am a FTM too and an EP.

We started adding formula week 3. Still trying to figure out what works best for the amount of ounces to give our LO all while trying to get into a nice "schedule".

If you have any advice on how much your LO was/is getting & how often, please share! I know its not the same for every baby... but it is hard to find any helpful articles online for EP & FF.

erin79

You guys are awesome.  Seriously.  I have to pump 2-3 times a day while I'm at work, and even that is annoying.  I stopped pumping with my first when he was 11 months (babies can drink whole milk then! Yay!), and it was the best day ever when I got to roll up to work without the pumping bag.

ashtownyeah

I'm EP, and have been since DS was 1.5weeks. He has trouble latching due to tongue and lip tie, and wasn't gaining weight. We had to supplement with formula for about 5 weeks, but he hasn't had any in over 2 weeks now. I'm finally making enough! I even have 14oz in the freezer ... Yay!

I am planning on pumping for the first 6 months and then I'll reevaluate, and depending on my freezer stash we will go from there.

It's not something I enjoy, and I'm still bummed that breastfeeding didn't happen for us. But I finally feel like I've got the hang of this whole pumping thing. It's hard, but I feel great knowing I found a way to make it work.

EDIT: to answer the question about how much he eats ... It is a huuuuge range! Some days he will eat 35oz total and others it's only 25oz. It was the same range when we supplemented with formula.

prplz

@onyg When we go out i give her formula, when she was throwing up because of her shots she would throw up the breastmilk more than the formula so i would give her 1 oz formula with 2 oz breastmilk mixed. But regularly she eats 2-4 oz breastmilk every 2-3hours (sometimes 4) but if she is still hungry i will give her 2 oz of formula and at night i give her 4 oz of formula and the same if it doesnt fill her i will make her 2 oz more i give her formula so i have that extra bottle incase i dont pump overnight but she will usually eat just an 1oz more. And im planning on my days off work to substitute 1 feeding during the day for formula so when i pump DH can have that extra feeding just incase whenever im working but i leave it as a last resort (besides her last bottle)or if she is extremely hungry i will give her formula since its faster. Hope that helps.

mars8k

I salut you, i try to pump at least once a day and even that is a hassle to do! I couldn't imagine pumping 80% of LO's intake good for you!

PutMeintheZoo

Another mom of a baby with tongue tie here (clipped at 3 weeks).  I almost exclusively pump with a few breastfeeding sessions here and there.  I was never able to establish a good latch with her and at first it was kind of devastating. But now we've gotten into a pretty good routine and it's not so bad.  Definitely happy that she's been able to benefit from breast milk for 2+ months! 

Ditto to the moms out there who are sick of washing bottles and pumping gear. My poor hands! 

Hope to continue pumping as much as possible after I go back to work in August, but I'm trying to have low expectations and not stress out about it all too much.  If we need to start supplementing more to formula, I'll be okay with that.... 

prettilee

I have been EP for about 11 weeks now, with occasional formula supplementing. Usually only when I am out running errands and don't want the hassle of heating up milk. The plan right now is to continue to pump until about 6 months, and taper down from there. Since at that point I can introduce food and cereal, I think the amount of bm needed will be way less than I imagine. I have also started a freezer stash, trying to stash at least one bag a day, but that is mainly for her have while she is at daycare, once she starts going when I go back to work in August. I have gotten the hang of pumping, and created a decent schedule, I just hope I can keep up with it, or close to it, once I return back to work.