Breastfeeding, pumping or both?

jalapenopopper

first, congrats to all the mama's that had their babies already! to the one's that are still waiting, hang in there! this might be incredibly premature, but i'm looking for advice from anyone - FTM's and experienced mom's - breastfeeding vs exclusively pumping or doing both. my baby is just 6 days old, this is our first, and when it comes down to it, her having my breast milk is what is most important regardless of how she receives it. i've been breastfeeding and pumping, and i know that breastfeeding is not easy and takes a lot of work, we're still working on her latch as her sucking reflex is still developing. she tends to tongue thrust and get's frustrated because she does that and cries when nothing comes out, eventually we get it but it takes anywhere from 5 minutes to almost 30 to get a good latch and every time she is crying terribly. i don't mind the crying and i'm super patient with her, but i'm mostly concerned with it becoming a negative experience for her, the lactation consultant at the hospital said not to force her and i don't believe i am because she'll latch and then let go and we have to start the process over, so i feel like she's getting it and making progress. they did supply me with a few slow feed disposable nipples to do pace bottle feeding in the event that she does not stop crying and the process becomes too much, and we've done this about 4 times since we brought her home on saturday, but i do get concerned with the possibility of her preferring that over my breast. 

what has anyone's experience been with exclusively breastfeeding, exclusively pumping, or doing both - was one more successful for the other? are the benefits really that much different between breastfeeding and bottle feeding breast milk? thanks for your input!

andrawrmeda2

With DS we went through the same thing. He would never latch right, although they didn't give us any nipples, just told me to use my pump to draw my nipples out better. I finally got him to latch good by laying down with him. It was the only way til he was about 2 months. With DD she's been doing good latching however she has thrush I think(going to the Dr tomorrow for confirmation ) and I had blood blisters on both sides the first 4 days. She's 10 days old now and been feeding good. With DS I remember the hardest part was getting him to stay awake to eat. He would fall asleep immediately and just suck for comfort. I did find it easier to feed after we introduced the bottle (i had school/2 jobs and had to go back when he was 4 or 5 weeks old). He seemed to understand better, even though it took a whole week to introduce him to the bottle. The football hold also helped alot when we first brought him home cause I couldn't get him to lay in my arms correctly. I know it doesn't seem ideal, but try laying down on the bed during the day maybe and seeing if that helps your latch issue. DS and DD both seem so much more relaxed laying down, my only complaint about laying down is leaking out lol

ceclarlinetlo

I just started pumping today to have a "just in case" freezer stock. The only thing I can think of that would make feeding from the breast preferable to a bottle is that the skin around your nipples reacts to baby's saliva to adjust the milk to what baby needs (antibodies and nutrients) so if your nipples are holding up well and she has enough wet and dirty diapers I say keep it up as long as your patience stays high. Could she be latching and letting go because you have a forceful let down? 

MamaandNurse

*edit because the bump ate my entire post

Pump or breast, it doesn't matter. The milk is the important part.

scgirl6113

I EPed with my first two kids. I would never recommend it if it is possible for you to BF. It is very difficult to sustain for a long period of time. Hats off to any momma who has been able to EP for a while first year!  Also BFing is a bonding experience while pumping is a love/hate relationship with a machine. If you do EP though remember you would want baby to receive some fresh milk each day as opposed to cycling through frozen just to make sure they are getting the correct antibodies and such that they need at that time. 

jalapenopopper

Thanks everyone for your responses, they've been very helpful and it's great to get feedback on various experiences. I will definitely try some different positions, I'm not sure about my let down but I'll have to look into that as well because I noticed today that while she's feeding milk is leaking out of her mouth, so I'm not sure if it's because she is letting the milk pool in her mouth or if there's too much coming out. I haven't started freezing yet because admittedly we pace bottle feed her almost half the time because of the latching issues, she was at risk for jaundice so getting her feedings in is my main concern, I did notice she does the same tongue thrusting and frustration with the pace bottle as she does with my breast so I'm hoping doing both will help to strengthen her sucking reflex.

halienb

I am exclusively breastfeeding I'm about to go back to work and I have to start pumping I really don't want to but I'm going to that way he can have my breast milk while I'm at work he takes to the bottle very well and he takes to the breast very well I have never had an issue with either of these things he watched very good his first time trying and he also Lochte to the bottle very good he loves both

kmw529

I've been EPing. I started because LO was severe jaundice the day after birth and almost impossible to wake up to nurse. He also has a tongue tie which caused a shallow latch (ouch!) I have slowly (a few times a week) been working on nursing again. He latches like a pro now but we're working on getting his top lip to flange out. I've been pumping 4 weeks and 5 days and have a freezer stash of over 1,000 ounces of breast milk, so that's a plus lol.