EPer's: what do you dislike about EPing?

GE · October 2008

I'm thinking I might try this out as I'd like more freedom but I am not ready to switch to FF. Let me know the things you don't like about it.

jellybean529 · October 2008

I EP'd until DD was 3 months...the biggest thing I hated about it was that it kept me away from her. I felt like DH got to do all the feeding while I spent time pumping. (He'd feed, I'd pump the next feeding). Plus, it was incredibly time consuming and hard to keep it up once I returned to work.

I am glad that I did it, though. If you want more freedom, maybe try pumping for some feedings so DH can do some, but keep BFing for some as well?

lolalillie · October 2008

I hate the nighttime feedings. I have to feed DS then pump and by the time I get all of that done, sometimes he wakes back up

But for me it is better than BFing because he always had problems with BFing and when he did do it, he would feed for FOREVER and hardly get anything from it and then I would still have to pump.

Ciconrad · October 2008

I hate that the 15-20 min I spend pumping means he has to play by himself. I put his mat or jumperoo close to me and talk to him, but I want to be on the floor playing. I also hate how much stuff I have to wash. On top of bottles, I have all the pump accessories and milk containers.

Audtee · October 2008

Carrying the pump to work. I vanpool, so taking that bag, and my lunch, and whatever else I need at work during the day is a bit much. Also, I hate that I have to feed DD and then taken another 20-30 minutes to pump. It's especially annoying at night when I put DD to bed. Most nights, I am ready to go to sleep too, but can't for at least another 30 minutes b/c I have to get that last pumping in.

BTW- I dropped my midnight pumping around 6 wks.

hmms · October 2008

I also quit bfing due to wanting more freedom - which it did allow a little of, BUT, I still had to be someplace every 3 hours where I could pump.

My goal was to pump while DS napped, it seemed everytime I turned that pump on he'd wake up. I really had a hard time squeezing it in when I was home alone w/ DS (there was other stuff I wanted to do while he slept too).

I switched to eping around 10.5 weeks, and stopped pumping a week ago. DS is finishing off our freezer stash while we are introducing formula. Should be strictly FF in about a week.

GL!

snickers83 · October 2008

I miss the feeling of breastfeeding! I loved the time we spent together while I was feeding him. I began EPing when I went back to work at 7 weeks. He got used to the bottle from daycare and I wasn't producing enough for him. I still have to suppliment quite a bit and my supply is decreasing as we speak. I'm really hoping to make it to the end of the year (I'm a tax accountant so tax season is out of the question).