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December 2012 Moms
Bcarey77
member
Exclusively Pumping?
Bcarey77
member
I was wondering if any of you ladies have experience with exclusively pumping. I would like to do this because I will only be out on maternity leave for 10 weeks and I don't want my little girl to get used to the breast. I want her to be used to bottle so my mom will be able to feed her with no problems when I go back to work and to let hubby be involved. Do you think this is realistic or should I just do formula? Any advice would be great!! Thanks ladies!!! 
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Re: Exclusively Pumping?
EPing is totally doable. I did it for 9 months with twins (and then chose to FF due to work / school schedule). However, I would suggest at least trying the breast for the first few weeks. It helps ensure solid milk production and cuts down on A LOT of extra work and dishes. Because the twins were early, they had a hard time latching in the beginning, which is why we start pumping in the first place. I am hoping to BF and pump this time around.
I exclusively pumped with my first, but he was sick and in the hospital his whole life so I was unable to BF. I had no problems at all with milk production, my biggest problem was doing the actual pumping. Because he was in the hospital I slept through the night and would pump in the morning. I would be so full that I would be in pain when I woke up. You won't/shouldn't have that problem because you will have a baby at home and will pump on a regular schedule. I would just say to make sure you get all of the colostrum because that's the best for the baby.
Good Luck!
Just an FYI, I am going to be home for 12 weeks with my daughter and want to exclusively BF for a few weeks and then introduce her to a bottle so my DH can participate in feedings as well. I will continue to pump and BF after I go back to work...hopefully!!!
We Made A Wish....
And You Came True!
Totally doable. I did it for 9 months. I started pumping when she was 10 days old and I was EP'ing by 5 weeks. I did introduce formula at 5 months because it was getting harder to keep my supply up but overall it worked out great for us. She never had an issue takng a bottle and I was grateful to have DH's help in the middle of the night.
No decision has to be all or nothing. You can bf, pump or do formula or any combo of the 3. You will figure out what works best for you and your baby! GL!
I would not wish exclusively pumping on my worst enemy. It can be a very hard road. It is much easier to nurse when you and baby are together. Otherwise you spend twice the time for feedings - you have to prep and feed the bottle and then pump to make up the milk. Only pumping, especially in the beginning, can lead to a low supply as a baby is a much more efficient milk remover than the pump and the more milk is removed, the more you make. A lot of women also burn out on pumping and stop sooner than women who nurse just because all the pump part cleaning, etc and the time it takes gets to be too much. I really enjoyed the last few months of breastfeeding when I didn't pump at all and just nursed in the morning/night.
It is much easier to transition from breast to bottle than bottle to breast, so if you have any interest in nursing I would establish that right away and introduce the bottle after a couple of weeks.
Most women I know do a mix of breast and bottle. It's completely do-able. Once nursing is well established, then introduce a bottle a day to get baby used to it. Read through this article on bottle feeding a breastfed baby: https://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/feeding-tools/bottle-feeding/
I went back to work when DS was 12 weeks old, and he did fine with 4 bottles at daycare and nursing 3-4 times with me at home. Then we could nurse all weekend. I plan to do the same with this LO, as I'll return between 10 and 12 weeks.
If you do EP, or when you go back to work, refrigerate pump parts between sessions so you don't have to wash each time. Pump into empty bottles, though - don't mix chilled milk with fresh as it will spoil faster. (you can mix milk once it's all refrigerated or if it's all fresh - just mix milk at the same temp). Get a hands-free bra so you can stil interact with baby, at least a bit, while you're pumping.
EPing is difficult, but also rewarding - you are still giving baby the benefits of BM!
I EP'd for DS for 4 months but got burned out as it is a lot of extra work. I plan on BFing only this time and don't plan on pumping unless necessary (ie my mom takes DD for a night). That is only because I had issues with my frozen stash with DS and it had to be thrown out, something that I can't/don't want to go through again. Plus I want to give her BM for the first year at least, and with pumping I know that I can't continue to pump for that long.
As PP said, it is a LOT of work. Especially the more kids you have. I EP'd with my second and was exhausted by 6 weeks. It takes so much extra time. I would wake up with her in the middle of the night, feed her pumped milk in a bottle, wait til she fell back asleep, pump, wash/store everything, and then it was time to start all over again. I felt like I was attached to my pump all day every day. Not to mention when I started having excess lipase and the suggestion was to heat my milk before it was stored, just adding more time and one more thing to have to deal with.
This time around I plan on not using a pump unless absolutely necessary. If I never have to wash a pump part again, I will die happy.
I EP'd. DD never latched. She was born at 37 weeks with no labor (unsceduleed c-section) and my mil had not come in yet. I was able to pump successfully and had no issues. In fact, DH and I got to trade off the night feedings! I was able to just sleep through the night and pump in the morning- a LOT.
I'm going to try to BF this time, as I am already having to use breast shields.
This is my plan exactly. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's realistic!
BFP #1: 4/2/12 -- DD born 12/15/12. BFP #2: 4/1/14 -- CP. BFP #3: 4/28/14 -- EDD 1/10/15
Jan 15 NOV siggy challenge:
Lots of moms exclusively pump, but I get the idea that it's a lot harder than BF'ing so I'd encourage you to try BF'ing at least for the first month or so. It's a lot less hassle and easier to maintain a good supply (baby nurses more efficiently than a pump, so you'll produce more). As long as you introduce a bottle at the right time, and then regularly use it after that, you should have no problem getting LO to take a bottle from someone else.
With DS1, we introduced a bottle at 5 weeks as suggested by our pediatrician, and didn't have any problems. After that, DH would give him about 1 bottle a day (pumped breastmilk, not formula) until I went back to work at 12 weeks pp. After that, I pumped and he had bottles during the day from MIL or our Nanny until he weaned (after 1 yr we switched to cups instead of bottles but he nursed before bed and in the morning).
It's not as hard as you might think to get a baby to do both!