Thoughts on exclusively pumping?

Going_from_Miss_to_Mrs · November 2012

My babies are 16 days old and I am thrilled to say that they are exclusively fed breastmilk. I pump 8 times a day and I am able to bottle feed them all breast-milk and even store some in the freezer. The first few days they were home, I would try to nurse one baby at least once a day. Nursing has been torture for the babies because they have to work so hard to get the milk and they get so frustrated and it has been super painful for me. I am so exhausted and just find it easier to skip the nursing part and to just pump using my hospital grade pump. When I think about as the babies get older, I can't see how I can ever do away with pumping being that there are 3 of them and only 2 boobs.... I can just imagine the baby that has to wait whaling their little head off.

My questions are.... am I later going to regret that I didn't nurse? Does anyone breastfeed exclusively through pumping? Any, any advice about what has worked for you would be helpful! TIA!

octbride1234 · November 2012

Congratulations on your babies!!!! I fed my twins bm with a bottle only, I would pump through out the day/night like what you are doing. I did it this way because they stayed in the hospital for three weeks after being born so I had to pump anyway. It worked out really good for us, I felt happy that they were able to get BM and others could help with the feedings when needed. Having extra BM to freeze came in handy when I started to feed them solids because I would mix it in their baby food that I made.

There is no right or wrong way, decide what works best for you and your little ones and go for it!

Best of luck!!

E&RMommy · November 2012

With triplets, EPing may be the best way to go to get them breastmilk.

Yes you'll look back and wish that nursing had worked out. But with three it's has to be really really tough to exclusively nurse.

Just remember that for some women the pump will never be as effective as a baby. I EP'ed for 10.5 months with a Symphony. I pumped over 2000 times. It was worth every second. However, I never made more than 26 oz /day. I did everything to increase my supply. So I am glad you have excess now. That may not be the case as the babies grow. I too had a freezer stash at the beginning and that quickly died out after about a month. My kids got 50/50 from about one month on.

Good luck and just remember that anything is better than nothing at all.

Enjoy those babies!!

violaplayer · November 2012

E&RMommy:
With triplets, EPing may be the best way to go to get them breastmilk.

Yes you'll look back and wish that nursing had worked out. But with three it's has to be really really tough to exclusively nurse.

Just remember that for some women the pump will never be as effective as a baby. I EP'ed for 10.5 months with a Symphony. I pumped over 2000 times. It was worth every second. However, I never made more than 26 oz /day. I did everything to increase my supply. So I am glad you have excess now. That may not be the case as the babies grow. I too had a freezer stash at the beginning and that quickly died out after about a month. My kids got 50/50 from about one month on.

Good luck and just remember that anything is better than nothing at all.

Enjoy those babies!!

This exactly! I had trouble once the boys got bigger, my supply was just not enough. Then we went to combo BM and formula. It turned out alright, since the boys ended up moving to AR and Neosure anyways.

mamatotwins0812 · November 2012

octbride1234:
Congratulations on your babies!!!! I fed my twins bm with a bottle only, I would pump through out the day/night like what you are doing. I did it this way because they stayed in the hospital for three weeks after being born so I had to pump anyway. It worked out really good for us, I felt happy that they were able to get BM and others could help with the feedings when needed. Having extra BM to freeze came in handy when I started to feed them solids because I would mix it in their baby food that I made. There is no right or wrong way, decide what works best for you and your little ones and go for it! Best of luck!!

This! I exclusively pumped for various reasons. I will say that the cons for me were constantly being tied to a machine. I found it difficult especially as we started doing more stuff I felt tied down. Also, its double the work/time. I would be up for 1.5-2 hours a night feeding/pumping/washing. However for me the pros outweighed the cons and it worked out for us. I agree with the above pros as well as PP that it might be your only option with 3. I cant say that I regret not bf'ing, although sometimes it makes me a little sad. I can see regretting it in the future but to me all that matters was that they got the milk and thats all that matters! Good luck and congrats!

Going_from_Miss_to_Mrs · November 2012

Thanks so much for your input ladies! I definitely feel chained to this darn pump and I hate when there is a baby fussing, and I am all tied down. All of your advice really helps, it seems as though if this is what is working to just continue. The most important part is they are getting breastmilk.... I just hate the whole set up, pump, bottle, clean up, repeat part!

pea-kay · November 2012

I don't see why you'd regret it. You have to do what works best for you. Mine were bottle-fed only, mostly formula because my milk never really came in. I pumped for 8 weeks.

Lyndsey13 · November 2012

I can't speak as far as having triplets, as I have twins, but I am pumping enough to donate to an adopted baby, providing about 3/4 of her feedings. I ebf my 2 girls. I can't imagine trying to ep. It would be so, so, so much more difficult! I don't know how I would handle outings. Usually, I just find a place to park and feed them, takes 20 minutes to get them both fed. How would I feed them a bottle and then pump? I just can't figure out the logistics of it. I also don't know how I would have time to pump. I have a hard time holding a baby and pumping. I pump at night, a couple hours after they go to bed and then after their middle of the night feeding and one more time in the morning sometime after they have eaten. I think it would be so much easier to ebf but I, like I said, I only have 2.

KDR1979 · November 2012

My babies didn't know how to latch until they were 10 & 14 weeks old, so I had to EP. I agree that you may run into supply issues with Ep'ing. It seems like some women are fine just pumping and some need the mom-baby connection. My supply tanked and I have never been able to get it to increase(maybe a little when they finally learned how to latch and nurse correctly). I just finally learned that some BM is better than none.

Good luck!

LaurenSara518 · November 2012

First of all, I just wanted to say that is amazing that the babies are getting exclusive BM- you deserve a medal- I think all MOMs who are giving babies EBM do! It's such hard work, but I think worth it.

I am mostly pumping but I nurse them here and there. My babies are 11 weeks old and I honestly don't feel like I bond with them more when I nurse as opposed to giving them a bottle of BM. I think it's whatever works for you. I have started nursing each baby 1-2 times a day and give bottles of BM the rest of the time. I have found that nursing and then pumping right after lets me get 'bonus' milk which I either refrigerate for later or freeze- the way I look at it, they have full bellies and then anything on top of that that I am able to collect is a bonus as opposed to pumping and then feeding it to the babies right away... Also I use fenugreek pills, mother's milk tea and sometimes blessed thissle to increase my milk supply.

GL.

Luvie13 · November 2012

congrats on your babies! I almost exlusively pumped after the first month. It was just easier for me to have others help. do whatever works for you!

rn8 · November 2012

Hi-

I have twins and I pump and supplement with some formula (right now we are approx. 75% milk and 25% formula, and I have a nice little freezer stash). Honestly I was very overwhelmed by a bad delivery and hormones. The LC encouraged me to keep pumping in the hospital b/c my little guy's suck reflex was poor. As the weeks went by, I was just in the pumping groove. Anytime I tried to nurse, they got some milk, but always needed to be supplemented. I grew more overwhelmed and just kept pumping. Around 4 months, I felt a bit of regret... like I was missing out on something. After attempting to go back to breast a few times, I gave it up. They were so frustrated and I didn't want anything to mess up the good feeding rhythm we have. Nursing them directly became more about 'me' and less about them.

They are almost 6 months old and doing great. What has kept me pumping so long is my hands free bra. Sometimes I do feel chained to the darn pump, but I can pump while I play with them, feed them, or when I am driving. The pump gets packed up and taken along, just like a diaper bag. And what I pump is what they get. The rest of the day is formula and that's fine with me.

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