How to go from BF full time to pumping.

Re: How to go from BF full time to pumping.

• CNYBride05 member

  June 2014

  I'd encourage you to hang in there. I've had a few really frustrating periods with BFing, but it's soooooooo much easier than pumping!

  Natural m/c Oct. 2005
  
  Dx: balanced translocation and LPD
  
  TTC since Oct 2011
  
  BPF 02/19/12, EDD 10/31/12, natural m/c 02/28/12 (4w6d)
  
  IVF (BCPs starting 10/30/12, ER 11/18/12, 5dt of 1 beautiful, healthy embryo 11/23/12)
  BFP 12/02/12, u/s @ 6w,5d showed 2 HBs! Identical twins!!
  Bed rest from 21w-35w due to short cervix, hospital bed rest from 23w-32w due to PTL
  Our rainbows were born 07/19/13 (36w, 5d)
  
  

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• mommatotwo2 member

  June 2014

  I don't want to discourage you- but pumping is really a lot harder than nursing directly.  I would also encourage you to try and hang in there. There have definitely been phases of time where nursing felt very frustrating and LO would pop off what felt like a hundred times a session, would wiggle all around, try to nurse standing, hanging half upside down, etc. We even went through a phase where she was biting me, a LOT. I too wanted to throw in the towel on nursing, but being a daytime pumper (at work) from 12 weeks on, I knew that I did not want to pump any more than I absolutely have to.  It's  a lot more work, setting up the pump, washing pump parts, washing feeding bottles. I'm very thankful for the ability/technology to pump because while I hated every minute of pumping, it did allow me to provide breastmilk for my daughter while we were apart, but wouldn't want to do it if nursing during the day had been an option.
  
  One last though- these next months are where nursing changes, IMO. After 8-9 months is where my LO became a lot more interested in solids, a lot more mobile and engaged in playing and nursing become somewhat less frequent. She'd nurse great morning, evening and before bed but during the day, it was not uncommon for her to toddle over for a 5 minute snack and then want to go back to playing. I think that would've been really frustrating if pumping and bottle feeding because we would've been using a lot of bottles and probably wasting some milk in the process.
  
  Good luck, whatever you decide and awesome job so far!
  

  

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