how to transition to EP

Leysin97 · December 2014

Ok ladies after a lot of angry cries I have decided to transition to EPing at least until LO is 3 months. I know this means I may end up on formula sooner than I wanted but I can't take the pain anymore. I have had cracked, blistered, and scabby nipples for 2 months now. The pain keeps me up even after LO goes to sleeep. It has not been a bonding experience for me but instead caused me a lot of anxiety and stress.

For those of you that have transitioned I was wondering how you did it. I do not have a lot of ebm stored up as LO constantly cluster feeds. Do you supplement with formula as you start out? Do you just start pumping after every feed? Or did you just wake up one morning and start pumping instead of feeding? Also I do not get much out when I pump (1-2 oz). One boob sometimes gets nothing. Will my boobs just eventually figure it out?

Any help I can get will be appreciated. Thanks.

Leysin97 · December 2014

keelyd said:
Following this -- I feel like I may be going this direction soon (maybe not 100%, but close). Good luck.

Thanks. I have been thinking this for a while now then LO will have one good latch (like she's having right now) and I'll convince myself to keep trying and am in tears the next day. So it's time. Plus also keep getting clogs although those I can handle better than the nipple pain and constant boob time.

JessAnnJ · December 2014

If your nipples are that bad pumping after every feeding would be pretty painful. I just did the opposite went from mostly pumping to BFing and only giving one bottle a day so I can get extra sleep. With DD1 I was barely BFing when I switched to EPing. But I would suggest pumping after the feeding where you are most full and then if you get enough for the next feeding then feed the pumped milk and pump next time the baby eats and go from there. I suggest keeping a few BFing sessions at first to make sure that you do prefer pumping so it's not as hard to go back if you change your mind. You could also just feed formula at first, which is what I did when I was in the hospital, but I don't think you have to since your supply is already established.

CNJ4EVA · December 2014

I don't EP now, but I did with my DD. I want to clarify first that EP in my situation meant that I didn't BF at all, not that she was fed exclusively pumped milk.

I just started pumping instead of BF'ing one day when the anxiety and misery that BF'ing caused me became unbearable. I was much happier EP'ing despite the extra time and effort it took.

As far as being getting better output, there are things you can try in attempts at increasing supply. Eat oatmeal, flax seeds, brewers yeast, mother's milk tea, fenugreek, blessed thistle, drink lots of water, etc. There is a lot of info on the BF thread. I had very low supply despite painstaking efforts to increase, but I kept up with it because I figured something was better than nothing (and because my H gave me such a hard time about wanting to quit). So really DD was FF with a small supplement of pumped BM.

Good luck, whatever your decision!

Edit typos galore.

AmandaJean12 · December 2014

I'm not exclusively pumping but I've transitioned to mainly pumping. One day I just couldn't take the fighting over latching and pumping hurt less.

I pumped an hour or two after her first morning feeding and then every 3ish hours in anticipation of her feedings. I nurse at night so I don't have to spend the extra time awake to pump.

Aurora1181 · December 2014

I EP, but never made a transition since I was pumping while babies were in the nicu. I will say that if you were only pumping after already nursing, your output would be low. Try replacing a few feedings and see what happens. I definitely had to "train" my boobs to the pump but now we are old friends. :-) well maybe not friends.. Frenemies? Good luck.

swise22 · December 2014

When I first started switching over I would feed LO from one side and pump the other for 15-20 minutes. Then the next feeding I would switch. Once I developed a good supply from the pumped sides I just started pumping both sides instead of nursing and am now EPing. I'm not sure if they would work for you though if you're that painful. You could also try substituting a nursing session for a pumping session during the day instead of pumping after a nursing session. I would also recommend pumping every 2-3 hours at first to get your supply up. It's tedious at the beginning but if you have a decent supply in can take a lot of anxiety away. For me, it was definitely worth the extra time to reduce the stress and anxiety. Good luck!

ishknits · December 2014

After cluster feeding I would think ur milk supply would be building up so that's good.

Yes I supplemented just a feeding or two so I could pump (since we just traveled for thanksgiving). I used the samples enfamil sent me in the mail. He did fine with it and it helped me pump a nice serving. I still supplement so I can get a break frankly.

Honestly I couldn't pump as much as I wanted to while we were driving but I just kept pumping when we got to the family's house and it has been fine. I give him a bottle of formula sometimes like once or twice a day but I'm still breastfeeding fine.. Like at night I exclusively bf.
I use the formula for gassiness to help him be a little less fussy.. My babe is a little colicky.

I still feel like a good bfing mom I don't feel bad about supplementing

ishknits · December 2014

Also I always use a nipple shield and it has helped.. I don't get any pain and it helps him take the bottle better I think.

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