What Do You Think Of Pumping Exclusively Over Breastfeeding?
December 20, 2009 by Guest Author
Filed under Breast Feeding Supplies
This is my 3rd baby and we formula fed with the other two. Breastfeeding isnt an option because it grosses me out and i have to chase around two boys so it just wouldn’t work. Has anyone else pumped exclusivity?
wellll, i can tell you from experience that it’s very time-consuming, so if you’re okay with that then by all means, good for you for at least trying to breastfeed! i know what you mean by breastfeeding grossing you out, i felt the same way about it at first (i have a month old baby boy and am exclusively breastfeeding).
i bought a pump at the store, a double pump and i love it. in the beginning i was really stressed out and feeling depressed and wanted to just give up with the breastfeeding, it was so frustrating and no one really helped me in the hospital when it came to learning how to, so that made it worse. so i decided to try the pump and figured at least he’d be getting my milk, even though it would be through a bottle. the first day i tried the whole feeding-pumping-storing cycle, i was like, F this! because think about it .. the baby has to eat every 2-3 hours supposedly, so you have to pump which usually takes 15-20 min, sometimes more depending on your supply and all that, then you have to hold the bottle for them for just as long! by the time you finish everything, cleaning the pump parts and bottle and everything, it’s almost time to feed again. seemed pointless on the very first day. however, in your case, you say breastfeeding isn’t an option — which is your choice, but if you COULD find a way to make it work, i definitely recommend trying not to rely on the pump 100% of the time (if you can take the time to get away from your other kids to pump, why can’t you breastfeed?) …. it really is a hassle, just my advice to you. in the end you have to decide what’s best. and honestly, i feel more awkward using the pump than nursing the baby, lol. i kick my fiance out when i’m pumping, but i don’t feel weird about nursing anymore.
it’s all up to you, but i wouldn’t pump ALL the time, takes way too much time. what i do is pump after a feeding, like once a day, and i store the milk in freezer bags and in the fridge and stuff, so that way if i want to leave the house to go do whatever and leave the baby home with my man, he always has food for the baby. that makes it very convenient. well, good luck! and if you can, try breastfeeding at least once, then see if it bothers you as much as you think …. just my advice =)
I had a lot of supply issues and couldn’t exclusively bf, but was pumping after every feeding to try to increase my supply for 5 weeks, and I can’t really see pumping exclusively as a viable option. You’ll need to pump just about as often and a regularly as you feed in order to keep your supply up and have enough milk to give to your daughter. Pumping isn’t any faster or any more convenient than breastfeeding either. In fact, you’ll be pumping for about the same time that you would be feeding, then add on top of that the time to then put it in a bottle to feed to your newborn, if chasing after the two boys is a problem when you think about breastfeeding then pumping and bottle feeding is going to be worse.
I’m not sure what grosses you out about breastfeeding, but I rented a really good breast pump from the hospital so I could pump both breasts at the same time, and personally I’ve never felt so bovine. Might as well have hung a cow bell around my neck and called me Daisy because it was completely dehumanizing and made me feel like a stranger in my own body to be “milked” by a machine.
I don’t want to discourage you, but I think you need to be realistic about what is and isn’t possible when it comes to pumping and breastfeeding. If you’re absolutely sure that breastfeeding is not an option, then pumping as much as you can on a regularly scheduled basis while supplementing with formula would be your next best option, hopefully using as much breast milk over formula as possible.
I started breastfeeding my son when he first came home from hospital but because of a number of reasons, nipples too sore, not to mention getting your boobs out in public or even around family doesnt make me feel comfortable i started expressing all the time, i found it more convenient as other people can also feed your baby as well that way, it didnt hurt as much as breastfeeding and my baby was still getting the nutrients from breast milk. The breast pump was my saving grace!
Don’t even bother. Just formula feed. If you have to chase around 2 boys you are not going to have time to sit there and pump, sterilize equipment, bottle feed, sterilize bottle, pump. No way. It won’t work.
That said, I have 23 month old twins and I chase them around and nurse my son. It’s easier.
As for gross….
Oh never mind. I won’t get into how processed formula is actually incredibly disgusting in comparison to pure and natural breast milk. Something that has been touched by other god knows whose hands is awesome but something that you made yourself that comes out of your body is gross. Okie dokie!
Well I’ve never understood how it could gross someone out? Just out of curiosity what’s gross about it??? But its good that you want to pump so your baby gets breast milk rather than formula.
Like other people said you will be dedicating MUCH more time to feeding if you pump rather than feeding straight from the breast, so your excuse of chasing around two boys will go out the window. For that reason it would be WAY easier to directly feed the baby. Every time you feed you will have to pump, then feed the baby, then wash everything… rather then just feeding. It will take much longer!
Be sure to buy a good dual pump if you are exclusively pumping. I have a $50-$60 single electric pump that works for me but thankfully I have a really great supply and respond well to pumping. Some people don’t respond that well. There IS an art to pumping and it takes practice to be effective at it! I would recommend a nice dual electric pump that you’ll probably throw down a couple hundred dollars for. But you get what you pay for! When I pump I use one hand to hold the pump and the other to message the breast the whole time. This would be hard with a dual pump so I think they make some sort of harness that you can put on so you are hands free…. but I’m not sure if the harness would prevent you from messaging as you pump.
If you chose this route make sure you get lots of help from nurses at the hospital so you can pump effectively. For the first week or two my daughter was not latching on so I would pump and then feed her that milk and then wash everything and I was SOOOO exhausted I seriously can’t imagine pumping exclusively, especially if you have two other children. Oh and make sure you are always drinking lots of water!
Good luck!
Pumping is a lot mroe times consuming, doesn’t get milk out like baby and your supply will decrease.
ai hate it when women use their other children as an excuse. my mother had 5 children- all less than 14 montsh apart and breastfed all of us.
Not many mother can pump exculsivley- you would have to pump even more than a baby would nurse
I’m pumping for 6 mo already. My problem was latching. Well, as long it didn’t work i started pumping.
But please take into consideration you will have to pump often in the beginning, then to wash pump every time. It’s kinda little “detailed”.
But at the end of the day it is not so bad.
i had all sorts of issues breast feeding such as nipple pain and grazing so i exclusively expressed for 3 weeks. its didnt work cos my milk dried up and was far too time consuming and annoying in the middle of the night. nothing wrong with formula feeding if it suits your life style better. x
Pumping is a lot more work than nursing or formula feeding, basically it combines the inconveniences of both methods. If nursing grosses you out, I don’t know how you managed to do all the “gross” stuff required to actually conceive offspring….
It’s a good alternative, but truly it takes twice as long because you need time to pump and then you still have to feed the baby. If you’re worried about having time with your boys, direct feeding is more efficient.
It grosses you out? That’s pathetic.
Also it is far more work to pump then spend the time feeding so that makes no sense. That’s the worst excuse not to breastfeed I have ever heard. Really immature and pathetic to be honest.
It’s twice as much work. It takes a long time, it’s not as effective as breastfeeding, and you’ve got pump parts to clean.