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Lola64
She is my heart!
Member since 1/11 1110 total posts
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BF'ing vs Exclusively Pumping
Had a friend of mine give birth recently and she's exclusively pumping vs breastfeeding. Baby isn't latching on properly and pumping and pumping/bottle is a better option for her.
I'm going through pros and cons to see which would be better for me.
Any reasons/suggestions/opinions would be greatly appreciated. I feel every mother is different and their own choices will worst best for them. Just trying to get outside opinions on how others looked at it.
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Posted 6/9/14 3:02 PM  |
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jessnbrian
Only God knows His plan for us
Member since 4/13 7238 total posts
Name:
Jessica
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BF'ing vs Exclusively Pumping
My best friend has to do this too, she just gave birth 2 weeks ago. For her, she isn't producing enough to EBF, so she has to pump her milk in order to accumulate enough for baby to feed, and she's supplementing with formula - otherwise the baby would starve. She's been working with a LC from her doctors office.
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| Posted 6/9/14 3:07 PM |
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ANewDayHasCome
Love multiplies, not divides
Member since 11/12 14481 total posts
Name:
Me
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BF'ing vs Exclusively Pumping
I did both. I ebf for the first month and it sucked the life out of me. I didn't like not knowing how much she was getting. I'm a very type a person and I didn't know of dd was actually nursing or doing it for comfort. After the first month I started pumping and giving bottles. I liked that bc I knew exactly how much she was getting. BUT it's really hard. At any given point I was either nursing/pumping/feeding bottles/cleaning pump parts etc etc.
Every mom and situation is different. You don't have to decide now what will work for you bc you won't know until you're in it.
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| Posted 6/9/14 3:15 PM |
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dlj97
LIF Adult
Member since 7/10 4399 total posts
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BF'ing vs Exclusively Pumping
My advice would be to try to BF and if it doesn't work out for whatever reason then to pump. It is a lot easier to switch from BF to pumping than the other way around.
ETA - BF is IMO better than pumping for many reasons. Baby stimulates milk production more than the pump, so you might not have enough milk if you exclusively pump. BFing is also so much easier once it is established - you can feed them whenever they are hungry and don't need to worry about pumping the milk, having a bottle, washing a bottle, washing the pump parts, etc. And of course you get the bonding that you wouldn't get from the pump.
Message edited 6/9/2014 3:22:38 PM.
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| Posted 6/9/14 3:17 PM |
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MrsT809
LIF Adult
Member since 9/09 12167 total posts
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BF'ing vs Exclusively Pumping
Honestly, it can be very stressful to ebf in the beginning. Not knowing how much they baby is eating is tough, especially if they don't gain weight rapidly. However, once I got passed the first few weeks I found it really enjoyable and easy. I nursed DD for 16 months and am really looking forward to doing it again! I personally hated pumping so I know I would be miserable just doing that. If I needed to do it for whatever reason, I'd probably make the best of it but I wouldn't be happy.
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| Posted 6/9/14 3:25 PM |
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Samira0407
Love being a Mom
Member since 6/08 4030 total posts
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BF'ing vs Exclusively Pumping
I EBF and it was the easiest. My LC said to just watch the # of poop and pee diapers and as long as he was gaining weight he was getting enough milk. It was much easier just feeding the baby when needed then having to hook up to a machine. When I came back to work it was such a pain washing all the parts when I pumped 5x a day; I couldn't imagine doing it more. But that was just my experience.
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| Posted 6/9/14 3:47 PM |
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HeyJude
LIF Adolescent
Member since 9/07 820 total posts
Name:
p
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Re: BF'ing vs Exclusively Pumping
For me, I could not have exclusively pumped. I had latching issues with DC #2. If I was not able to work them out, I would have gone to FF. I hated pumping. For me, the big pluses of BF were the bonding and the ease of feeding whenever/wherever i was. I only pumped when I was going to be away from DC and during the time I was having issues and needed to heal.
It is such a personal decision. It is hard to decide before you know how you or DC will take to it.
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| Posted 6/9/14 3:57 PM |
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jessnbrian
Only God knows His plan for us
Member since 4/13 7238 total posts
Name:
Jessica
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Re: BF'ing vs Exclusively Pumping
Posted by Samira0407
I EBF and it was the easiest. My LC said to just watch the # of poop and pee diapers and as long as he was gaining weight he was getting enough milk. It was much easier just feeding the baby when needed then having to hook up to a machine. When I came back to work it was such a pain washing all the parts when I pumped 5x a day; I couldn't imagine doing it more. But that was just my experience.
Those were the issues that my BFF and my sister in law had - neither produced right away and both babies LOST weight initially. My nephew lost about 1 pound by 4 days after birth and my Goddaughter lost almost 1/2 pound by the 3rd day after birth. By the time my SIL found out the issue, she had begun producing, my BFF is still not producing enough, so she has to supplement w/ formula. She's still getting some BFing time in, though, just not each time.
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| Posted 6/9/14 4:01 PM |
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ANewDayHasCome
Love multiplies, not divides
Member since 11/12 14481 total posts
Name:
Me
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Re: BF'ing vs Exclusively Pumping
Posted by jessnbrian
...both babies LOST weight initially. My nephew lost about 1 pound by 4 days after birth and my Goddaughter lost almost 1/2 pound by the 3rd day after birth. By the time my .
Most babies lose weight between when they are born and when they leave the hospital. It's considered normal, and expected, for babies to lose 3-7% of their weight. Dd was born at 7lb 5oz and left the hospital 3 days later at 6lbs 13oz. Dr wasn't concerned at all and said it's normal.
The concern is how long it takes them to get back to their birth weight.
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| Posted 6/9/14 4:15 PM |
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DiamondGirl
You are my I love you
Member since 7/09 18802 total posts
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DiamondMama
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Re: BF'ing vs Exclusively Pumping
WIth my DS he did not latch, I tried pumping but since he was not on my breast stimulating the milk production I got very little milk and dried up in 4 weeks. the doc said this is common and many women can not EP without baby stimulating nipple. If you plan to do this i suggest renting a hospital grade pump, I heard this can help milk production. Good luck!
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| Posted 6/9/14 4:26 PM |
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MrsT809
LIF Adult
Member since 9/09 12167 total posts
Name:
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Re: BF'ing vs Exclusively Pumping
Posted by ANewDayHasCome
Posted by jessnbrian
...both babies LOST weight initially. My nephew lost about 1 pound by 4 days after birth and my Goddaughter lost almost 1/2 pound by the 3rd day after birth. By the time my .
Most babies lose weight between when they are born and when they leave the hospital. It's considered normal, and expected, for babies to lose 3-7% of their weight. Dd was born at 7lb 5oz and left the hospital 3 days later at 6lbs 13oz. Dr wasn't concerned at all and said it's normal.
The concern is how long it takes them to get back to their birth weight.
Yes, totally normal and expected. DD dropped from 7lb 15 to 7lb 5 in the first day. It took her nearly two weeks to get back up to 8 pounds. It was touch and go but we did it with the help of a patient, supportive ped and a good LC.
It's definitely something you can talk about with potential peds. Some seem to have unrealistic expectation about regaining. Peds usually look for a gain of 1 oz a day but my LC was okay with 1/2 oz.
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| Posted 6/9/14 4:28 PM |
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jessnbrian
Only God knows His plan for us
Member since 4/13 7238 total posts
Name:
Jessica
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Re: BF'ing vs Exclusively Pumping
Posted by MrsT809
Posted by ANewDayHasCome
Posted by jessnbrian
...both babies LOST weight initially. My nephew lost about 1 pound by 4 days after birth and my Goddaughter lost almost 1/2 pound by the 3rd day after birth. By the time my .
Most babies lose weight between when they are born and when they leave the hospital. It's considered normal, and expected, for babies to lose 3-7% of their weight. Dd was born at 7lb 5oz and left the hospital 3 days later at 6lbs 13oz. Dr wasn't concerned at all and said it's normal.
The concern is how long it takes them to get back to their birth weight.
Yes, totally normal and expected. DD dropped from 7lb 15 to 7lb 5 in the first day. It took her nearly two weeks to get back up to 8 pounds. It was touch and go but we did it with the help of a patient, supportive ped and a good LC.
It's definitely something you can talk about with potential peds. Some seem to have unrealistic expectation about regaining. Peds usually look for a gain of 1 oz a day but my LC was okay with 1/2 oz.
In both situations, it was an issue with both pediatricians. For my BFF, the baby wound up back in the hospital because of jaundice, didn't even wait for the baby to try to gain weight back... for my nephew, the doctor felt it was OK, like yours, since he gained weight pretty quickly after that, but was concerned because my SIL wasn't producing.
ETA: but it's good to know that it's normal for babies to lose weight (both babies were born under 7lbs, so that might have had something to do with the concern the doctors had).
Message edited 6/9/2014 4:45:49 PM.
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| Posted 6/9/14 4:44 PM |
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Babywish2
LIF Infant
Member since 4/14 158 total posts
Name:
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Re: BF'ing vs Exclusively Pumping
Posted by dlj97
My advice would be to try to BF and if it doesn't work out for whatever reason then to pump. It is a lot easier to switch from BF to pumping than the other way around.
ETA - BF is IMO better than pumping for many reasons. Baby stimulates milk production more than the pump, so you might not have enough milk if you exclusively pump. BFing is also so much easier once it is established - you can feed them whenever they are hungry and don't need to worry about pumping the milk, having a bottle, washing a bottle, washing the pump parts, etc. And of course you get the bonding that you wouldn't get from the pump.
I agree. I was such a lousy pumper and I would literally get nothing. I only started pumping when I had to return to work.
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| Posted 6/9/14 5:45 PM |
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jams92
Member since 1/12 6105 total posts
Name:
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BF'ing vs Exclusively Pumping
Everyone is different. I personally hated pumping. I had latch issues with dd but worked through them. I bf until I went back to work when I would pump during the day and bf when I was home. For me pumping was a pain - taking it out, putting all the pieces in place, sitting there for 20minutes, storing the milk, washing it etc. I was much happier to stick the baby on my boob. I also found it easier when I was out to not have to schlep my pump.
I would give bf-int a try. If you have problems or don't want to continue then go to the pump
Message edited 6/9/2014 5:53:03 PM.
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| Posted 6/9/14 5:52 PM |
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MrsG823
Just call me Mommy.
Member since 1/11 5570 total posts
Name:
S
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BF'ing vs Exclusively Pumping
I EBF and I could not imagine pumping and then bottle feeding the first couple of weeks. I had a hard enough time keeping up with feedings early on since my DD has reflux and we had to keep her upright for 30 minutes after each feeding. In the beginning I was lucky to get an hour between feedings on a good day. My Daughter was born during my DH's busy season at work so I was on my own the majority of the time.
My suggestion would be to breastfeeding if possible early on. Pumping and bottle feeding increases the amount of time you will have to spend preparing for each feeding. Once you have your supply established then you can pump and freeze or feed.
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| Posted 6/9/14 6:12 PM |
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JME78
LIF Adult
Member since 11/09 3672 total posts
Name:
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Re: BF'ing vs Exclusively Pumping
I could not imagine exclusively pumping.
I hate pumping, I cannot imagine being tied to a pump all the time.
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| Posted 6/9/14 6:25 PM |
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Loveme
LIF Adult
Member since 6/11 3170 total posts
Name:
Me
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BF'ing vs Exclusively Pumping
I breasted at first and hated it because DS would fall asleep in the boob then wake up an hour later screaming his lungs out for more milk. I just felt that he was constantly attached to me and it stressed me out.
I started pumping when he was about a month old. I had a hands free pump so I didn't feel so restricted when I was pumping.
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| Posted 6/9/14 6:41 PM |
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MESal0820
LIF Adolescent
Member since 2/11 543 total posts
Name:
Meghan
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Re: BF'ing vs Exclusively Pumping
Crashing.
I couldn't bf because my son wouldn't latch. I found EP to be very stressful. My husband works overnights, so I would have to get up with the baby, feed him a bottle, change him and rock him back to sleep. Then I'd have to pump, and it was torture for me.
When I have another baby, I want to try and bf, but if I have to pump exclusively, I probably wouldn't do it again.
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| Posted 6/9/14 6:41 PM |
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JoesWife628
Our family is complete :)
Member since 8/08 3934 total posts
Name:
Me
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BF'ing vs Exclusively Pumping
I tried bfing ds but his latch was awful. My dd was only 16 months when I had him so it was too hard. I started eping when ds was 6 days old. I had a hands-free pumping bra and an extension cord so I wore my pump as I chased after dd and tended to them both. The benefits to pumping were: Ihad an oversupply so I was able to get a few bottles each session. By 8 months, I had enough frozen to last ds to 13 months and was even able to donate a few times. Anybody could feed ds, it wasn't only on me. It wasn't that bad. When dd was sleeping, I would pump as often as I could. I would also feed ds as I pumped (had him in the boppy next to me on the bed as I pumped). It worked for us. If I'm blessed with a third, idk if I would do it again, but it worked for me.
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| Posted 6/9/14 7:13 PM |
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MCD0524
LIF Adult
Member since 4/10 1199 total posts
Name:
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BF'ing vs Exclusively Pumping
I guess I am in the minority but I exclusevely pumped from 4 weeks to 14 months. I started out by BF'ing but like your family, my son went from 7lb 6oz to 6lb 3oz by the 4th day in the hospital. On the 5th day they wouldn't release him unless I pumped for them to show what I was getting which ended up being very little. I supplemented and continued to BF until week 4. At that point it became stressful for me because I went right back to work. I ended up getting a pumping bra and the medela freestyle and pumped right until he turned 14 months. I am due again in 3 weeks and looking forward to doing it all again. My pump and I had a love hate relationship but I cried for weeks when I stopped, my pump and I had a bond LOL
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| Posted 6/9/14 7:49 PM |
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drpepper318
MIR MIR MIR!
Member since 6/07 8274 total posts
Name:
me
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Re: BF'ing vs Exclusively Pumping
Crashing to say I've had a good experience pumping for DS for the past 10 months. When he was born I breastfed for about a week & found it very stressful because he would get so frantic, I couldn't get comfortable & neither of us could relax at all. Also I didn't want him to get so used to being ebf because I was going back to work when he was 2 months old. The pumping has been a lot of work with all the washing & drying parts & the time commitment & I also found it very physically tiring. I'd heard that the pump isn't as efficient as the baby at extracting milk but for me this wasn't true, I had no supply issues with the pump alone. I pumped 5 times a day until he was 8 months old & increased my supply to over 40 ounces a day so I was able to freeze a ton of it, now at 10 months I only pump once a day & am in my final days of doing it so I've started using the frozen milk. I'm relieved to be almost done but it wasn't terrible.
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| Posted 6/9/14 8:24 PM |
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Nic1229
LIF Adolescent
Member since 5/13 639 total posts
Name:
Nicole
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BF'ing vs Exclusively Pumping
I tried to bf.. but my dd was starving. She lost 10% of her weight in 5 days.. She was constantly latched on, I was bleeding.. it was a miserable experience, there was no happy bond for me.
I began pumping after about 10 days and it's been a thousand times easier for me. She'd be feeding/latched for a half hour at a time every 2 hours.. I can pump and empty 4 ounces in about 5 minutes, clean up the pump in another 5 and then feed her, it has cut feeding time in half for me, and we're much happier.
In the middle of the night when she wakes up my husband feeds her while I pump.
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| Posted 6/9/14 9:18 PM |
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missfabulous
#mommyneedswine
Member since 6/09 10031 total posts
Name:
Colleen
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BF'ing vs Exclusively Pumping
Wait until you have the baby and see what is best for you. Everyone's experience is very different. Even between my DS and DD my two experiences with BFing and pumping and FFing have been 100% different.
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| Posted 6/10/14 7:46 AM |
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Lola64
She is my heart!
Member since 1/11 1110 total posts
Name:
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Re: BF'ing vs Exclusively Pumping
I love all you ladies!!! I truly appreciate every little bit of feedback on this thread. Tough to decide I guess before DD is here...but it's good to hear all this before hand.
God I love this board...lol!!
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| Posted 6/10/14 8:38 AM |
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ANewDayHasCome
Love multiplies, not divides
Member since 11/12 14481 total posts
Name:
Me
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Re: BF'ing vs Exclusively Pumping
Posted by Lola64
I love all you ladies!!! I truly appreciate every little bit of feedback on this thread. Tough to decide I guess before DD is here...but it's good to hear all this before hand.
God I love this board...lol!!
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| Posted 6/10/14 8:41 AM |
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