Is anyone else pumping exclusively?

[demonette55]

I'm having my baby this week, and this is my plan.  Is anyone else doing this--pumping and bottle feeding, with no nursing? 
If anyone is doing this, any advice?

[GraceKellysmom]

I know there are a couple of moms who are, but not necessarily by choice. It can be hard to meet supply demands with a pump. A baby's nursing mouth is the best thing to regulate supply (and it is so much more efficient), even if it is only for the first 6-12 weeks. Pumping must be done more frequently than nursing would, especially during a growth spurt.

Any reasons for your choice?

[wilksterette]

I had this thought that I was going to do that, because of pain. But really it's more of a pain in the ass than the actual pain is. Plus there's bottles and pump pieces to sterilize ALLLLLLLL the time!!! I'm not sure what your reasoning for pumping exclusively is, but I can tell you if it is for convenience or pain, nursing is your best bet. Hope that helps.
Corrine

[Lucysmom]

My dd refused to nurse and even the lactation consultant agreed that dd was not interested in nursing.  So I started pumping and bottle feeding her.  It was sooooo stressful trying to keep up with her and it really was twice the work.  At night I would have to set my alarm for every 3 hours to pump and dh would feed dd whenever she woke.  So both of us were zombies.  I only ended up giving her breastmilk for the first 10 days or so as it just became too much.  So unfortunately my experience with pumping and feeding was not a good one.....

[Jaime]

i did it with #2... i was not able to hold/feed him for the first 24 hours, and he just did not seem able to learn how to latch on.  after a week of pumping anyhow (and no luck with him learning) i decided to quit trying & pump full time.

now, i think i got away with it because i am naturally a HUGE supplier, so as long as i kept pumping at regular intervals, i was fine.  also made sure i drank lots of water.  i never (not even in the beginning) pumped at night.  i pumped every 3 hours during the day (total of 6x a day for 15 minutes each), and at the height of pumping i was getting 40 oz a day.  :shock:  at the natural growth spurt times i would just increase my sessions by 5-10 minutes for a week until my supply increased.

i would do it again if i had to, but i would have changed a couple things...

i would have set it up so i was pumping & feeding luke at the same time.  some of the time, i was trying to pump after he settled down for a nap, and since he needed some serious sleep training i ended up more stressed than it was worth.  because of that i only pumped full time for 3 months.  during month 4, i gradually cut back to 3 times a day, and then during month 5 slowly cut back to 2x a day.  i was still getting half-2/3 of his daily intake.  i totally quit at 6 months because i went back to work and have no time/place to pump (not a law in FL!!)

[annamum]

Yes, I am curious too what are your reasons for pumping exclusively. Because everyone I know who pumped says it is so much more convenient to nurse. You wake up when your baby does and don't need to rush to prepare a bottle of EBM. No sterilizing, storing, freezing and so on.

I have to admit, I know one lady who exclusively pumped for 18 months and was successfull with it but I think she was more Atachment Parenting oriented so I assume she pumped more or less on demand, whenever her boy was hungry. I know, it took a lot of perserverance on her side. What was important, she says, to pump more often during growth spurts to increase supply.
I also have to add that each woman may have different breast capacity and some produce tons of milk whether on schedule or not while other pumping moms don't do too well on it. I agree that the best is to give nursing a try for at least first weeks to try to establish your supply and then go from there.

Either way, I wish you success  .

[Lilah'sMommy]

Just wanted to add that I think you should give nursing a try for a bit longer than the first 2 aor 3 weeks (say 6 weeks?) because those are by far the worst weeks.  Once they're over, nursing is usually a breeze, your lo is more efficient, it takes less time and preparation than pumping, and it forces you to take some time in your day to just sit down and wnjoy your baby.  But I won't lie to you, those first couple weeks are pretty close to he**!  But as I'm still nursing past the first year and am happy to quit only when my daughter is, I think I can safely say it's all worth it.  I agree with everyone else; unless you're a huge supplier, you'll probably end up formula feeding much sooner than you think because it's just so hard to keep up a supply with pumping.

Just my two cents!

[MISSV]

hi there... my baby was born prematurely, and was in hospital for a short while - i really wanted to give her breast milk, so i expressed for her... we did this for nearly a month and then she was able to begin breastfeeding.
 i have to warn you of 2 things: 1. your supply will eventually give up if you only pump... a pump doesn't stimulate your body to produce milk in the same way as a baby... when she started to breast feed, i was amazed at the difference in how much more milk i could express. i also remember reading that you can only go about 6-8 weeks before your milk supply will go if you only express. 
2. it is REALLY difficult... remember - a new baby will want to breast feed every 2 - 2 1/2 hours at first... i was EXHAUSTED... you have to factor in the time it takes to express, then you have to sterilise your equipment etc, and feed the baby... it usually only gives you about 45 mins in between to sleep.... really hard slog.. worth it to give your baby breast milk, but be prepared for the commitment ...
good luck!