I'm thinking of doing this for lo2 but I remember how hard it was the first time around. I'm just very comfortable with bottle feeding now!
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Yes..kind of.
I now FF because I lost my supply (I think it is because I unexpectedly got pregnant and didn't know I was).I chose to EP because:
1- his latch wasn't awesome
2- I wanted the convenience of it (take a bottle, leave baby with dad for extended time..)
3- for the first 7-8 and more, my son was insaely colicy and literally never slept. I needed to sit down in a quiet place and pump and then, just hand off a bottle to DH in order to mantain any sanity.
3- I am a freak and I needed to know he was getting full and how much he was taking in
4- at first (didn't last the whole time) I could pump WAY more than he needed in the day. For example, i'd pump 34oz, he'd only take 18oz. So, I had a major stash. This stash became very useful when my supply started to dip.
5- I feel pretty lame about this reason but, in full disclosure: I was a shy breastfeeder and found myself always hiding in a bedroom or under a huge blanket to BF in front of friends and most family, so for me it was such a huge stress trigger.*next time around, I plan to BF and to pump a little so I can have the best of both worlds. But, who knows what'll happen
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@TurtleDoves: Ah I can relate to pretty much all of that, minus the colic part..we only went through "colic" for a few weeks before we realized it was the formula I was supplementing with, and then it went away after we changed formulas.
Now, I'm used to (1) being able to hand lo off for feedings (2) no health complications from nursing although I guess you can get that with pumping (3) being able to keep tabs on how much lo is drinking, (4) not nursing to sleep, ever, beyond the first week, (5) no bottle rejection phase, it goes on and on... I have insane fears about actual bf'ing! I had a lot of supply even pumping too but I wonder if that was just because it was the first few weeks... -
We are only in the second trimester but I know I want to EP. Like @turtledoves I think I'll be shy and it'll be a stresser. Is it even possible to EP from birth?
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@ladybee, yes it is. I've only been able to pump since having the baby (she's taken....four, maybe five swallows off my boob. That's it)....but I've had to supplement with formula at night (I had some engorgement and swelling issues in the beginning that I had to treat before I could get milk out) because I simply don't get enough to cover her needs. My supply is higher than it was a week ago, but now I like giving formula at night and feels like it greatly contributes to her getting 4 hour stretches of sleep. I've been pumping like...400 ml/day (on a good day). I have a tracker called Milk Maid that I use to track how much I'm pumping, which has been INSANELY helpful
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I did... I was nursing and pumping in the beginning but my LO had jaundice (that wasn't going away fast enough) so I pumped to ensure that he was getting enough milk. I had an over supply in the beginning and felt that pumping yielding two feedings in the same amount of time I was nursing him once, so I eventually I exclusively pumped.
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Dudes, I am EPing this week (pumping and dumping) because of a medication I've had to take and I can't believe people are able to do this long term! Hats off to you ladies because this is a pain in the a$$!
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My friend is an EP and it seems *so* hard. Feeding takes twice as much time because you have to spend 20+ min pumping then 20+ min feeding. Plus she had a hard time going anywhere because it was awkward having to bring the pump and take pumping breaks.
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You definitely wanna learn to feed while pumping! And it's much easier if DH does a chunk of the feedings. I do hate being tied to the pump and having to bring it places, though
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