What made you make the change from nursing to EP? I am thinking about making the change over. Baby is not a great nurser. She gets very frustrated when the milk slows down because she is used to a bottle during the day.
I pump and nurse at 7am, then she only nurses one time in the evening and if she wakes at 4am. So it wouldn't add too much extra to pump those times, and maybe add one more pump in.
What would you do? What made you EP, other than latch issues.
cantaloupe / 6885 posts
For me, I was never really dead set on BFing. I tried it with DD1 but I had supply and latch issues. It became very stressful so I decided to give EPing a try. I'm probably in the minority but I love it and feel like it's a great solution for us. So much so that when I had Dd2 I went right to EPing.
I like the convenience of bottle feeding. I like knowing how much she gets. I feel like both girls STTN very young because of it. I like being able to get out of the house for a few hours easily. I'm down to 4 pumps a day and it is pretty manageable. I know it's not for everyone, but for me it has been great.
If you would like EP specific tips let me know. Good luck 
coffee bean / 39 posts
My baby is a very poor nurser. He is extremely fussy at the breast and has difficulty latching. He also will suck a few times, swallow, then fall asleep and not consistently nurse (yes we do try to wake him up). I've seen 6 lactation consultants and there doesn't seem to be much else to do other than pump.
grapefruit / 4355 posts
DD couldn't latch so I decided to try EPing. Personally, I hated it. And after 2 bouts of mastitis in 5 weeks, I was done.
hostess / wonderful grape / 20803 posts
DS1 was low birth weight and a super fast/ fussy nurser. I was constantly stressed about how much milk he was getting and whether he was gaining well. So, I switched to EP at 6 weeks. It was the best decision for us at the time, because I was crying every day and had difficulty bonding prior to EP.
DS2 was a super fast nurser too...I think in the end it's just because I had a really good supply/fast flow. I still don't regret EP for DS1, though.
clementine / 806 posts
I wanted to EBF, but we just never got good at nursing. Even at 8 months, we could only successfully nurse in the rocker with a special pillow....had to have the same exact setup every time. I was so envious of friends who could take their babies out and nurse anywhere!
By 8 weeks, I was ready to give up on nursing, and I knew I would have to pump at work anyway. I found that nursing first thing in the morning, and pumping everything else worked best for us. It wasn't all-or-nothing...I still liked that morning nursing session, but I pumped the vast majority of his milk.
DS went on a nursing strike for that 1 remaining feeding at 8.5 months, and then I was truly 100% EP.
I had big over supply that continued while I was EPing. It made it hard to nurse, but was great for pumping. The one downside was middle of the night feedings -- it was SO much easier to do those nursing, and he was usually better at it because he was half asleep.
grapefruit / 4066 posts
I'm EPing LO2 because he had a tongue and lip tie and even though we had both snipped, he was still unable to latch well and suck. So I just started bottle feeding pretty much right from birth. I hated it in the beginning but don't mind it too much now, he's going to daycare in 2 weeks anyways so I would of had to pump anyways and it helps that he can take bottle from anyone. The MOTN pumping sucks big time though and I can't wait to stop that 4am pumping session...
blogger / grapefruit / 4836 posts
When I started to dread feeding my baby I knew it was time. Bottle feeding has always been so much less stressful for us for a variety of reasons and my anxiety decreased significantly.
grape / 88 posts
My son was in the nicu for a few days after birth and was on an iv, so I feel like we just never got off on the right foot to BF. We tried, and I pumped in the hospital to supplement, but nursing just never worked for us. My son had an excellent latch, but he just would latch and nuzzle up, not suck. So I decided to pump. I didn't have any trouble matching his needs and was able to pump 35oz a day without stress so after a few weeks of trying to EBF unsuccessfully (seriously my son would just scream at the breast and I'd be sobbing) I just figured it wasn't worth it. EPing was so hard but I loved being able to provide my son with my milk. Once he got mobile, I weaned off the pump because I figured spending time together was more important than having BM, and I didn't feel any guilt switching to formula.
I just feel like feeding your baby should t be a stressor. If you can make EBF work without grief, then excellent! If you can pump, that's excellent too! And if you can't do either of those, there's nothing wrong with formula
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