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I think it is definitely possible! It will require lots of pumping sessions (at least 8-10 every day) at the beginning to establish your supply.

I've EP since week 2 bc of latch problems and the only issue i've run into is I never made enough so LO was able to get 100% BM. I basically produce enough for a newborn. They say that from 1 month to 6 month old babies eat roughly the same amount. so my advice would be if you were planning to BF just a little, I'd try to make it to the 1 month mark. If you don't want to BF at all, then you basically have to pump every 2-3 hours for a couple weeks. i'd even suggest power pumping a few times in that first month to simulate those early growth spurts. having said that you may be one of the lucky ones with an oversupply! i was never able to increase my supply with supplements, power pumping, etc though. hope that helps!

I personally hated pumping so that wasn't the path for me. But my SIL had premature twins and exclusively pumped for the first 8 weeks of their lives while they were in the NICU. She made a very large freezer stash so it is possible to do.

I pumped for a few weeks before going to all-formula. My thoughts/suggestions:
- Have supplements on hand from the beginning. Mother's Milk Tea, More Milk Plus, drinking plenty of water, getting rest (ha!), eating enough - these all helped (though I guess some suffer from oversupply; this was never an issue for me).
- Find a good show to watch on Netflix. I despised pumping, but it was my time to watch Friday Night Lights so I kind of looked forward to it.
- Buy a hands free pumping bra and Pumpin' Pals flanges online - these made a huge difference in comfort level.
- Buy bottles you can pump directly into rather than transferring milk from one container to another.
- Buy two sets of pump parts or refrigerate parts between pumping so you're not spending all of your time doing dishes.
- But if you feel the need to wash every time, buy dishwashing gloves. My hands were cracked and bleeding before I discovered this!
- Toggle between the modes on the pump (I forget what they're called) - if you stop producing after a few minutes, go back to the let-down mode and then back to the other mode to hopefully trigger a second let-down.
- Give yourself permission to quit if it's making you miserable. I found it much easier when someone else was home to help care for the baby. After that, I ended up in a situation where I was attached to the pump and the baby was crying and I didn't know that breast was really "best" for us anymore.

I think breast is best, but formula is fantastic.

I'm curious about this too! I'll be subscribing!

I'm not trying to convince you to BF.. just sharing my experience..

I've been EPing since DD was 1 month old. I was never super dedicated to BFing, but it was really important that I fed my daughter exclusively breast milk. Initially my plan was breastfeed and pump for 6 months, then switch to exclusively pumping until we made it to 1 year. Due to my forceful letdown and DD's severe reflux, I switched to EPing much sooner..

Things that really worked for me..

I truly believe that breastfeeding DD on demand from day 1 really helped establish my (over) supply. The first week home I nursed her on demand and pumped a few times when I was engorged. Around week 2, I started pumping first thing in the morning. Week 3, I pumped first thing in the morning and right before I went to sleep. DD was an excellent BFer (I never had sore nips) and she would get more out even if I had just pumped an hour or 2 earlier. Week 4, her reflux was pretty horrendous and I watching her spew milk every time we fed wasn't enjoyable for me, so I switched to EPing. By then I was making plenty of milk, so I was able to only pump 5 times a day (every 3-4 hours, then sleep through the night).

I pumped 5 times a day from 1 mo. - 3 mo, 4 times a day from 3 mo. - 5 months, and now 3 times a day from 5 months - 8 months.. I now pump 3 times a day and sometimes only 2 if I'm too tired. I pump about 30 - 35 oz. a day and now have over 1000 oz. in my freezer stash.

I think what really helped me was establishing my oversupply early. If I had to pump more I probably would have quit much earlier.

Other tips:
**Have supplements on hand. I like Mother's Milk Tea & Brewers Yeast
**Consume enough calories
**Stay hydrated
**Buy storage bags for your freezer stash
**Have several sets of pump parts (I got a free set from the hospital)
**The Medela storage system is great if you're EPing (you need extra bottles anyway)
**Milk maid app to keep track of all of your milk

Feel free to ask me any questions! EPing has not been easy, and it is a huge commitment, but I truly enjoy being able to feed my daughter exclusively breastmilk.

I EP'd for 6 weeks and its a hard path to take. I never figured out how to feed him and pump at the same time, even with a hands free pumping bra, so it felt like double the work.

I kept his rock n play next to the chair I pumped in so that if he fussed, I could reach over and touch him, talk to him, give him his paci, etc. This was probably what saved my sanity.

I also got a second set of pump parts and I refrigerate between pumpings, which helps.

I make lactation cookies often and will mix a little brewers yeast into yogurt pretty frequently as well (if you use the brewers yeast to help with supply, make sure you eat some yogurt or you could wind up with a yeast infection... I did).

I had an oversupply in the beginning (LO was in NICU and only eating an ounce at a feeding but I was pumping 3-4oz at a time and I pumped every 2-3 hours to establish supply, so I was able to build a freezer stash to get us through growth spurts, but I didn't realize that if I didn't pump every time he ate, my supply would dip.

Rent a Medela Symphony or other hospital grade pump for the first month, it'll help establish supply. I didn't and once LO was discarged from NICU, I was using a Medela Pump in Style Advanced and my supply took a hit.

Invest in a good water bottle! You'll be so incredibly thirsty. I have a 1 liter Camelbak and I drink 4-5 a day. I fill it as soon as its empty so that I always have water on hand.

EPing is a lot of work, but you'll find so much support here, I definitely did!

I think it's definitely possible, but you have to pump, pump, pump! I've EP since about 6 weeks, and my biggest issue is supply. Even pumping as many times as they eat, my already low supply has just gotten progressively lower so they are primarily on formula.

There is no reason that pumping has to make supply lower as long as you are strict about your schedule and use a high quality pump. Its definitely less efficient, theredor takes more time, but if you fully empty, your breasts will produce whatever you personally are capable of. I think I have very average supply and got up to about 35 ounces a day before I started cutting back sessions (lo has never eaten more than 23 and at the beginning he only ate a tiny bit).

My sister on the other hand pumped religiously for 7 months (8 times a day until the last couple) and never made more than 15 with every supplement under the sun.

I think starting immediately and for a longer amount of time is key.

@ladybee: I've been EPing since week 1. It does get better, in that instead of being attached to the pump 24/7 I only pump 4-5 times a day now (LO is 6 weeks).

Do you have good pumping days, or are they all bad? I only ask because I have a mix of good and bad days. On the bad days (I broke my elbow, developed mastitis, too exhausted to want to pump or wash parts, etc) I want to throw the damn thing out the window. On the good days I realize how much $$ I am saving, it's only 10 mins of time, etc. Dh gave me great advice and said if I'm going to quit, quit on a good day.

I don't know how long I'll make it....I'm kind of taking it day by day. But this is me giving you permission to quit when you feel like it's no longer working for you. No one should have any more added stress than is already present during the first few weeks. If you're crying every pump session and dreading the next pump - take a step back and a deep breath. LO has had at least a bottle of formula a day (I have low supply) and is thriving. I have absolutely no qualms about switching her 100% to formula when I decide to stop pumping.

Check out the Fearless Formula Feeder's website. It's not pro formula or anti breastmilk - it's just pro feeding your child. She looks at the research, answers FAQs and gives valuable information that's hard to find about FFing. I found her site when LO was 2 weeks and read through it, crying tears of relief. I knew then that I was no longer trapped and could switch to formula, guilt free, when I wanted to.

Hugs!

@ladybee: at 3 weeks I decided that I needed to have a life again and wouldn't live by my pump - and if my supply dropped, then so be it. It's also around when LO started STTN, and there's no way I'm getting up in the middle of the night to pump if she's sleeping. I gradually started cutting back my pump times to where I can pump when I want to and it doesn't affect my supply, as far as I can tell. Yesterday, for example, I pumped at 7am, 12pm, 6pm, and 1130pm. Much more manageable than staring at the clock and knowing every 2 hours I had to be hooked up.

Are you going back to work soon? I have a year off so I feel like I really should keep pumping. If I had a short mat leave I don't know how much of it Id want to spend pumping.

Good luck!!

Uhhh unfortunately, I will be the first to admit that when I returned to work, it was *amazing* to not have to deal with constantly pumping. By the time I got to work, I wasn't making much milk anyways, so it was an easy decision to wholly stop.

Roll with it for a little bit and see how it goes. Returning to work is overwhelming, whether you pump or not

@ladybee: I have a 7 week old still in the NICU, so I've been EP as well. A lactation consultant told me to pump every 3 hours instead of 2, since they've done studies to show that pumping every 2 just contributes to "fatigue of the mother" without increasing supply. That extra hour between sessions is awesome! Good luck with whatever you decide to go with.

@ladybee: I'm sorry you're struggling with pumping, and guilt on top of it! Just let go of that right now. The bottom line is, millions of people have thrived and bonded wonderfully with their parents on formula, and your baby will too. The health benefits of BFing have been oversold in some circles IMO, and are not worth making yourself miserable and missing out on these precious early moments with your new baby. Here's a closer look at the data: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/04/the-case-against-breast-feeding/307311/

Parenting is so much more than what's in that bottle. I stopped when I realized a huge part of what they learn in the early days is that they have parents that they can depend on, who will respond to their needs when they're upset. For me, it was more important to be responsive and comfort him when he needed me than to sit hooked up to the pump while he screamed his head off. We were both miserable. My LO has done SO WELL on formula - he didn't get so much as a cold until around 9 months (whereas plenty of his BFed friends did, so BM is far from a guarantee of perfect health).

I second http://www.fearlessformulafeeder.com and her Facebook page. An awesome resource that helped me a lot. I even bought her book and would be happy to send it to you if you want to message me your address.

You know what's best for you and your baby. If that's all-formula, then go for it. If it's pumping twice a day (maybe after your morning shower--I had the best output doing it then), then that's great too. Basically, you're doing great and don't let anyone make you feel otherwise!

@hummusgirl: agreed.

Every 2 hours is very often..I'd at least try every 3 and maybe stick with that a little bit before making the next move.