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@ChitownRo: I would see an LC if I were you! $200 would be worth it to me for the chance of not washing bottles etc. Is there a la leche league near you or a support group at the hospital??

I would see the LC. My insurance reimbursed I think $100 of the cost of mine, maybe yours does something similar?

Like @Foodnerd81: I knew I didn't want to EP so it was important for me to get BF sorted as soon as possible.

DS was itty bitty when he was born so we had to supplement with high protein formula from day 1 so that he didn't lose too much weight since colostrum wasn't enough for him. Once my milk came in, we fed him that. I pumped while at the hospital to get things started. I'd put him to my breast to see if he would latch each session, but he wouldn't so we'd give him a bottle of pumped milk. Magically, when he was 6 weeks old, he latched on and nursed like he'd been doing it since birth!!

We never saw a LC, and I was okay with EP if that's what it took for him to take my milk. We were lucky it worked out so well for us. If you want to see a LC, I think that'd be a great idea to see if they can offer additional advice! The NICU nurses gave us tons of advice while we were at the hospital so that's why I didn't see a LC.

Ok, so we were in a similar situation. At a week old LO was basically not latching at all because of bottles that hospital was giving him etc. I had an LC come to our house who diagnosed nipple confusion, and basically put us on a regimen of syringe feeding and practicing at the breast, and pumping of course. I'm going to be brutally honest- it was rough! each feeding would take an hour, then I would pump, then I would have an hour "off" and the whole cycle would start again. Part of this was complicated because my LO was tiny, so it took several weeks until we could nurse at the breast full time. BUT for all the exhaustion and frustration of that first month, we ended up with an amazing BF relationship (and I am still nursing at 29 months)! I don't want to minimize the effort it took initially, but it was DEFINITELY worth the hard work. When I think of 6 weeks in comparison to two years of breast milk that's really just a drop in the bucket, and I know that there's no way that would have happened if I had to EP. If you have any more questions or need some encouragement please let me know!

We used a nipple shield and it helped, but by 3 weeks we were EPing. I have to admit - I love it! I love how others can feed her, the bottles fill her up (she started STTN at 4 weeks) and it's convenient while out and about. I like the "me time" pumping provides and I throw the bottles in the dishwasher each night so it's not too big of a pain.

That being said I never had my heart set on bfing and never enjoyed bfing so EPing is a great happy medium for me.

@ChitownRo: I just wanted to clarify that our situation was abnormal because LO was only 5 lbs and a lot of the reason it took as long as it did was because he needed to grow a bit to have a bigger mouth/stronger latch. I would check the specifics with an LC. Also, I wanted to add that you are stronger than you think you are, and whatever you decide the bees will support!

To offer a different opinion... I've been EPing for 4.5 months because of latch issues and hate it. Not sure I'd do anything differently if I could go back, because I had An LC come to my house, went to twice weekly BFing support groups, had my LOs tongue and lip ties clipped AND took her to physical therapy because she had trouble opening her mouth... And ultimately none of those things were successful to get her to latch properly.

Having said that, I think I'm an extreme example and I think a lot of people have an easier time BFing after some initial hurdles.

Things I hate about pumping: no bond with baby ( through the feeding process I mean ) and in fact, I feel like pumping takes a lot of time that I could/should be spending playing with LO. Pumping and feeding with a bottle will take twice as long as just BFing or formula feeding. Pumping can be isolating. You can learn to bf in public, but you can't really whip out your double electric in a restaurant, park, or mall. You are tied to your pump and have to be there with out every 3-4 hours or you risk losing your supply, whereas a BFing baby can go anywhere with you and feed on the go. Washing parts sucks. And sucks more with each month.

I write this while standing and pumping in my own bathroom as we have guests over and my baby is taking a nap in our room, so I'm relegated to pumping in the bathroom in my own house.

Pumping has been quite literally one of the most thankless, annoying tasks I've ever set out to do. Which is why I'm quitting at 6 months.

I think it's telling that lots if women enjoy breastfeeding but very few enjoy pumping. My two cents!

I think the decision to EP is extremely personal and individual. What works for one may not work for bother for a variety of reasons. I tried BFing my twins but struggled with low supply. After three weeks of BFing and supplementing with formula, I switched to EPing and didn't look back. After 6 weeks my supply caught up with pumping and I was able to give them only breast milk. At almost 11 months I am still pumping and starting to reintroduce formula. Have I loved my time pumping? No, but I have loved being able to provide my two boys with breast milk for nearly 11 months.