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EPing sucks. But I also made myself do it until about week 12 for the health benefits. Then I just couldn't do it anymore. What kind of formula are you using? Sams Club sells a lot of them for cheap--gentle, sensitive, etc. You could always try one of those.

I EP'd until I was only getting a few ounces a day. It was simply not worth all the time (hours) and time away from LO.

I'd also suggest maybe reading some stories of mamas (fearless formula feeders, etc) about their realizations that formula is a-ok and how they dropped the guilt. It will eat you alive and steal the joy you could be spending with your LO.

I had a dual electric and a hands free pumping bra and I could never hold E while wearing it all!!! It was so crazy!

I only tried pumping for a little while before going straight to formula. It wasn't worth it to me - the time and effort. I don't think formula has negatively affected my sons AT ALL. My older son has been very healthy and hit all his milestones on track. Leo is growing like a weed and is a happy baby.

Please do what feels best for you! But just know formula is not awful! I make a batch of bottles for the day and just grab as I need. Anyone can feed the baby which gives me a break.

I don't really remember. I mean, one month is super important, and i feel like it sort of cascades down in importance as they get older and their immune system strengthens. Your LO has had her first vaccines and that's where i remember sort of sighing of relief. But, I also don't buy into breast milk being some magical juice that really is so much more important that i felt really bad about quitting. Obviously babies everywhere thrive on formula and that's ok for me. But i do remember reading that LOs get benefits from 4 oz of milk but something about not "more benefits" from 12 oz. Like their body gets saturated on the good stuff, so more isn't always THE BEST. I know that all vitamins are that way--your body reaches a saturation point where you urinate out the excess that isn't used. But I'm sure that is controversial; just something I remembered reading that helped me to relax. In the beginning, I was pumping all the time. Then I got sick. My supply never recovered. I gave it a week or two of like, serious pumping boot camp. An hour of cycling the pump every evening, plus doing it every few hours during the day. Finally, the pump tore a hunk of my skin off, so i dropped a couple sessions. I just couldn't do it. I was more worried about pumping for freaking milk than I was spending time with my daughter. What short time I had at home. And then I felt like milk > time with her. And then I ended it. After about a week of drying up, I just felt an enormous weight off my shoulder. Truly. For me, i set a limit. I told myself that if it wasn't X by X date or significantly better, i "gave myself permission" to quit...I really hated it, though.

This is one of those things...that in the beginning, seems so incredibly important. And the older your LO gets, the less important their first year of nutrition becomes in your head as you focus on other things

@Mae: I have not EP-ed, so I don't know how helpful my response can be, but I hate seeing you beat yourself up over this. You have tried SO hard, and you have given her breastmilk during these first few months. To me, it sounds like it just isn't working for your overall situation. You are an amazing mother and will continue to be whether you BF, EP, or FF. While breastmilk is wonderful, I completely agree with @Aimed: that it's not the elixir of life. Let's not forget that your health is as important as your baby's-- she needs her mom for more than just milk!

I have not been in your situation, but personally, if I was, I believe I would go to formula.

Oh and I have a double electric pump and a good hands free pumping bra and I could never hold the baby while pumping-- not to mention that it would stress me out a lot which would mean I wouldn't get much milk anyway.

I EPed for 3 months before I went back to work. The first 3 weeks, I tried breastfeeding, but I was so engorged that I would get up, feed LO (which took close to an hour b/c we were both terrible at it), rock him back to sleep, THEN pump for 20 minutes so I wasn't so full, and he would be right back up again ready to eat in another hour. I was dying for sleep. LO ate from a bottle in 15 minutes flat, and there were times that DH would get up and let me sleep a bit.

I have no regrets. I started to wean myself from pumping when I was ready to go back to work (1 hour + commute and pumping just weren't going to work for me), and started supplementing with formula then.

I think you need to do what works for you. If you choose to formula feed, do not feel guilty. You're doing what's best for both you and your baby. The amount of pressure that's placed on us as moms for everything we do is just mind-blowing. Once I started formula feeding, I was far happier, and so was LO. He had such bad digestive issues when I was breastfeeding and giving him pumped milk. Once we moved to formula, he became my happy little guy.

I didn't EP, but I did pump all the time in order to feed Xander breast milk until he was one. But honestly, if I was in your situation, I'm not sure I would've done it! It was a LOT of work and it was only doable because my work was really great about giving me the time to pump during the day AND my husband would watch Xander while I pumped in the evenings and on weekends. If I was solo parenting, I'm not sure I could have managed!

Whatever you do, it will be fine!! Even with providing Xander breast milk for a year, he still has terrible allergies and gets sick ALL THE TIME. Your child will be JUST FINE if you decided to just forgo the trouble and do formula!

Don't let guilt force you to EP.

You are an amazing mom. I've been following your breastfeeding journey and I know you've tried so hard to make it work. The love you have for your daughter is evident in every post, but it will never be measured in ounces of breastmilk.

My heart goes out to you.

@Mae: we FF because I also had a bunch of issues BFing. For us it was a good decision because I got to spend time with LO and bond with her instead of trying to get milking of my body. The whole B fing situation I think really contributed to my PPD.

SO you know my story--Tomorrow, my baby is 1 and I'll have been EPing since she was 3 months old (to be fair, I was practically EPing before that point, but I was also still trying to BF).

The first 6-7 months were absolutely the hardest, but my LO was also diagnosed with MSPI, so I've had to go without dairy for 9 months now and that was by far the hardest part for me. At 6 months, I stopped any overnight feeds and from then on, my life was much easier. When I dropped down to 4 pumps a day when LO was 7 months old, it got easier still. A few weeks back, I dropped to 3 pumps a day, and I feel like I have so much time on my hands!

It's challenging pumping at home when LO is now totally mobile. Just this morning, she dumped over a potted plant we have inside (while I was pumping) which made a gigantic mess, but it is what it is.

If my next can't BF for some reason, I may try formula sooner. In our case, with LOs MSPI, she could only be on Neocate and it tastes awful and she just wouldn't take it. I started trying when she was 7 months and she just never took to it. So I pumped out of necessity.

I think if you *want* to EP and combo feed--set a small goal for yourself--maybe 3 months, or 6 months. Then reevaluate when you get there.

I have a friend with low supply who combo fed and pumped till 5 months and then she stopped pumping and went to 100% formula and felt great about the decision.

Definitely I want to warn you that if you want to protect your supply, EPing is a sacrifice-- I have pumped on airplanes, in my car more times thanIi can count, during my commute to and from work, on every lunch break, first thing in the morning and last thing at night. I have pumped during parties, in other people's bedrooms, in a tent even! And I have missed out on events and meetups and playdates because of my pumping schedule. So there's that. I don't think I would ever recommend EPing to anyone unless you like doing it (and someone DO like it.) But I also know that when you are set on something, sometimes nothing can change your mind.

In any case--good luck. It's great that nowdays we have formula, electric pumps--no matter what, your baby will be well fed. =)

I was FF and so were my siblings. We're effin awesome my brother is a literal genius, I do pretty well for myself and my sister is smart and creative. I will totally FF this LO if I can't BF or it becomes too much and I won't feel a drop of guilt. You shouldn't either. I imagine EPing with supplementation would be even better, but don't kill yourself.

I have been sort of exclusively pumping for the last three months, after my doctor said my daughter hadn't gained enough weight at four months. It was really stressful at first, and still is sometimes, but now that I've got the hang of things it's much easier.

Helpful things :

I do nurse for 5-10 minutes after every wakeup. I find this triggers a strong letdown (stronger than the pump) that helps my supply. My daughter doesn't nurse well so I don't think she gets much but that's okay.

I don't pump between midnight and 7 am. It helps my supply if I do but I think there's a limit!

Definitely get multiple sets of parts so you don't have to wash as often. I also recommend the Medela Freestyle as it makes you far more mobile. This means I can pump in the car on the way to places and so I'm not tied to the house.

I used to try and give my daughter her bottle while pumping which worked really well. She's been very burpy lately so I can't anymore, but it helped to keep her entertained.

Now that she's seven months, I can just sit her on the floor and surround her with toys - sometimes she fusses but I can usually get fifteen minutes before I really have to pick her up. So it gets easier as they get older to pump while watching them.

Right now I pump six times a day and get about 700 ml (but I also nurse briefly six times too). She's thriving well on that and her weight problems are gone! EPing is certainly not what I'd describe as fun but the months are flying by and we'll be at a year in no time. It saves us a lot of money and may or may not be beneficial to her as well, so I'm glad I'm doing it.

I was an EPer, after N was born. From day one he didn't latch properly because of severe tongue and lip ties. I had his tongue tie corrected at 10 days old, but his lip tie was not corrected until 4 months (run around from local doctors). He never once latched, even with as much trying as we did. I EPed until he was about 7 or 8 months. I had a pretty big freezer stash by then so he got breast milk until about 10 month. We started supplementing with formula around 8.5 months to help stretch out the breast milk that I had remaining. I stopped EP because I had just had it. I wanted more time with N. EP did get easier as he got older, I was able to stretch my pump times without losing any supply. I was pumping on this schedule:
7am: Wake up (pump)
11am: Pump and then lunch
3pm: Pump
6 or 7pm: Pump
10-11pm: Pump and Bed!
Then I would sleep until morning.

Just remember whatever you choose to do, that choice is best for you and your LO.

Big hugs momma!

@Mae: no adobe, just hugs!!

@Mae: slightly off topic, but I have a question...LO has developed a dairy intolerance, and I have about 100 oz in the freezer that I cannot use. Would you want it?? Feel free to say no, or to wall me with q's. I'm going to donate it either way, but I would be happy to ship it to you!

@Mae: haha didn't even notice that!

@Mae: ps your new plan sounds perfect! Hugs!