Is Exclusively Pumping Worth it?
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Anonymous
| Did it for 10 weeks and def not worth it |
Anonymous
|
No. It's not worth it. I was you with the LC's and pumping 8x/day and doing every possible thing I read about or got recommended. It's not worth it.
I say this as someone who thought I was doing the best possible thing for my baby, and I didn't come to regret it until a couple of months after I stopped. My kids are now 7 and 4. I EP'ed after 2 mos of trying unsuccessfully to get DC1 to latch. It's, to-date, my biggest parenting regret. I thought I had my pumping system down. I could pump in a car with DH driving. I had so many ways to store, transport, and thaw BM I could have started an e-commerce site with the products I had researched. I was probably right that I had figured out the most efficient way to EP. But, in retrospect, I regret every second I was attached to a pump while DC1 was awake. We switched to 100% formula at around 7 mos, and I slowly became aware of what I had lost. (And I EBF DC2 until 13mos, so I've got nothing against BF'ing when it works.) The only piece of parenting advice I confidently give is that EP'ing is absolutely not worth it. Also, DC1 who got only formula after 7mos is basically never sick (unlike EBF DC2) and smart as a whip. You are an amazing mom! You love your baby. You want to do what's best for your baby. I'm an internet stranger, but I can assure you that what's best for your baby is that you be relaxed. That you be there to hold him whenever he needs you. That you have the time and energy to snuggle him and just love him. He will thrive on formula (heck, I'm 100% formula-fed and I got a PhD from Harvard, no joke). You don't need to give your baby breast milk to be a good mom. I promise you. You already are a great mom! |
Anonymous
| I did it for 7 months, looking back definitely not worth it. Read Emily Oster’s Cribsheet if you want good info on the benefits/tradeoffs of Formula vs. breast milk. |
Anonymous
| It is hard - I did this for 9 months. But the best advice I got is that it’s not all or nothing. You can pump a few times per day and give some formula, and then it is more manageable. |
Anonymous
| Not worth it and I regret the time I wasted doing it. |
Anonymous
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My only regret about my child’s infancy is that I EP’ed. Snuggle the baby instead of messing with a pump.
You will need to wean slowly, so she will still be getting breastmilk for quite a awhile anyway. |
Anonymous
| Ugh I EP’d for 8 months with my first (had major over supply so was able to feed BM exclusively until 10.5 months). Wouldn’t have made it past 8 months and that was too much. It was so stressful in the early months when I had to pump all the freaking time. By the time I returned to work it was somewhat bearable. I dropped a pump at work so only did it once and it was manageable until I stopped. second baby I stopped at 3 months. Baby had formula and is doing just fine at 4 years old! |
Anonymous
| No. Not worth it. Will be stressful and time consuming for minimal benefit. Formula works fine! |
Anonymous
Yes. The data has been around for years but people are just now coming around to trusting it. |
Anonymous
|
Not worth it. It’s basically the worst of both worlds. You have all the inconvenience of washing bottles and needing to pack a bottle bag while on the go without the convenience of just mixing up formula (I mean a huge perk of formula that it’s easily ready and even your DH can be in charge of feedings). But then you also have all the stress of worrying about your supply and being solely responsible for food production without the benefit of just being able to just whip out a boob on demand. One of the things I loved most about EBF my second kid was that I could just grab the diaper changing pad and my nursing cover and go. No worrying about whether I packed enough bottles for our outings. Also, he didn’t need a pacifier because I could use nurse to calm him.
With my first, there were latch issues and I spent 4 months miserably pumping, which in retrospect made the transition to motherhood much harder. I only BF my second because he was a BF champ. But if I had dealt with latch issues the second time I would have gone to formula right away with zero guilt. |
Anonymous
| I did it for 7.5 months. One day I woke up and just couldn’t take it anymore and weaned. It’s so draining. My friend is doing it now and wants to stop (baby is 11 weeks) and specifically asked her pediatrician about the immune benefits in the pandemic and the doc said not to keep pumping just for immune benefits as they are minimal. I would not EP again if I found myself needing to choose between pumping and formula. |
Anonymous
| I did it for a year and don’t regret it, but I also threw money at it, had a supportive husband, workplace that had good accommodations, and an excellent supply. I don’t know if I could’ve done it for 12 months without any of those 4 factors. |
Anonymous
| Nah, it's an exercise in futility and feeling defeated. Formula is just fine. |
Anonymous
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I did it for a year with my fist and six months with my second. I absolutely did it for too long (for me) for my first. In hindsight, that decision was driven by anxiety and a desire to control what I could. I only did it for as long as I did with my son because I had oversupply and only pumped 4 times a day to keep up. If I had a third, I probably would go straight to formula.
Once the baby is more interactive or mobile, it’s really taking time you could be enjoying. But everyone is different! |
Anonymous
| Another vote for not worth it. You get the disadvantages of having to clean bottles, need to time your pumping / feeding, no flexibility if you want to go out somewhere for a longer time (can’t just BF when baby is hungry and can’t just mix a bottle), and feeding takes twice the time, since you need to feed and pump and wash parts, etc. May still wake up at night for pumping / feeding, so no advantage there either. It’s exhausting all around for minimal benefit. |