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Anyone who says breastfeeding is cheaper than formula is full of it!
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Anonymous
| I work full time and have been breastfeeding for 4 months. Whoever says it's cheaper is INSANE. I had to buy lots of bottles for when I am at work. I had to rent an expensive hospital grade pump and then I have to keep buying VERY expensive diaphrams and valves b/c they wear out or tear. Those things are pricey!! I also had to buy another pump to take places with me and then i keep one at work. It's insane! INSANE, I say! |
Anonymous
| Totally insane. It really is pricey if you pump. |
Anonymous
|
It's definitely not cheaper if you work outside the home and pump or pump exclusively.
If you don't pump at all it's free though! |
Anonymous
| You didn't even mention the nursing bras. I agree it is expensive. |
Anonymous
| I EP'd and yeah, it was crazy expensive. |
Anonymous
well, i will agree that the bottles and pump parts aren't cheap. (but the bottles CAN be cheap if you use cheap bottles). but, why do you have 2 pumps? i rented a hospital pump while i was home, because i only pumped once a day, at home. but i bought a PISA when i returned to work, and i just lug the thing to and from work every day. there's no reason why you should have (and be paying for) 2 pumps. formula costs $20 a canister. how many canisters do you think a baby will go through in the amount of time you are pumping? |
Anonymous
| I found it cheaper when I used the pump again for baby #2. Then my initial costs were much less than for baby #1. |
Anonymous
| Don't forget that silly nursing cover that we could never use since DS would not tolerate being covered up. |
Anonymous
| OP, have you ever priced out formula? It's not cheap, especially if you have a child with sensitivities or allergies. And a lot of us who FF also BF as well, so we already invested in the pumps etc. I think the bottom line is that kids cost a lot of money, no matter how you feed them! |
Anonymous
|
For us it was all the darn food I was starving for!
Eh, at least I know (mostly) what goes into my body... who knows what's in formula! |
Anonymous
I completely disagree with you and I work 9.5 hour days 5 times a week and nursed 11 months. Perhaps your "expensive hospital grade pump" was the culprit. A good quality Medela pump is sufficient (which can be purchased via your flexible spending account - pre-tax) and can be carried with you to work and back at home. You purchase bottles and then when they are emptied you boil them or clean them in hot water and reuse them. Have you started buying formula yet or at least "organic formula"? When you do, you will wish you were still nursing because it is much more expensive than nursing. |
Anonymous
Actually the ingredients are right there on the can/bottle. 
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Anonymous
| The initial cost of the pump was high, but other than that it seemed really cheap to me. We used cheap gerber bottles (DS1 was born before we knew about BPA). I never had to replace any parts - although my pump broke in between kids. Luckily a close friend was weaning right when I needed he pump for DS2. So I got her pump. I did rent hopsital pumps both times for a couple of months. I still think it was way cheaper than formula. |
Anonymous
|
I can tell you that breastfeeding is definitely cheaper, especially if you EBF more than one kid. I WOH FT and pumped for 12 months. Why do you keep buying bottles? Store breastmilk in the cheap bags. Also agree that you don't need an expensive hospital grade pump or to keep replacing parts. You may be doing something wrong. I have never replaced parts and am on baby #3.
Formula is crazy expensive. Buying a few nursing bras plus a pump won't come CLOSE to the amount you would spend on formula for a year. |
Anonymous
I disagree. I have 2 pumps, too. If you travel, you cannot travel w/ a hospital grade pump. WAY too heavy and bulky when you're also lugging suitcase, laptop, all the acoutrements for pumping, etc. And if you pump 3-4x / day, a hospital grade pump is MUCH better than a PISA. I have both, and the hosp. grade is more efficient at getting milk out and far less abusive on my nipples. I am with you, OP, it is really expensive to pump! And I also agree w/ the PP re: the high cost of good supportive nursing bras, espec. if you have big ta ta's (mine are a 38G right now :oops  . These suckers have fluctuated so much in size over 2 pregnancies and 2 nursings, and through all the plugged ducts, engorgement, weight loss, weight gain, process of weaning, etc., that I swear I have an entire drawer filled with expensive nursing/maternity bras in a wide variety of sizes, strengths, etc. A nursing cami doesn't cut it when you're a 38G and work in a professional environment.
That said, all worth it, IMO. |