Is Exclusively Pumping Worth it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I have decided to pump until I go back to work until I go back to work. I will go back at 4 months and decide then if I want to still pump. We are supplementing with formula. The pumping hasn’t been that bad and the baby is eating well from the bottle.

It’s not all or nothing. You could pump in the mornings and evenings, but not at work.

OP here. If I quit pumping during the day, I will quit entirely. I don’t see a point pumping in the morning and at night. Formula is just fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I have decided to pump until I go back to work until I go back to work. I will go back at 4 months and decide then if I want to still pump. We are supplementing with formula. The pumping hasn’t been that bad and the baby is eating well from the bottle.

This sounds like a good plan. You’ll have to taper off so you don’t get mastitis. By the time you wind down, your baby will be beginning solids. Then you just have a few more months of formula. Our pediatrician was okay with us introducing cow’s milk around 10-11 months at which point my kids were losing interest in milk altogether and were more interested in real foods. I was excited to drop the bottle ASAP by 1 year old. I promise this time will pass more quickly than you realize and you’ll wonder why you spent so much time fretting over BM vs formula!

OP here. We will not be feeding solids until 6 months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I have decided to pump until I go back to work until I go back to work. I will go back at 4 months and decide then if I want to still pump. We are supplementing with formula. The pumping hasn’t been that bad and the baby is eating well from the bottle.

This sounds like a good plan. You’ll have to taper off so you don’t get mastitis. By the time you wind down, your baby will be beginning solids. Then you just have a few more months of formula. Our pediatrician was okay with us introducing cow’s milk around 10-11 months at which point my kids were losing interest in milk altogether and were more interested in real foods. I was excited to drop the bottle ASAP by 1 year old. I promise this time will pass more quickly than you realize and you’ll wonder why you spent so much time fretting over BM vs formula!

OP here. We will not be feeding solids until 6 months.

We fed solids earlier. No need to be fixed at 6 months unless you want to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I have decided to pump until I go back to work until I go back to work. I will go back at 4 months and decide then if I want to still pump. We are supplementing with formula. The pumping hasn’t been that bad and the baby is eating well from the bottle.

This sounds like a good plan. You’ll have to taper off so you don’t get mastitis. By the time you wind down, your baby will be beginning solids. Then you just have a few more months of formula. Our pediatrician was okay with us introducing cow’s milk around 10-11 months at which point my kids were losing interest in milk altogether and were more interested in real foods. I was excited to drop the bottle ASAP by 1 year old. I promise this time will pass more quickly than you realize and you’ll wonder why you spent so much time fretting over BM vs formula!

OP here. We will not be feeding solids until 6 months.

We fed solids earlier. No need to be fixed at 6 months unless you want to.

OP here. I was a nanny for 10 years. I’m not comfortable feeding solids until baby can independently sit in high chair and hold head up. 5 months maybe, but most 4 months old can not do that, and it increases the risk of choking. I’ve seen many feed their babies solids while they are laying down in a boppy or barley able to hold their held up in a high chair. We will also be doing baby-led weaning in combination with purées, and feel more comfortable starting at 6 months.

[Anonymous]

Didn’t read the other posts, but I thought I’d give you some perspective.
I pumped exclusively for my now ten year old. It was not worth it.
She is so smart, and is so unbelievably healthy, she never gets sick. Especially compared to her three other siblings (none of whom took a bottle). I do not regret much in life, but I do regret fretting over what she ate at that age.

[Anonymous]

It’s not worth your sanity. My gross overgeneralization of what I’ve read is 50% of the benefit of breast feeding you get in the first month and 90% of the benefit in 4-6 months. I’m highly skeptical of benefits after 6months. Personally I’d try to pump a few months yet then quit. Hopefully the pumping will get easier and you can consolidate into larger pumpings less frequent.