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Anyone who says breastfeeding is cheaper than formula is full of it!
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TooOldToCare
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And there you have it. Thanks for being supportive, by the way. 
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Anonymous
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For me, overall it was cheaper to BF. I was on maternity leave for 3.5 months, so that's a no-brainer in terms of what you are paying for formula those first few weeks.
Then my Medela pump in style cost $260 I think? Plus supplies. I didn't need a pricey hospital grade pump. I lugged it to and from work, and BF exclusively/pumped until 6 months. I slowly started weaning and was all weaned by 8 months. I think I ordered more tubing and those little white shields but that's it in terms of replacement parts. I also bought the wipes. |
Anonymous
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Why on earth do you need 3 pumps? I EP'd for my first for 12 months and used an Ameda pump. It was plenty efficient. I replaced valves a couple of times, but that is it. The only cost after that was milk bags.
And another poster paid $300 for a home visit from an LC? Good God, that is ridiculous. Plenty of good LCs do home visits for a lot less. Mine would do one for $125. I went to her office for $85. She was great. We shared some emails and phone calls after for free as well. |
Anonymous
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So far, I think I have spent:
$200 for a pump $150 for lactation consultant visits in the early weeks. $30 for a boppy. Maybe about $300 in nursing wear Another $100 in supplies (bottles, pump parts, baggies) I've been nursing for 2 years. It comes out to about $30/month, but that includes clothes, which I would have bought anyway, just not in nursing versions, and also bottles and other supplies which I would have needed if I FF. So absolutely, definitely cheaper for me. |
Anonymous
| Three kids, all EBF x 12 months, way cheaper than formula. I didn't overpurchase pumps, bottles, misc. accessories, and reused all for the second and 3rd kid. The white membranes and one set of tubing were all I replaced. Definitely not $1000 per year. |
Anonymous
| You will need bottles for formula feeding so I wouldn't factor this into the cost of breastfeeding. I rented a hospital pump which is more expensive than buying a pump but I had supply issues and a preemie. They gave me two sets of the plastic parts. I didn't need to replace these for one year. |
Anonymous
My pediatrician's office had LC services, so it was only a small copay each time I had a problem (and calls were free). |
Anonymous
| Ooh, lucky me, I get to pay for both! Discovered I wasn't making enough milk when my kiddo was 4 months old, when she gained zero ounces in an entire month. From then on, it's been BF, pump, and formula! (Oh, and thanks to the hater who likes to tell us how bad formula is. Occur to you that for some of us there isn't even a choice? My doctor says it's fine, so I think I'm going to go with that.) |
Anonymous
| I know it seems like a lot, OP, but if you add it all up formula is still a lot more. You still need bottles, plus you need to keep buying the formula. Your costs are higher at first but if you amortize them over time even pumping is cheaper. I've done both, and a combination of the two which is really the most expensive. |
Anonymous
Oh come on now. You are attributing your costs for a recliner and a cosleeper to BFing? That's a ridiculous stretch. As if formula fed babies don't like to sleep near their moms or be rocked and cuddled. Do you think the baby just takes the bottle of formula and drinks it on the floor? Also, it's absurd to compare the things you bought for your convenience (multiple pump bras, 3 pumps for gods sake) with the absolutely unavoidable cost of buying formula. You could have found a cheaper LC or done without some (most) of your accessories. You can't exactly cut back on the baby's formula consumption. When you compare only the things that are actually necessary for each, there's no way that even EPing comes close to the cost of FFing. |
Anonymous
| Just read that ridiculous post again. You HAD to BUY TWO FREEZERS in order to pump for your baby? Come the F on. |
Anonymous
| Add in lactation consultant appointments and it gets even more expensive! I felt the same way as op when I started to breastfeed my first, but now that I am reusing all of the old things (pump, bras, bottles ) it seems much more reasonable and clearly cheaper than formula. I don't count my increased need for food...I can't be sure the stress of two wouldn't drive me to eat even if I wasn't breastfeeding! |
Anonymous
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EPer here with the 2 freezers. I guess I didn't have to buy 2 freezers but where would I have put my 2000oz+ of frozen milk? I ask in all seriousness.
My peds didn't have an LC on staff. I was desperate to see an LC b/c I wanted to nurse and was in terrible pain. My baby had just been discharged from a hospital stay due to jaundice/weight loss and I needed someone to come out stat. Maybe that's why the LC charged so much. I don't know. If you read my post, I said that formula feeding would more expensive in the long run. It's just that if you EP, like I did, it's not free by any means. My post was half-tongue-in-cheek. I 100% formula fed my first child. If I hadn't intended on breastfeeding, which we could not do, I wouldn't have bought the co-sleeper or the recliner. I rocked my first child in a creaky old wooden rocker that killed my back and my husband's butt (or mine) ended up breaking through the wicker. I bought the nursing pillow in anticipation of nursing and I used it for a week. |
Anonymous
Me, too. And then don't forget all the herbs, drugs, supplemental nursing systems, etc. That crap is freaking expensive! |
Anonymous
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BS!
You all fell for the system. I never bought one nursing bra. The regular cotton bras worked just fine. No need to buy special pillows. I did got a pump later on and that was way cheaper than formula. Even with the spare parts. Bottles you'd have to buy either way so it doesn't count. La Leche League is for free so no need to spend with LCs I ate well and never needed any supplements. Now, you think it was too expensive just FF your next kid then. |