Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s not certain how many of the benefits of breast milk are actually observed in exclusive pumping, so I would switch to formula.

What?

This is common knowledge.

No it’s not. I only have a guess at what you’re referring to because I’m the PP who exclusively pumped with my first and I did a maniacal amount of research.

To try to answer the question, I think there’s some literature that says pumping doesn’t capture all of the benefits of traditional breastfeeding because the baby’s needs are communicated by contact through saliva- so the feedback loop with the baby is lost when pumping.

Not sure if that’s what this person is referring to. Either way, I personally believe the benefits of breastfeeding are extremely oversold to new moms especially after the first 6 weeks or so.

Another exclusive pumping mom here who did a maniacal amount of research here: everyone parrots this "saliva feedback" hypothesis, but I could not find a shred of empirical evidence that it is true. Sure it's discussed in "summaries of research" or discussions of studies, but I was never able to trace it back to the actual study and finding. I did go on to ep "just in case", but wish I had just switched to formula.

I’m the PP who said it’s not certain— the salivary feedback one isn’t what I was referring to, it’s the difficulty in parsing mechanical vs. milk benefits. For example everyone talks about how breastfed babies may get fewer ear infections BUT no one compares children who spend as much time bottle feeding (sucking and swallowing which clears the eustracean tubes) with breastfeeding which everyone agrees can take longer. There’s also benefits which may be accruing from the time spent skin to skin with mother which correlates to many of the posited emotional outcomes. Since it’s not clear those benefits happen from pumping and bottle I definitely wouldn’t invest the time.

Pumping is the most time consuming optional of all. If you want to keep a couple pumping sessions sure, but as someone who just pumped twice a day while kid was at daycare the idea of doing that so many time a day makes me shudder.

Fed is best, formula is absolutely fine.

We used both pumped milk and formula. It is not an either/or choice. One can use both, though no one seems to mention this.

In our case, there wasn't a lot of milk to pump so we supplemented with formula as appropriate.

As someone who exclusively pumped for a while (I had a preemie so really wanted to give him breastmilk) I encourage you to consider at least doing some formula. Also, if you decide to continue pumping and before you spend a lot of time pumping to build up a huge freezer stash, you may want to check if your breast milk has excess lipase. Try thawing the oldest breastmilk in your freezer and see if your baby will still drink it.

Why don’t you pump as much as you want and supplement with formula?

I exclusively pumped with my first for 14 months. It was a lot but I’m glad I did it. My second breastfed but lost interest around nine months. Exclusively pumping was an entirely different experience- my nipples could not handle it and were constantly bleeding. I felt no guilt giving it up and using formula. Fed is best.

Anonymous wrote:It's doesn't have to be either/or. I would switch to formula and try to pump once or twice a day. The benefits of breastmilk are due to the presence of breastmilk, not the absence of formula.

+1. And ultimately do what is best for you not what some preachy person on here says. - Signed mother who bf one for 6 months and 2 for 12 months (they are all great now - no discernible difference)

I would gradually drop a pumping session and start the transition to just formula. I exclusively pumped for 9 months, not something I would do again, or ever recommend.

Formula. Pumping is usually a waste of time and energy that could be better spent in so, so many ways.

My kids are older now and with the wisdom of hindsight, I wish I had never pumped.