Questions about exclusive pumping and giving up bfing

[Nothisispatrick]

Does anyone exclusively pump?

DD is coming up to three weeks and breastfeeding isn’t going well. We introduced a bottle early due to supply issues, which led to latching issues, and I am now having to use nipple shields to get her to latch.

She fusses a lot on the breast as she can’t wait for the milk to come out, comes off a lot and never seems satisfied afterwards and is very unsettled. We always have to finish off with a bottle to ensure she’s full and happy.

I am close to giving up. Nipple shields were my last resort. I hate that she gets upset when I try to feed her and that she doesn’t seem happy even after she’s breastfed, only when she’s had a bottle.

When she does latch well, I find it boring and can’t wait for her to finish. I hate being bound to my seat and struggle to get in comfortable positions. I feel no sense of wonderful bonding, in fact it’s nicer to bottle feed as I can see her face, and DP does a lot of the night feeding.

I want her to get the goodness of breastmilk, even with formula top ups too. So does anyone exclusively pump? Does anyone have tips for increasing my supply without having to breastfeed? I only get out 30-50ml per pumping session at the moment.

That was much longer than expected but it’s taking up a lot of head space at the moment!

Bump

I ended up using nipple shields long term with my DD after exclusively pumping for a while. I found pumping more boring and restrictive than breastfeeding. Absolutely nothing stopping you mix feeding just make sure you still breastfeed/pump spread throughout the day as long chucks without will effect your supply. For increasing your milk from pumping, keep pumping for a bit after you stop getting milk and this will encourage you to make more milk. I used to pump after every bottle my DD had when exclusively pumping to replicate her demand.

To combat the frustration issue you can manually start to express to encourage the milk flow before latching her, which will mean it's not as much of a wait.

I guess pumping long term does make things more restrictive. Maybe I am being a bit selfish but in the short term I don’t want all my time with her to be us both stressed and crying, she just seems so much happier after a bottle and I find the breastfeeding so boring, more so than pumping.

You are not selfish. Why don't you try increasing the amount you pump and see how it goes? You are both still new to this and need to find what works for you.

I've done it (well, 90% breast milk and 10% formula) with both my babies. I am just today starting to stop with my second. The first I stopped after six months and this one I've done six weeks!

To be honest the being stuck to the sofa and being bored you are going to have even more of if you pump! To pump exclusively you'll need to be doing it 8 times in 24 hours. It is bloody hard work. And then on top of that you actually have to feed them.

First time for me I ended up doing six months first time because I had terrible mum guilts about not being able to breastfeed successfully after a traumatic birth. I was miserable. This time I give zero fucks quite frankly and just want us all to be happy and relaxed. I've been pumping 4x a day and baby has been having all breastmilk in the day and formula at night. She's just caught up with my supply so that I'll now need to start giving more formula anyway and to be honest I'm bloody sick of being stuck to the sofa with my boobs in the pump. It's still sore, just like BF is!

So honestly OP I don't think exclusively expressing will be any easier on you than BF. Are you dead against formula?

It may not be easier time wise but at least I’ll have a happy baby, which I don’t when I try to bf. Not against formula, we use it at the moment, but if I have the milk I may as well use it.

We also had a traumatic birth, DD nearly died, which is another reason I’d like to enjoy her newborn days rather than have a constant feeding battle.

DP feeds her a lot too. He works quite locally and then from home two days a week, so he can feed while I pump a lot of the time.

I pumped exclusively for over 9months, used my milk for a total of 13months...due to health needs of baby.
I pumped using an electric/battery pump two hourly day and night... the pump came everywhere with me. The milk was then tube fed into my child. It wasn’t easy but it can be done. There is a medicine I took that helps with your milk supply- I sadly can’t remember it’s name but do remember it begins with M and is used to help with tummy problems- side effect is to increase milk production.

Pumping is so much work for most people. My DS (now 3) and I had a lot of issues with bf, most of it seemed to be supply, but I definitely preferred bottle feeding him. I just pumped what I could and gave formula the rest of the time. Any breastmilk is better than none. I hated it though. At least if you are feeding a baby you can do that in public or with people. I never pumped in front of anyone so I felt trapped in my bedroom by it. Or having to run home from somewhere to pump. And then you have to give the baby the bottle, and clean all the bottles!

So my advice is by all means go for it if you think it’s the best option for you, but don’t kill yourself to just exclusively pump as it’s extremely hard work.