Exclusive pumping?

[pooh8402]

The general rule of thumb I've heard from the LCs at work, and have read on here, is that BF generally gets easier, and EP gets harder. You just had her tie clipped. Give it some more time before you throw in the towel on nursing.

I've never EP, but did pump at work and that was enough for me. No thank you to doing it 24/7.

[starburst604]

EP is a hard road. I did from about 2 - 12 weeks (supplemented formula as needed). I realized that I was spending time pumping that I could be spending with my daughter (and that is NOT quality alone time!). I hated waking up to pump, and then she would wake for a bottle, so I dropped the nighttime pumps first. At 12 weeks I went to EFF. I felt good that she got at least some BM from me, and hopefully whatever benefits it might have provided. If I did it again, I might FF from the start, I don't know. I liked a lot of things about bottle feeding, minus the cleaning bottles, and I don't think I'm cut out for EBF.

[ellipses84]

She is so sweet! Congratulations.

DS1 was just like that. I suggest you keep trying if the tongue tie was just clipped. Sometimes it takes a while for them to learn to latch properly after that. We used an SNS system, which supplements with a little tube you put in their mouth after they latch.

www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001G87KYE/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1484881542&sr=8-1&keywords=sns+feeding

I recommend this over bottles, but if you decide to pump and use bottles, use ones with a wide latch nipple. I know people who have EP'd for a while and were able to go back to nursing. It does get easier when the baby gets bigger and their mouth grows. We also used a nipple shield for a while. Breastfeeding was one of the most challenging things I've done. I had supply issues due to poor latch. I wish someone had told me that it doesn't have to be all or nothing at the time.

[curbsideprophet]

I would definitely keep trying. DD still did not latch well at 2 weeks and I am glad I stuck with it. It may be harder now, but in the long run nursing is definitely easier than pumping.

Especially since you just had the tie clipped. That should help. Have you seen a LC since the clip? Does your hospital have a nursing mothers meeting you can attend for help? Have you tried swaddling her first so her hands do not get in the way?

She is adorable, congrats!

[Velar Fricative]

I did not EP except during her first week of life before she magically decided to latch. She didn't have any tongue or lip tie but the nipple shield made all the difference. I finally got her to latch on with it, and then weaned her off of it at around 6 weeks thanks to suggestions from the LC. Then it was relatively smooth sailing from there.

I didn't actually mind pumping but my pumping output was never great so we ended up combo feeding starting at 5 months and then I randomly dried up one day when she was almost 9 months, so that was it for BFing. So I probably would have hated EPing due to frustration with output and would likely have needed formula much sooner.

But I say if you're happy with EPing right now and getting what she needs (plus extra for a stash), awesome. If you do want to give yourself options, I'd start trying to get her to the breast with the shield before each session (and maybe more often since you're not pumping as often as a typical 2-week-old breastfeeds), and then if it doesn't work, pump. Keep doing that until hopefully one day it just clicks for her.

[longtimenopost]

I'd give it another two weeks to try to transition to the breast. If she doesn't take, I'd pump for as long as it's convenient and supplement/switch to formula when your supply starts to go down.

[icedcoffee]

Being able to feed directly will always be easier if you can so I'd probably give it another week or so. With that said, I have a friend who who EP's by choice. She's able to do so by pumping twice a day for 30 minutes. Sometimes she'll pump again if she's just watching tv, but she doesn't need to. Bottle feeding definitely has its perks.

[grover]

No advice, but thanks for posting this. My plan is to EP at the start and then supplement with formula if needed. I'll be home for five months, and then if still pumping when I go back to work I'll decide then if I want to keep up with it.
Personally, I just have no interest in feeding straight from the breast, my H wants to be able to bottle feed as often as possible when he's home, and I'm OK with dropping the pump for formula if needed.

[hockeywife]

I EP'd with my first and Nursed (pumped at work) with my second.

Each have their pros and cons, for sure.

EP'ing Pros:
Not frustrating, knew exactly how much DS was getting (he was teeny), super easy with a non-mobile baby and while on mat leave, I amassed a huge stash so I was able to EBF despite the fact that I stopped pumping at 9ish months

EP'ing Cons:
So many dishes! Definitely buy many many multiple sets of parts and bottles. The double time it took, i.e. Pump then feed, got tiresome pretty fast.

I felt chained to my pump like I couldn't leave the house for more than a few hours bc of needing to pump. This could also be because for a long time I pumped every 4 hours and I had an oversupply so if I didn't pump I was very uncomfortable.

I'm an attorney (I think you are, too?) and pumping at work (specifically the time it took) was a cause of a lot of stress.

Nursing Cons:
It took us a little bit to get the hang of it. DD was a big girl, though, and the pedi encouraged us to simply put away the bottles for a day or two and only nurse. That did the trick, but if you do this, listen to your gut, obviously.

Didn't know how much she was getting

Constantly worried about supply (possibly bc I was used to having a crazy oversupply with DS)

The pumping back at work was awful. Total mind fu*k bc pumping wasn't the "norm" this time and I did not get near the same output.

DD just self weaned at 9 months and it made me suuuuuper sad. Conversely, when I stopped pumping, I basically threw a party!

Nursing pros:
Once we got the hang of it, it was easy. It took some time for me to be comfortable nursing in public, but once I got there, it was great. I felt so much more free - gone all day? NBD, just feed the baby, no need to pump, etc.

Summary: there is not a perfect solution. Pumping is sometimes easy and sometimes hard. Same with nursing.

The advice I give friends is to do what ever makes you happiest, don't feel bad if you choose to (or have to) supplement, and no matter what you choose, there will always be doubt and guilt and that's ok.

Good luck, she's beautiful!

[carolinagirl831]

I did it for dd1 because our situation was much like you describe. She was so much happier taking a bottle.
I had to work hard to keep my supply though. It became way to much work and I felt like
It was so consuming it interfered in my time worth the baby and my time in general. I lasted 12 weeks and when I stopped it was so incredibly
Freeing and so much happier.

With my second she easily BF . It was a much more enjoyable experience and i didn't mind pumping as much because I only did it at work. I was able to bf her until 10 months.