Exclusive BF or bottles?

Question

Has anyone ever tried just pumping and storing your milk/using it in bottles? I plan to use breast milk when my daughter is born but I want to know if anyone has had success doing this? I think I would just rather bottle feed with breastmilk and just skip the hassle of breast to mouth. Opinions or thoughts?

Answer

It's definitely possible, and I've heard of plenty of people doing it successfully. However, if given the choice, I would personally rather feed straight from the breast. Keeping up with the pumping and washing bottles and all, is a lot of work. If you choose to breastfeed, it does take work in the beginning as you and the baby are learning, and your nipples will be sore at first, but once breastfeeding has been established, it's just so easy to whip out the boob and put the baby on. It also can be harder to keep up your supply to meet the demand of your baby if you choose to pump exclusively. The pump doesn't give you the same stimulation as the baby, and isn't as good at extracting milk. Some people can pump a lot, and others don't respond well to the pump. It all depends. If you choose to pump exclusively there are lots of good resources online on Kellymom and La Leche League websites. Get all the information you can before baby comes and it will help a lot once baby come, whichever way you choose to feed. Good luck!

Answer

“Hassle of breast to mouth” 😂 well first off, it isn’t a hassle. It’s the easiest way to feed your baby! I am EBF (9 months), and pumping at work since 6 months: and let me tell you, feeding breast milk from bottle, well THAT is a hassle. Well not giving bottle to baby, but getting the milk in the bottle is! I have never exclusively pumped, but early on I had to do it 3 times while at work. And fuck me was it just not fun AT ALL! The only thing that kept me going, and not just giving formula while I was at work was because I was stubborn and I had decided she wouldn’t have formula. So that was it. Feeding her from nipple is easy! 
Think you might want to rethink why you are doing things. Cause exclusively pumping and keeping up your supply for a year is very very hard and time consuming. So if you are set on baby only having breastmilk, I would seriously consider doing it via nipple. Especially since it sounds like you don’t actually have a current latching problem?

Answer

There’s a group on here for exclusively pumpers... you can successfully pump for your baby for however long you desire. I have heard it’s a lot of work but can be done.  Best of luck to you!

Answer

Exclusive pumper here. It’s wonderful that I can still give my son my breastmilk, but it’s a huge time and effort commitment. I wish every day that we could breastfeed successfully. Even at night, the only reason my husband is the one who feeds is so that I can go sit by myself in the living room and pump. Carefully weigh your options. Pumping is very hard work. Good luck!

Answer

My friend exclusively pumped because her daughter never got the hang latching. She exclusively pumped for a year and she said she loved it and is planning to do it for the second baby. I breastfeed I love it but it is hard for me because baby doesn’t take the bottle so I’m the only one that can feed him.

Answer

I exclusively pumped for my second because he was born too early to nurse. It was the biggest hassle I’ve ever dealt with. You will need to pump for 20-30 minutes every 2 hours round the clock for at least the first six weeks, then you can stretch it out to 3 hours at night if you’re lucky, then when baby needs fed, bottles take between 10-15 minutes to give. Plus you have to wash bottles, wash pump parts, and burp baby. If you are out of the house, you can’t skip a pumping session, so you either need to find a pumping location or pump in your car (and a manual pump takes about twice as long as an electric, so you’ll need a plug or battery supply), and then you have to make sure the milk is stored at the right temperature to prevent bacteria growth.

Answer

It’s doable but to be honest, it’s more hassle. Breast to mouth is exactly that, you just whip out the boob and it’s perfectly clean, perfect temperature and no clean up needed. When you pump, you need time to pump then time to bottle feed while maintaining ideal milk storage guidelines and getting the milk to the right temperature and keeping the pump and the bottle parts all clean.

Answer

you need to actually breastfeed in order to maintain your milk supply once it comes in. I'm going to be pumping in between feedings if I feel really full (which is quite normal for me) but I'm still waiting on my pump to arrive. i will be using Avent bottles since it's the only brand of pacifier that my boy will actually take (he gets it only when I'm showering and his dad can't calm him down). every other brand he spits out right away, including the couple MAM pacifiers that we have.

Answer

My baby latched the whole time I was on maternity leave and I would still pump to build up a stash. After he was in daycare for a while he got used to taking a bottle, and didn't do nearly as well off me. I try to feed him at least one time a day, usually after work, but the rest of the time he takes a bottle of my pumped milk. It was just easier for us that way. If you are already pumping, then it doesn't take that much more work to do it this way.

Answer

Being a stay at home mom, breastfeeding is so much easier!! But I have friends who work and they found it easier to just exclusively pump since they were having to do it for the majority of the day anyways.

Exclusive BF or bottles?

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