How mamas who breastfeed/pump for their preemies: How long did you breastfeed or pump for? Anyone willing to share their experiences and reasons why you either continued or stopped!

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I pumped for 5 months. I never had much of a supply so by the end he got more formula than milk. I hated it and it was so stressful to pump for so long not to get anything so I quit for my mental health at 5 months. He was never able to breastfeed because of health issues we didn’t know about until he was 1.

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I started the first week pumping with my 34 weeker while in the nicu so they could track every ml. He was rather big for a premie at 6.1 pounds so after a week and getting his tongue tie clipped we started breast feeding in the football hold. (That lasted about a month before he was too heavy). So at 5 and a half months, almost 19 pounds, we are still going strong 100% breast feeding. I will forever be grateful to the lactation consultants that worked with us that first week.

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My guy was born a month early with pneumonia. I exclusively pumped with my first until I couldn’t keep up and needed to supplement but continued pumping until she was 10 mos. and I’m doing the same with my little guy. So far, no supplementation needed. I was so good about pumping everytime he ate for the first four and a half months...even when he was eating 8x/day. But then I went back to work...and we moved...and life happened! Pumping and the care involved (dishes, freezer stash, thawing milk, etc.) was so stressful that I have started to wean slowly, with the goal of him receiving exclusive breastmilk until at least 7 months. I have about 2.5 months in my freezer stash and he’s almost 6 mos. so I could conceivably stop at any time. I’ve dropped down to three pumps per day and would be happy with an AM and a PM pump for as long as I feel like doing it. The midday pumps kill me and make it so hard to do anything. And I have become so adept at pumping in odd places and on-the-go...but it takes a toll after awhile. Fed is best! Sanity and self-care are so important and will help you be the best momma you can be!

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34 weeks. I breastfed for 8 months. I could open a dairy farm with how much I made when he was in the NICU. It started getting hard when he got home because he wouldn't latch. That mixed with post partum depression discouraged me from pumping and eventually I stopped making enough.

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My daughter was born at 25+2 weeks, I pumped for 9 months.

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My son was born at 35 weeks and I was told I couldn’t breastfeed him because he was using more calories trying to get milk then he was taking in and then I met a nurse who talked to me about pumping and I am so thankful for her!!!! I started my exclusively pumping journey and although it has been been the hardest thing ive ever done I’m happy and proud to say I am going on month 10!!! Plan on going for a year!!! I also was lucky enough to pump a lot of extra so he has enough in our deep freezer to last him 3 months.

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I pumped fir the first week with my daughter.. (born at 35 weeks) then went to breastfeeding... i breastfed her up until she was almost 14 months old and my supply just went away due to being pregnant again.. I had my son 7 weeks later and I started tandem feeding both children after he was strong enough to latch (he was born at 33+1 & was tube fed for 2 weeks) and just recently stopped again because I am pregnant 🤰 with #3 and my supply went away super fast! I hate our journey has ended but i am so glad for the past 30 months with my daughter and 15 months with my son!

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My son is almost 9 months old and I am still breastfeeding/pumping. But I plan to stop soon. I’m super sick of pumping. I like breastfeeding, but even that is stressful sometimes because he prefers bottles and is often fussy at the breast. My goal was originally 1 year, but I think I’m going to quit pumping at 10 months. I would like to continue nursing first thing in the morning, but then he can have a mix of our freezer stash and formula the rest of the time.

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Pumped for 3 months. The most I ever made in a day (over 8 pumps) was 6 oz when I took Reglan, which had so many bad side effects for me, and then began dwindling from them on. The NICU started supplementing with formula about 8 weeks in. My last day pumping was the day my daughter was discharged after 12 weeks; I made 1 oz over 6 pumps... The effort was not worth the benefit. To be honest, I wish I stopped sooner to preserve my sanity.

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5 weeks in and I’ve been pumping to give which I can produce but we’ve had to supplement with formula since week 1
(Can’t breastfeed due to medical issues) 
I only produce around 130ml a day and have been since my milk came in. Tried everything to increase and currently pumping Every 2 hours and power pumping twice a day. Nothing is really working to increase my supply so im probably just going to decrease the amount I pump and eventually fully formula feed.

How mamas who breastfeed/pump for their preemies: How long did you breastfeed or pump for? Anyone willing to share their experiences and reasons why you either continued or stopped!

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