Were you always an EP?

Question

Why did you choose to EP? Was it harder to EP than nurse? How many kids do you have? Do you work outside of the home? I will have our 4th this November and have breastfed primarily and pumped as needed for my previous 3. Considering EP so I'd have help and free hands...

Answer

I exclusively pumped for my first and am doing the same for the second. I find it easier. I pump 5 times a day for 10 minutes and I’m done. Don’t have to constantly be pulling my boobs out. Other people can feed him. I have a freezer stash so I can stop pumping earlier and he will still get breast milk   I did try nursing for the first week and I just didn’t like how much time I spent doing it. I couldn’t give attention to my 3 year old. With the bottle he eats in about 5 minutes and we’re done instead of nursing for half an hour and then having to do it again in 2 hours 
Most people I talk to say I’m nuts and adding extra work. But I truly do find it easier

Answer

I exclusively pumped and I had a great experience with it. I found nursing to be emotionally and physically taxing, and EPing kept the baby blues at bay. Right choice for me; no regrets.

Answer

Thank you everyone for the responses! I am very excited to hold little one and have settled on DONT PLAN TO EP unless it becomes necessary. I will however still pump at specific times (still undetermined) and start building a stash and eventually switch to EP after supply and relationship have been established and nursing drops to 4-5 times a day and nurse only middle of the night.

Answer

I just started EPing. My little man is only a month old, but he nursed every hour all day long the entire time. I was delirious and tired to the point I thought I would pass out and drop him. He seemed miserable, too, super gassy and couldn’t sleep for long. Idk what the issue was but I started pumping and bottle feeding him and he’s been so much more calm and happy and is able to sleep now, which means I can sleep a little, too. I get that the dishes might suck, but I feel like he and I both needed this switch. I haven’t figured out how to handle feedings outside the house yet (will I need to plan around pumping? Do I bring the pump or do I bring a bag of milk I’ve already pumped?) but it’s pretty much impossible to leave the house with the way he’d been eating anyway. Maybe I can just breastfeed on the go, idk, but pumping and bottle feeding feels like a life saver to me right now.

Answer

Oh hellllllll no, EP isn’t easier!!!  I had to EP for my seventh child after having successfully nursed the rest into toddlerhood...  it was so much extra work!!!  I hated it!!!  We are on day 17 of no bottles and I couldn’t be happier!!!  No more pump and bottle dishes, no more sitting tied to a machine 5-6x a day. No more freaking out about supply. No more worrying about leaving the house with not enough milk, or too much and then I have to toss it!!

Answer

It definitely wont be hands free lol... and with 3 other kids it might be harder. I pumped for 2 and 3 but my kids are 15,12 and now 18mos. I'd like to pump again but the logistics of it aren't making me think it will work. My 18mo will be in everything while I'm tied to my pump... I never breastfed any of my kids, never even wanted to.

Answer

I EP for 2.5 months, but not out of choice. This is my first baby and I am a sahm. We have not been EBF for the last month or so. I have to say EP is WAY harder than breastfeeding. I basically spent all my time trying to coordinate pumping when the lo wasn’t ready to eat, washing pump parts and storage bottles... then prepping milk and bottles. Not to mention the coordination of trying to leave the house, bringing your pump and ice packs if you were gone for a while. Also packing enough milk for the baby and having a way to heat it up. It’s so much easier now that I can just leave the house for however long and just bring a feeding cover. If you have a choice I would stick to ebf especially if you have other kids. You are doubling your time and amount of work if you ep.

Were you always an EP?

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