Should I still try to breastfeed?

Question

Hello! First time mom who has no idea what she’s doing 🙋🏼‍♀️
My baby girl was born on 9/30 and we had trouble feeding right off the bat. She’d have a couple good breastfeeding sessions then absolutely refuse to latch other times. At one point she went over 10 hours without eating and that was with the OB nurses and lactation consultant helping me. When we got home, she was still not breastfeeding consistently and I developed an anal fissure that makes it incredibly painful to walk. I started pumping exclusively so my husband could help with feedings and I could rest to heal. Since then, my baby has been taking at least 2ounces from a bottle every 3 hours and is doing great! I was talking to my sister and she said I should still breastfeed or my supply could dry up. 
We haven’t attempted breastfeeding in two days because things are going so well but should I still try? Does anyone have some advice for me or a similar experience? Thank you in advance.

Answer

As long as you stay on a schedule of every 2-3 hours and pump during the night at least once you can absolutely exclusively pump if that’s what you choose to do. Aim to pump a minimum of 120 minutes per day. If you want to continue trying to latch after you are feeling a little bit better then that’s fine too, but that’s up to you. I successfully EPed for 7 months and stopped when I had a big enough freezer stash to get my daughter to a year. After the first few days I stopped trying to latch my daughter and just pumped because she was loosing a lot of weight. The LC and Peds at the hospital said that she did not have any ties, one ped in her doctors office said she might have a small lip tie but it shouldn’t be any issue, but at her 9 month appointment I brought it up to her ped again and she actually has a pretty big lip tie and that is likely why she never latched. I had tried maybe a dozen or so times to latch her during my pumping journey and I can only think of one time when she successfully latched and got a full feed. Good luck and follow your instincts, fed is best.

Answer

The choice is up to you. If you pump consistently your supply should be ok. I EP for the first two months after my son was born. I had issues with my supply and couldn’t get him to latch because there was no milk amongst other reasons. I did keep trying to nurse him every once and a while. But a little over 2.5 months old he was able to latch on his own. I will say for me it was so much easier to ebf (not cleaning parts, pumping time on top of feeding time). Also, when he was older and got more mobile it was difficult to pump while he was awake (I still had to pump on top of ebf). The choice is up to you and what your comfortable with. I would suggest a lactation consultant to help though!

Answer

Baby can get more out than a pump so I see what your sis is saying. You may need to add a couple more pumping sessions into your day if you notice any drop in your supply, or breastfeed a few sessions would help too. But if you’re having no issues with your supply, I think you’re fine to just pump!

Answer

That’s up to you. Your supply isn’t gonna dry up if you pump consistently. Every 2-3 hours. And make sure when baby gets a bottle, you are pumping during. Pumping often signals your body to make more.

Answer

It is completely up to you, but you can try to breastfeed again if you would like to. You can even do a combination of breastfeeding, pumping, and formula. Whatever works best for you and your family. As long as you keep up the pumping your supply should be fine! I have been exclusively pumping since baby has been 2 weeks old. I started pumping 8-10 times per day whenever she would eat. She is now 9 weeks old and I pump only 4x per day and make plenty of milk for her, plus I freeze an extra 8-10 ounces every day! I’m switching to formula soon though, because pumping is a ton of work/time!

Should I still try to breastfeed?

Let's Glow!

The Top Baby Tracker App: Embrace New Beginnings with Tender Care

The Top Fertility Tracker App: Your Path to Achieving Pregnancy

The Top Pregnancy App: Nurturing Your Journey to Motherhood

The Top Period Tracker for Empowering Your Menstrual Health Journey