Why did you choose to exclusively pump?

Reposting on this board...

Just wondering why people choose to pump exclusively over breastfeeding. I'm asking because I'm thinking I would like to pump over BF even though I'm sure BF is easier and less work. Curious as to what everyone's reasoning was.
Did anyone feel weird with their baby on their boob? I feel like I might feel that way which is weird I am sure. I know BF is very natural and as one friend put it " it's why we were given boobs in the first place"


Thanks :)

Re: Why did you choose to exclusively pump?

For me it wasn't so much that I felt weird having the baby on my boob (although I can understand why you'd feel that way). It was more that I found I couldn't get myself into a comfortable position & DS was a frantic eater & would just get so crazed that it was a stressful experience for both of us every time. I also didn't like not knowing exactly how much he was getting, whether he was getting enough, whether I was producing enough, how long I should be doing it for, etc. All in all I didn't like the lack of control I felt about it. Also I didn't find it to be the great bonding experience that people talk about, for us it just wasn't, so I didn't feel I was giving up anything. And, I didn't want to be the one to have to feed him every single time, if he got up in the middle of the night more than once (which happened a lot at the beginning) & I was exhausted, DH could give him a bottle of pumped milk so I could rest. I was also going back to work when he was 10 weeks old & I needed him to get used to the bottle anyway. So I had lots of reasons.

I pumped for 10.5 months & it worked out great. People will say you can't develop a good enough supply on the pump alone, but I was getting over 40 ounces a day & was able to freeze a ton of it. I would do it while watching tv & I caught up on all my dvr shows that way lol. The downside was that washing the pump parts & bottles got to be extremely, extremely time consuming. But overall it was worth it.

Why did you choose to exclusively pump?

Thank you for your response. That's a really good point about the quantity aspect, it might drive me crazy to not know how much he was getting and at least other people can feed him which is the nice part of it too.

Re: Why did you choose to exclusively pump?

I chose to BF and after a rough 10 weeks or so we finally got the hang of it. From there it was easy. DD likes it so, we still do it.

My SIL couldn't seem to get the hang of it. Her DS just wasn't latching right and they were both frustrated. So, she pumps and gives bottles of BM. Also she likes having options for feeding him. My brother or SIL mom can give bottles whenever. So it works best for her.

Why did you choose to exclusively pump?

First I will say I didn't pump for long I never planned too 6 weeks was all I said I would do and I did it. I really never wanted too but I figure I give it a try. I ended up hating it and couldn't wait to stop. All that I never considered breast feeding for several reasons. Thought of having the baby on my boob was weird to me which I know Is ridiculous. Second I didn't want to deal with trying it have the baby latch and get frustrated and stress myself. And last my biggest reason was that I wanted to know exactly how much DC would be drinking I didn't want to have to deal if they were really hungry or just want to use my boob as a pacifier.

Re: Why did you choose to exclusively pump?

Cause BFing HURT!!! Couldn't get DDs to latch right, and it hurt like he11, and was too stressful. DH finally took DD from me when I was trying to feed her and crying, and said I wasn't doing it anymore. I pumped from then on. With all 3.

ETA: I did try BFing each time, but it was the same...I guess I just stink at it!

Message edited 9/8/2014 5:14:18 AM.

Re: Why did you choose to exclusively pump?

Why did you choose to exclusively pump?

I HATED BFing.. It hurt, DH couldn't help, I was uncomfortable feeding around other people and felt trapped in my house bc of that.
Pumping was a lot of work bc at times DD would be fussy and need me and I couldn't just sit and pump every 2 hours when I had a newborn, but I don't regret my decision to just pump. I'd do it again. I knew exactly how much she was eating. DH was able to take turns getting up in the middle of the night. I pumped about 40 ounces a day so had frozen milk. I stopped pumping last week when I returned to work (which I had planned when I was pregnant- that I'd only BF for the first 3 months) Now that I stopped I still have another 4-6 weeks worth of frozen milk which I'll use to start slowly transitioning her to formula.

Re: Why did you choose to exclusively pump?

It was my intention to EBF when we left the hospital, but when we were home for a few days DD cried all the time and I started to stress over not knowing how much she was eating. Having the breast milk in a bottle and seeing exactly what she was eating made me feel so much better.
Yes, it was a lot of work, but I wanted to breastfeed her for as long as I could, and did til she was 1 year old.

Why did you choose to exclusively pump?

I ended up not going back to work, absolutely loved the bond dd and I share when bf and I never have to wash a bottle :) we exclusively breast feed. Never had an issue feeding on the go and I found it was easier when we were out. It really was a simple choice for me and I never decided what I was going to do until she arrived. Oh and in the middle of the night I just rolled over, grabbed her and fed her. Never needed to fuss with making a bottle. Saved me some sleep

Re: Why did you choose to exclusively pump?

I had plans to try and breastfeed, but from the first day in the hospital I was also pumping (i have twins that were a month early) to help supplement them. After about 2-3 weeks of breastfeeding both, then pumping after each feeding, I started to get worn down, upset, and was not enjoying it. So I decided to just pump, which felt like a relief and less work and also which worked out really well for us.

Yes, it was a pain to bring my pump everywhere ("hi, I know you are having a party, but i'm gonna sit topless over there for a while and then shove some bottles of breast milk in your fridge next to the wine, ok?") and spend so much time hooked up to the machine, but it allowed me to make sure they got my BM, gave my husband the opportunity to feed/help out in the evenings, and everyone was pretty happy with the arrangement.

If I had to do it all over again I may have tried a bit harder to make feeding from the boob directly our main method, but in the end it really wasn't in the cards and I would happily pump again.

Good luck, and it is a great thing that you are exploring all your options now!

Re: Why did you choose to exclusively pump?

My DD was born at 32 weeks - so she was unable to BF in the beginning. She was in the NICU for 3 weeks and pumping was one of the only things I felt I could do for her - it made me feel better. By the time I could try BF, she was used to a bottle which was easier and we had trouble transitioning. Also, when she was less than 5lbs - I felt much better about knowing exactly how much she was getting. I really did not like pumping or BF when I tried but I felt like she had so many disadvantages being a preemie, that I had to do it. So a bit of personal mom guilt. Two advantages - because I pumped - my supply was great - I donated a lot of the extra milk and it helped me lose so much weight.

I pumped for a year and I felt like I got my life back when I finally stopped.

Not sure what I would do in the future.