Pros and cons to exclusively pumping and bottle feeding baby?

I am curious about this too! I was originally planning to breastfeed but my little one was born five weeks early so has been bottle feeding in hospital and is very used to that now.

They say bc of bonding it’s good to boob feed but what’s most important is him drinking breast milk. Mine wouldnt latch and I wasn’t producing so I’m only formula feeding. Hey I tried. I’m not going to stress about it. As long as my baby is eating

It’s very close to being the same. There is foremilk and hind milk. When breastfeeding, baby will get foremilk first and then get hind milk. Hind milk is higher in calories. If you switch boobs within a couple of minutes, baby won’t get hind milk. When you pump, both get mixed. I had to pump for the exact same reason. I ended up preferring it at night. I had a mini fridge, on my nightstand, and would just get the bottle and put it in baby’s mouth without having to pick up baby. I also gave my son cold breastmilk, since he was okay with it and it made my life easier, especially at night.

Other than bonding the other thing to consider if your nipple is like a sensor for the baby. You produce antibodies to make your baby well again if they get sick but that only happens if the baby goes on the nipple so you reduced the benefit of breast feeding by exclusively pumping as they don't get all the immunity benefits

I had to pump and top up after a feed due to weight issues. I found pumping to be a faff in the end changed to just breast feeding which meant no bottles or sterilising. Could you contact your local breast feeding support team to help with latching or consider nipple sheilds.

If he’s still getting the milk in the bottle you guys are fine. Just do lots of skin to skin contact with him!

Just pump everytime your babe gets bottle to send signals to make more milk so your body can know how often babe eats and how much they needs

Any amount of breastmilk is beneficial. Like someone else said the bonding is good with actually nursing. But my baby had troubles and he also wasn’t gaining like he should. so I have been pumping. Because I wanted him to keep getting some Breastmilk. Been on medication lately and my stash had gotten ruined so he has only been getting formula lately.

You can rent the Medela hospital grade pump symphony from the medela website it's £40 a month but designed to up your supply

my son had a hard time latching at the beginning so i pumped. he is 4 months now.. the one thing i did was never gave up. everyday i would try and latch him once or twice a day. it wasn’t till he was about 6 wks old that we finally got breast feeding down. however i loved having the ability to know exactly how much milk my son was getting with giving him bottles and also having my husband be able to help with feedings was so helpful and allowed him to bond with our son. i did experience a slight drop in supply with pumping around 3 month so my lactation consultant told me just to breastfeed him more and drop some of my bottle feeds and thats exactly what i did. it made me really nervous at first just because i doubted my supply but my son always seems satisfied after feedings and i can feel multiple let down when he is on the breast. i still pump and give about 4-5 bottle and breast 4-5 times.

Pumping is more exhausting then breast feeding in my opinion. I have found it absolutely draining and a huge part of me wishes I could have carried on breast feeding (I couldn’t due to returning to work when he was 8 weeks). He is now 6 months and I am almost done with weaning off the pumping. Every part of me is glad he could still have breast milk over formula, however, instead of just being able to whack a boob out when we were out, it meant I had to take pump parts, bottles, keep breast milk cold so needs ice packs and a cooler bag (if our for more than 4 hours) and people don’t take aswell to you pumping in public as they do breast feeding. Also as baby gets bigger it does her more difficult. However, if you do chose to do it I would recommend getting the pumps that just pop on your bra - I managed to do shopping, restaurants, cleaning and uni etc with them in. Invest in a good set and make sure you have the right fit for your boobs. I makes all the difference!

Okay so it sounds like I should continue trying. What do I do if he doesn't want to latch now?

Pros r it’s not as demanding as nursing u can pump whenever and wherever u want and depending how committed u r how much u want too. Also letting others feed her if they can will help u get more sleep and other things done etc. The cons r u might have to supplement with formula if u don’t make enough. And there’s a lot of washing dishes that gets super repetitive. Also @Sarah that is so 100% not true

always have bottles ready… i would always latch first and give him a chance if it gets to be to much i would just give the bottle.

We had latch issues as well so I pumped and bottle fed breastmilk. We tried getting him to latch for 3 months but it got to the point he would cry when I went to put him to the breast. That’s when I decided to stop trying to breastfeed him and solely pump!

I personally think pumping and bottle feeding is the hardest feeding method out there… as baby gets older and it’s harder for you to have time to pump it can get tough, on top of all the time cleaning equipment. If you’re a huge milk supplier that’s great but alot of people aren’t and a pump just doesn’t bring your milk supply in and up the same as having baby cluster at the breast. Getting baby feeding from the breast can be a big effort in the start but pays off in the long run. Milk directly from the breast has benefits for baby that bottles do not (e.g from the breast releases sleep hormone to help baby sleep at night, it tailors antibodies to sicknesses the baby may have, breast can regulate their mood and give them comfort, feeding from the breast doesn’t contribute to tooth decay like bottles can…) That being said if feeding at the breast cannot be done then breastmilk via a bottle is definitely a great option!!

I had a hard time in the beginning too and I didn’t give up because breastfeeding was part of my plan. At 10 months PP we are pros and I can’t imagine not having those special bonding moments.

I only pumped to keep my supply up but HOLY MAN it is a lot of work. The pumping, the storing, sterilizing all the parts, electric pumps, manual pumps, bagging, freezing, labeling. And no matter what pump I got, my boobs did want to let the milk go. Like honestly, props to mom's who exclusively pump because that is serious work.

So bredt is best but then your breastmilk in bottle is close 2nd. The difference is that pumping and baby feeding doesn't act the same or your boob so you might loose production over time. Pumps usually takes less milk out then if baby latches. Make sure to pump every single time he eats and even 1 extra if possible, and especially at night since thats when you have the most prolactine (hormone of milk production).Also, when your baby latches his saliva on the nipple make your body produce antibodies according to what he needs. The contact to skin, bonding can be different. Also with bottle its longer! You have pump, to sterilise pump and bottles, to pack when you go out, to get it heated, to keep it safe in freezer/fridge...as for the boob it's ready al the time and following you everywhere no need to think! And bottle takes about same time for feeding but you have to add pumping too. But with bottle someone else can give it so you can have a break (but still need to pump).

@Sarah oic it’s only if they r sick! Good to know. I do both nursing and pumping, but if my baby ever gets sick I’ll make sure to only nurse

Okay so how can I make sure he's getting enough milk? I don't want him to be starving and not realize it. I'm sorry for all the questions, but I thought I would be able to ask the lactation consultant in the hospital, but she never came to my room

@Kat you know he’s getting enough milk if he has wet nappy output. It’s normal to lose some birth weight in the first week or so but by a certain point they will expect him to have gained back the birth weight he lost.

If he had enough your baby will be sleepy and relaxed after feeding, will have about 7 wet nappy and at least 3 poops starting day7 (before its same amount of.pee as number of days ex: day 5 at least 5 pee but poop stays 3 or more). Your baby will start gaining his weight back as soon as you start your milk (after Colostrum) and should at least reach is birth weight back by day 1. It's normal for them to lose up to 10% in the first few days

You should really push on bf if you can especially in the first few weeks because you're whole bf journey and good production rely on the first 6 weeks. You don't have to calculate the ml, you have to check your baby's sign that he's had enough..you get to learn those and know your baby. Also your baby wanting to eat more often some days can only mean he's having a growth spurt or trying to up your supply! It's magical if their is not enough he'll stimulate more so the next feed or day is better! Anyway I'm pro choice but obviously as a L&D nurse I also know all the many benefits of it. Some people bottle feed for a 2-3 weeks and as baby mature he takes the breast back but that depends on your baby. But I would keep trying! It would make your life much easier also..no pumping, sterilizing, warming , storing and cleaning bottle and pump supply! It's much easier on the go when you start going out more.

Don't beat yourself you're what's best for your baby, you know him best and you got this mama ;) And don't forget that the important part is that your baby is fed no matter how.