Exclusively pumping

In some ways it’s more convenient but not in many other ways 😅 unless you have 3+ sets of parts, you’ll be spending most of your time washing and sterilizing them (unless you do the fridge hack, but I’m wary of it) along with bottles, waiting for the milk to warm up, etc. Personally, I find a combo is the most convenient. I BF whenever I’m not entirely taking care of both kiddos, and I’ll give a bottle when I’m split between them since our nb finishes them faster, but I know some babies are faster feeders at breast and some are about even (which ends up with bottle taking longer anyway bc more burping is needed). I’d say start with one feed then increase by one a day until either it gets harder (drop back down one) or it’s entirely pumping. Also figure out whether pumping while feeding a bottle or pumping at a separate time is more convenient for you.

@Brynne thank you so much for your input!! I was able to stock up on extra pumping supplies and I just recently found out about the fridge hack. My NB is only a week old and ofcourse he’s a slow eater who falls asleep constantly at the breast which is also playing a role into how long it takes for each session

@Camila that’s like my second lol, my first never latched so I had to EP or do formula but my second struggled a bit until recently so I was EPing for the first 2 weeks and slowly started introducing the breast again. Now at 6 weeks she’s starting to feed faster at breast than bottle sometimes (like 3 feeds are faster but the other 5 aren’t) so I’m considering phasing bottles back out slowly unless they’re needed

I found the opposite when I had to exclusively pump when my baby was first born. I spent all day washing pump parts and bottles and the rest of it stuck to the wall pumping while my toddler created chaos and my newborn fussed. Even if you have wearable pumps I would avoid relying on them as they are less effective and can lead to a dip in supply.

I EP and I was resistant due to the cleaning but it’s not as bad as I imagined. Definitely use the fridge hack. I prefer it because it gives me a break so others can feed her and I’m a control freak and like to know exactly how many oz she’s drinking.

I had to exclusively pump with my first born and it's a fulltime job. With my second I was determined to not EP.. Definitely not easier or more convenient, it was WAY more work for me.

I know it’s not what you really asked but I found pumping hard to manage with a 14m old and a newborn. Instead I set up a safe play space for my 14m and would often sit with him in there while I fed baby during the day - this worked well for me because he’d come and pat babies head/show him his toys/created some bonding time and he wasn’t so left out.

I used to pump for half hour 6 times a day and then after 3 months I was beyond a zombie so dropped down to 4 pumps a day and reduced the time I spent pumping. Then clear up/set up another 10 ish minutes. I had a tommee tippee double electric pump, amazing pump but if I was walking around I needed to empty the bottles every 15 minutes (used to get 7-9 oz per boob per pump session)

I exclusively pumped for my first out of choice mainly, so I could keep an eye on how much she was drinking, it’s definitely double the work. I have chosen to do the same with my second, although we use formula for a couple of feeds too, I express 6 times a day and that is enough, even too much when I have both children on my own (3 weeks and 21 months). I am using the fridge hack which I didn’t with my first, so there is less cleaning. I’m starting to think can I express for as long as I did with my first

Thank you all for your input 🙏🙏