Full-Time pumpers

Just wondering how many twin moms out there are pumping breastmilk and bottle feeding full-time. For a number of different reasons, including the fact that my babies were preemies, I ended up giving up on breastfeeding and just kept on pumping and bottlefeeding (and supplementing formula as needed).

My babies are 3 months old and very healthy now, but sometimes I look back and wonder, did I give up too soon? Some of my friends who have successfully breastfed singletons don't understand how I could "give up so easy"... Now that I am back at work it definitely makes sense for our lifestyle right now---they have a stay-at-home dad who has no trouble bottlefeeding them.

Are there other full-time pumpers out there? How long did you last if you are a past FTP?

Jennifer
Minneapolis
Mom to
Rowan & Anneke (born 6/9/2007 at 35weeks1day)

 

I pumped full time for the first 2 months then I realized it was way TOO tiresome. I had babies that were sleeping 10-12 hours at night but I was having to get up and pump. I was also not producing enough for the 2 of them no matter how hard I tried. My Pediatrician actually recommended I give it up. She said formula is great for them as well.

It made me feel not so bad when she said that. The good news is I can eat spicy food and eat dairy again.

 

i am pumping for Ari, and breastfeeding Saro. they chose this method, not me. Saro refuses the bottle, Ari refuses the breast. I was giving Ari some formula but recently i haven't needed to since Saro has given up his dreamfeed but Ari hasn't so i get some extra pumping for him that way. I have no problems giving him formula if there isn't enough breastmilk pumped...

I have no idea how long i'll keep this up but right now it isn't inconveniencing me that much so i'm fine with it. I only pump 2x a day. Once right after i put them to bed, and once at 1am (dreamfeed time). I get what i get... Ari doesn't eat much so it turns out that i have been pumping enough for him to have the next day.

BTW, don't let other moms judge you. Twins are a TOTALLY different experience then singletons and though people may have 2 singletons, i don't think it compares. I have so many people i feel judge me for the way i do things with my twins but i just have to let it roll off my back and tell myself that they have no idea what it is like for us so i can't take what they say too seriously. You did what you had to do and it is the right decision for you and your twins.

 

QUOTE(ADC17 @ Sep 20 2007, 08:42 PM) [snapback]416910[/snapback]
i am pumping for Ari, and breastfeeding Saro. they chose this method, not me. Saro refuses the bottle, Ari refuses the breast. I was giving Ari some formula but recently i haven't needed to since Saro has given up his dreamfeed but Ari hasn't so i get some extra pumping for him that way. I have no problems giving him formula if there isn't enough breastmilk pumped...

I have no idea how long i'll keep this up but right now it isn't inconveniencing me that much so i'm fine with it. I only pump 2x a day. Once right after i put them to bed, and once at 1am (dreamfeed time). I get what i get... Ari doesn't eat much so it turns out that i have been pumping enough for him to have the next day.

BTW, don't let other moms judge you. Twins are a TOTALLY different experience then singletons and though people may have 2 singletons, i don't think it compares. I have so many people i feel judge me for the way i do things with my twins but i just have to let it roll off my back and tell myself that they have no idea what it is like for us so i can't take what they say too seriously. You did what you had to do and it is the right decision for you and your twins.


I have to say that I am pumped for six months now. It's far longer than I ever imagined I would. They've each gotten at least one BM bottle a day, if not two. It doesn't seem like much for as much time as it takes, but they are both healthy boys and I'm proud of myself for doing it this long. That all being said, I really want to quit, I just don't have the heart to do it!

 

I've been pumping for 10 months now, and since I've made it this far, my goal is to get to 1 year before I quit. My girls were 6 weeks early & we worked really hard at breastfeeding. They could do it, but never for very long & I'd just have to finish each feeding with a bottle of pumped milk anyway. It was just too hard to schedule pumping time between breastfeeding time. I did it for the first 3 months before stopping breastfeeding all together. At that point I was so sleep deprived, I started pumping less often & gave them a bottle of formula at night. My husband has crohns disease, which can be hereditary. I'd read that giving formula to newborns increases their chances of developing the disease, so that's why I worked so hard at pumping enough milk. I'm very proud that they only got breast milk for the first 3 months of their lives.

I still pump 3-4 times a day & they get mostly breast milk & maybe 1 bottle of formula a day. I'm counting down the days until they turn one!!!

 

I bf and pump - as previous poster said, they chose that, not me. My girls were six weeks early and i worked really hard to get one to latch and she never really would.

And - DITTO on not comparing yourself - or buying into - what parents of singletons say. the longer i'm in this game (six months and two days!) the more i believe that if you haven't had twins, you have NO CLUE what it's like - and therefore no right to say anything. Even if you've had ten singletons. It's just a completely different gig.

You should feel terrifically proud that you are giving your babies BM - the delivery system doesn't matter. You can make yourself crazy over it (and trust me, i got INSANE when i had to start supplementing because i just couldn't make time enough during the day to pump), but - it won't change anythng, it will just make you feel badly. And who needs that!

be a proud pumping mama for as long as it works for you. And if you end up going on formula, the will be FINE.

 

I just wanted to give you a huge round of applause for pumping for your babies! Don't let ANYONE tell you you're taking the "easy way out" or "giving up too easily" - as if there's anything easy about hooking yourself up to a noisy machine day in and day out, then having bottles and pump equipment to wash! I was pumping exclusively in the beginning (NICU days), and it was really tough. You are a truly devoted mom. WTG! :clapping:

 

I breast fed for 2 weeks, pumped for another 2 weeks and then threw in the towel due to complete exhaustion and depression. Looking back, I wish I'd stuck with it longer. I was so lost - I didn't know that I would one day get to the point when I could pump a few times a day rather than 8 - 10. I thought I had to do all BM or all formula and I could only get enough milk to meet 50% of their need. Silly me! I should have just relaxed and pumped when I could. Hindsight is 20/20. If I am lucky enough to have another baby in the future I will do a lot of things differently. But twins are a whole different ballgame. As long as you're feeding your babies SOMETHING you should be proud of yourself!

 

Like a PP, I have one who nurses and one who just refused. Part of it was she had a longer NICU stay and by the time she got home, she was very used to the bottle. I wish I hadn't given up so quick, but it was so nice to have DH give Addison a bottle while I nursed Ella.

That being said, I also work full time so I pump and both girls get bottles all day. Then I pump for Addison's evenign and morning bottles too.

I've made it 6 months so far and hope to make it a full year.

Great job on pumping so far! it sure is a lot of work!

 

I went until 6 months, pretty much pumping exclusively. I did try, at 3 months, to get one on the breast and I was able to BF her about once a day for a month, but I had to give them extra calories (one more than the other) so the pumping just made more sense.

It's very tough. I'm glad I did it but it's a lot of work.

 

I'm a full time pumper too... have been at it for four and a half months. My twins were born at 34 weeks and spent 10 days and 30 days in the step down nursery, and my priority was getting them out of there, not figuring out how to breastfeed, so I pumped and they drank from bottles in order to meet their shift minimums. By the time they got out of the hospital, they were used to the bottles, I was sleep deprived, and we wanted to make sure they ate enough, so I didn't work very hard at trying to breastfeed. Now I wish I had, but pumping and bottle feeding is working for us so I'm ok with the way it worked out. My girls got nothing but breastmilk for the first two months, then I started having to supplement about one out of every ten bottles with formula.

Some days I'm ready to stop pumping, but now that the girls nap better and longer, pumping isn't as much of a hassle as it was a few months ago. I pump five or six times a day/night. I'm ready to give up the middle of the night pumping, but my body doesn't seem to agree. So I pump before I feed the girls at 2am and then jump back into bed.

Congrats to you for lasting as long as you have with pumping. It certainly isn't easy!