I am rather new here at TS and I do not want to offend anyone. Please excuse my ignorance, but I was hoping for a bit of insight. I have read some posts about mothers who chose to/plan to express BM and feed to babies through bottles. Now, I understand doing this for times that they are away from their babies, but I wonder why some have chosen to do it exclusively. I have never really thought about of knew anyone who did this. Please help me understand this so I can better interact on this board with you lovely ladies!!
I think many of the ladies who pump exclusively are doing it b/c their babies were premature and had trouble nursing. Some transition to breastfeeding and others don't. I fed EBM to mine for 3 months before finally transitioning them to nursing. I had to visit a lactation consultant weekly to teach them to nurse.
Oh I can give you a whole host of reasons! 1. some have trouble with nursing (cant get one to latch, or high palate, premature etc)but still want to provide breastmilk 2. some just dont have the desire to nurse but know breastmilk is best 3, some want others to be able to help as much as possible by bottle feeding anytime of night or day and not feel soley responsible 4. some are uncomfortable nursing in public & private and just dont want to do it 5. some dont want to feel restricted like they can never leave the house, go anywhere or do anything 6. some dont want to share their breast between their kids and partner I'm sure there are many more "reasons" but those are the ones I could think of off the top of my head.
I EBM because I hated breastfeeding--just to be honest--however, I wanted my girls to get what was best for them.
I absolutely could not breastfeed my DD. The sensation was like Chinese water torture and I'd get so angry with her even though she wasn't doing anything wrong (we saw several lactation consultants many times). I ended up using EBM for 4 months. The day I switched to EBM was the best - I think it was at 4 wks - I was able to enjoy my baby without the frustration. With the twins, I decided in the hospital that if I had the same sensation, they were going right to formula. It was and they did. Keep in mind that EBM is the worst of the breastfeeding and formula worlds. You have to spend the time pumping like you would breastfeed with the attendent worry of enough supply, you have to have good milk storage and management, and you also had bottles and equipment to wash and take care of.
My boys were born at 35w 1d - they latched, but it was very shallow. I exclusively bf them for their first 3.5 months but despite several visits with LC's I had sores/scabs on my nipples the entire 3.5 months. Around 3 months I got mastitis for the first time, about 2 weeks later I got it again, had to go see my OB and an u/s tech to get an u/s of my breasts due to the severity of the mastitis. My OB and the LC's I had met with recommended pumping to let my nipples completely heal and then trying again. So, I pumped and let myself heal. And started bfing again about 2 weeks later, only to end up with mastitis again. This continued off and on (sores were always there if I was nursing) until around 6 months when my OB felt that "enough was enough" - she was concerned the mastitis would turn into a systemic infection and they would have to hospitalize me. I knew that this was not working at that point. I was sick, it affected my ability to care for my babies and my older DS and it affected my DH as he was always worried about me and trying to take care of the whole household. But I was committed to them receiving breastmilk one way or another until they were 1. (I did have to supplement with formula at this point as I couldn't pump enough for both of them - so they got 50% EBM and 50% formula) So, I started exclusively pumping and feeding my babies EBM at 6 months. It broke my heart (still does!). I bf my older DS until he was 29 months - and I enjoyed every moment of it. So, that's my story. It definitely wasn't a matter of choosing to or wanting to - it just had to happen. It makes me sad every time I think about it. As another PP said, pumping is just not fun (sitting, attached to a pump for multiple times/day, washing bottles, etc.) and I am so looking forward to being done with it when they are 1-year-olds - but at the same time, that makes me sad b/c then I know my milk supply will be gone and there will be no extended breastfeeding for these two. I do try to latch them on (have been over the past few days) just to see if maybe, possibly, I can get them to beging bfing again before I wean myself off of the pump. They latch on sometimes and other times they just clamp down or don't open their mouths at all.
I gave EBM for the first 4 months when my twins were born. THye were 34 weekers and one had a horrible time learning to eat from a bottle. After almost 3 weeks when she finally figured it out, there was NO breastfeeding that was too hard for her...lol! So, I pumped for 4 months. I didn't have a good supply adn quit at 4 months b/c I was supplementing so much they were ONLY getting 1 bottle a day each (I was only able to pump about 16 oz a day). Like pp said, ther eare many reasons for giving EBM through bottles.
I did EBM because my babies were born at 31 weeks and were in the NICU. They came home not weighing very much and I wanted to strictly bottle feed because I wanted to track exactly how much they were eating. I can't tell how much they eat when they are breastfed.
My twins were born November 28th and are still in the NICU. I have been EBM for them but they are also being supplemented with formula because my supply is not the best. I have not been given the okay yet to try nursing. Can't wait until I can, I hope to exclusively BF and hope my supply is greater once they are home and I can be around them 24/7.
I had one good nurser with severe reflux (I mean he would throw up his entire feeding) and I had another not so good nurser that was losing weight rapidly so I freaked out and started bottle feeding EBM. I added rice cereal to the EBM for my ds and that helped his reflux (the pedi recommended a formula with rice in it and I figured I could add rice to BM and this worked) and then I knew exactly how much my skinny little dd was getting. Once they leveled out on feedings and weight gain I tried nursing again and they never got the hang of it. I pumped for 6months-and although nursing didnt work out and I really wanted it to I still feel very good about the start I was able to give them by pumping and giving that great BM! Just adding my reasoning... plus BM is free and even if you cant nurse you can still get the good stuff with a pump- I really envy all the ladies that work so hard to make it happen-I do regret not trying harder and freaking out-things may have gone differently. I should have visited this board much earlier!
I want to give all of ya'll who did this a round of applause. I've been trying to pump and build up a freezer stash, and I really dislike pumping and am having a had time making it work. If I had to do it all the time, I would surely give it up. Kuddos to ya'll for going through all that to give your babies BM
I do EBM for my twins (still) because one was a terrible nurser and it was a pain to get her to nurse everytime we tried. Plus I had the babies right before summertime and wanted to be able to get up and go with my older DD. Pumping is a total PITA. I really wish I didn't have to do it but they WILL get all BM for a year. I have a massive freezer stash and will start using all frozen milk around 10 months.
