To pump or not to pump???

[Mapleroo]

So we have hit our first goal I set for us of 4 weeks! Yay, I am so thrilled. My next step is 6 weeks and then after that we will just go month to month I imagine, but my ultimate goal would be to 12 months if we can.

I am starting to wonder if I should start pumping a bit and freezing it and get him used to a bottle. I am a stay at home mum so this isn't something I have to do, it just might come in handy down the road. Or not...is it reasonable to never pump and have baby never drink from a bottle??

My biggest concern with going down the pumping/bottle route is I don't want to ruin what we have going right now as far as latch/supply etc. things are going quite well and I would hate to screw it up.

Any thoughts as to what others have done (and at what age) would be so much appreciated

 

[susywoosy]

I started pumping around the 4 week mark & its going great. This works better for me as we r now out & about a lot so having bottles ready is super. I hate bfing in public so bottle works for me.

we r still bfing too altho he is mainly getting my milk in bottles now. I love that i'm not so tied down but baby is still getting all the good stuff. Bcos he is still getting breast too, it hasnt interfered with hid latch at breast and if for any reason i cant continue with bfing, i know he can take a bottle.

it gave me a break too and alliws dh to help out as my boy was pretty much at the breast all day everyday. He falls asleep at the breast and would not finish a feed so would b looking for more after 10-15 mins. Bottle feeding my milk means he gets a full feed and we're all set for a few hours.

this is working for me but i know others would say to stick with just ebf & not to worry about pumping. It hasnt interfered with my production and if i am worried i dont have enough milk, putting lo to breast or pumping a little extra increases supply. I havent had to supplement and have now reached 6 week mark (almost 7) and all going well so far x

 

[Mapleroo]

Glad to hear it is going so well. I'm also not comfortable bf in public, but it's possible I would hate having to pack around a bunch of bottles too lol. What bottles have you been using??

 

[FarmMom]

I started pumping and giving LO a bottle a day (well, DH gives the bottle) right before 4 weeks (she's almost 6 now) because we've been dealing with thrush and having a break from nursing helps. Anyways, i really dislike pumping but i have to go back to work at 12 weeks so i have to get over it. It hasn't effected my supply or LO's latch. She will take milk any way she can get it. Some women like to do breast only... I think even if i could stay home, i would still like other people to be able to give her a bottle so i could get out of the house and not worry about her being hungry. We went on a date night for the first time last night. We were only gone for 2 hours and i didn't think LO would need a bottle but she got fussy and my mom ended up giving her one. It's nice not to have to worry about rushing home.