My son was in the NICU for 10 days after he was born and we never had enough practice to get the hang of nursing. I was determined to still give him 100% breastmilk and pumped for 7 months...it was very hard, especially after going back to work after 4 months but so worth it. He has never had a sick visit...knock on wood! I am now pregnant with baby boy number 2 and am hoping/praying/wishing that nursing happens this time around!

Sounds like a lot of work to me! Sitting for 10-20 minutes to pump, then still having to deal with bottles...But I never really enjoyed pumping, even with my super-deluxe pump when I had to be away, and I did enjoy nursing. I loved the convenience and the closeness.

The only thing I didn't enjoy about nursing (other than the initial pain in the first several weeks when my babies and I were still figuring everything out) was when my supply dwindled during my second baby's first year no matter what I did. It stressed me out, especially when she was not on solids yet (and the stress, of course, compounded the problem). Pumping in addition to nursing didn't do a ton to help but it did help a little.

I guess besides the work factor, the possibility of dwindling milk supply scares me since I had that problem in the first place.

Every mom needs to do what works for her and her baby though, so if pumping is satisfying and fits the bill, then by all means, moms, pump away!

to each his own... i found pumping so difficult and really enjoyed breastfeeding my daughter. too bad the mom in the times article felt she had to leave the room to breastfeed... if i did that all the time, i would have felt isolated too!
it's usually unnecessary to see how many ounces the baby is drinking - i was told to judge by how many wet diapers there are and the baby's weight gain. and regarding the "pump and dump", i never felt like an occasional drink was a problem, especially after my daughter was 6 months old. after not drinking for 9 months while i was pregnant, it wasn't a big deal!

To each her own, of course, but I'm not sure I agree with the advantages that you cite. A mother who primary breastfeeds is also free to pump and bottle feed if she likes, so additional freedom isn't really an advantage of exclusive pumping. And "pumping and dumping" is an entirely unecessary practice, since alcohol quickly dissipates from milk within the breast and does not need to be dumped. But I'll agree that a breast pump is a handy tool.

As a mother of a preemie who had to pump for a couple of months before he got the hand of nursing I can't imagine going to that much work on purpose. You take the time to sit with the pump, then the time to feed the bottle feed the baby...then there is the cleaning of the pump and the bottles. Good grief that is a lot of time that you could just be sitting enjoying your little one! Kim

I'm curious what the proportioning is of exclusive pumpers. Are most of them doing it because of latch or other problems inhibiting nursing, or because they prefer it to nursing? I would think it's the former. In which case I totally applaud moms who do that--because pumping really is hard. If I were completely unable to breastfeed I don't know if I'd last that long.

(I also applaud moms who pump because they prefer it, although I don't see myself making that choice.)

During the first week, I was also worried about how much my newborn was actually eating, so I rented a scale from my lactation consultant. It was a great way to reassure me (a sleepy, nervous, post partum mom) that my daughter was getting enough. Best $20 I spent.

I give major props to women who pump. Many of my friends who went back to work pumped and were able to stash enough in the freezer that they quit pumping about 3 months before the stash ran out. I can see that as a plus.

I was unable to successfully nurse so I exclusively pumped for the first six months of my daughter's life. I was thrilled that I could still give her my milk and the family members who helped care for her were happy to be able to feed her, too. I never felt that it took the place of bonding time with her; being in pain does not beget any bonding whatsoever. It usually worked out that I pumped while she slept, anyway, so I was able to get a lot of reading done, too. ;)

I can't imagine that this is a big trend ... really?! Pumping is such a pain for all the reasons mentioned. I still pump once a day at work for my 1.5 year old, and even that is a pain. I can't imagine pumping exclusively unless breastfeeding was not working out.

I really honor women who exclusively pump for whatever reason (preemie, bad latch, work, "convenience") because it strikes me as a very difficult choice. Nursing is so, so much easier if everything is going well with mother and babe. Pumping is a lot of work. Whatever the reason, they are giving their babes the best food available.

I've pumped more than my share my milk while I worked and I would give anything to just see the babe instead.

Just to present another perspective, my daughter and I never really got the hang of nursing. My supply was about half of what she needed, plus she never really learned how to latch on well. Nursing was a constant struggle and it caused both of us a lot of stress. Pumping enabled me to give her the benefits of breast milk, supplemented with formula, even though she didn't nurse, which kept me from feeling like a "failure" that nursing didn't work for us. Pumping was definitely a pain, especially after I went back to work at a non-mom-friendly company, but I stuck it out for 6 months and felt good that I was doing the best I could. It helps to remember that breastfeeding doesn't come easily or naturally to everyone, some of us may not have had a choice, and it's nice that pumping was an option.

My son was in NICU for over 13 weeks, I expressed for all this time. I would never choose to do this as a permenant alternative to breast feeding. You are supposed to spend roughly 40 minutes expressing and I can't imagine wanting to spend this every four hours when you have a baby to occupy. I was told I would not be able to breastfeed my little boy, unfortunately in alot of NICUs of is a case if getting you out, and home as quickly as possible. I had a freezer full of breastmilk but the amount produced from expressing dwindles rapidly if that is all you are doing. My friend experienced this recently when she decided to exclusively express bottle feed. With breastfeedong it is a case of supply and demand, unfortunately expressing does not have the same result, she discovered she was having to supplement with formula anyway!
My milk was pitiful after months of expressing but when my son came home I gradually reduced the bottles and introduced breastfeeding, my milk soon increased again. I successfully breastfed him for a year and a half.

i feel lucky that breastfeeding worked out with both my babies. i know it doesn't always, and mothers who commit to exclusive pumping are goddesses and heroes. i bow to you.

that being said, what the heck is this doing on ohdeedoh?

This is one of those things that people assume is a choice. You choose to breastfeed or not. But for many moms and babies it just doesn't work out for a myriad of physical reasons. I hope the article mentions that. This was the case with my oldest so I pumped for nine months. My supply never dwindled. It was a little crazy for a while trying to keep at least one bottle ahead of her but I managed. I'm glad I did it. My husband loved being able to feed her a bottle, something he really missed with our second because she is exclusively breastfed. By the way, I never just had a relationship with a pump.... what an idiotic thing to say.

I had my first baby almost nine months ago. I had always planned on breastfeeding, but when she arrived, my milk did not. She would latch on, but her efforts were futile. My milk supply was extremely low, something I didn't expect, and it actually took the aid of a pump to even get the milk to come in. I'd pump several times a day, getting only a few ounces for hours of pumping. It was a total pain and my life was measured by pumping times, but I did it until I essentially ran out because I wanted to be able to give her as much of my milk as I could.

Of course, I supplemented with formula, and she is now exclusively formula fed (and happy - and healthy!), but for those that need it, the pump can be a lifesaver. Without the aid of a pump, she would likely have never had any of my milk.

My experience also made me very open to all feeding options. I think there is a lot of judgment passed on those who don't breastfeed. What some people don't take into account is that sometimes it simply physically doesn't work. Breast, pump, formula: do what works for you and your baby.

Most of the people I know that exclusively pumped did it out of necessity (preemies is the NICU or latching issues) and not by choice. But honestly even if they did chose, more power to them. I agree with the previous commenter, do what works for you and your baby. As long as the doctor is saying that the baby is healthy and gaining weight, who cares how they're getting the nutrients they need?

I exclusively pumped for 10 months for my daughter. It was not by choice as she was early and had latching issues. It was double the work and I would have given anything to breastfeed the "natural" way. That being said, I am glad it was an option for our family. Without it, my daughter would not have been able to have any of my milk.

I think Gordon Gallup comes off as an idiot for thinking that I would rather have a "relationship" with my pump instead of my child. What a way to trivialize the enormous effort it is to do something beneficial for your child!

Giving your baby a bottle doesn't mean you don't have a relationship with him, as the LLL woman implied. Bug. Feeding your baby can be a bonding experience, no matter how it's going down.

http://thesweetest3.com/

i'm another pumper who would gladly have breastfed instead. even with professional help, we couldn't get past latching issues due to her palate (my mom had the same issue when i was a baby but didn't have the benefit of an electric pump). pumping is time-consuming (at least double work), difficult to work around my baby's needs, stressful, and i'm constantly cleaning parts & bottles. not to mention the really weird looks you get if you pump somewhere in public, like a ladies room.

i wish this article had focused more on women who pump due to similar issues rather than made it seem like a choice made by mothers who somehow aren't as committed to their babies' well-being. it's too bad that there isn't more support out there for women who are trying to provide breast milk to their children in what is often the only way they can.

I agree with the PPs that it is a blessing that pumps are available when breastfeeding just doesn't work, but I don't know anyone who would choose it instead of breastfeeding.

I do dislike the aspect of the article which says that women find the pump more satisfying because they can see how many ounces baby is getting. It is just one more mention of how breastfeeding is perceived as inferior to more 'clinical' methods of baby feeding. Trust the body, trust the baby.

I had to have a life-threatening surgery 3 months after our daughter was born. Even though I was highly medicated afterwards and couldn't give her the contaminated milk I was producing, pumped milk kept her going for at least a month after the surgery. Pumping worked wonders for us, but she is now a happy, healthy, formula-fed 8-month-old.

I also had to pump for my son as he was losing weight nursing. Pumping to provide your baby breast milk is so time consuming and sometimes emotionally draining. I cannot imagine making a choice to pump just for my benefit. I'm lucky baby #2 is not having any nursing issues (heck, she won't take a bottle-she went the opposite direction) yet and have only been pumping to donate milk!

My baby became septic at 3 weeks old and spent 9 days in the Pediatric ICU. When he became well enough to start eating again, the ICU doctors wanted to force me to pump and bottlefeed. I had to fight very hard to be allowed to breastfeed my baby. The lactation consultant at the hospital told me that she had seen PICU and NICU docs pressure moms to pump and bottlefeed again and again. I wonder how many of the moms are in that situation?

Also, if you're really ocd about measuring milk intake, you can always weigh your baby before and after each feeding. I'm pretty ocd myself, and found the experience of relying on my baby's feeding cues only to be a great way of forcing myself to relax.

I think sometimes people forget that some women don't want to nurse for emotional reasons, too. For someone who was physically abused, nursing can be very healing... but it also has the potential to be horrific. Exclusive pumping can help get the milk to the baby without the emotional baggage. While I think there are benefits to trying to work through physical or emotional or social issues with nursing, sometimes it doesn't happen. Hence pumping.

The thing I can't relate to is wanting to know EXACTLY how much the infant is ingesting. Unless the baby is a preemie or has serious health issues, it usually isn't particularly helpful to know the precise number of ounces a baby has drank. If your baby looks healthy and is gaining weight, he or she is probably very healthy. Constant weighing of pounds or measuring of milk isn't likely to have a positive affect on a normal infant's outcome.

I think many parents aren't aware that it's perfectly normal and expected for newborns to lose weight for the first weeks of life. My son lost nearly 12% of his body weight in the first weeks after birth. Typical infant weight loss for breastfed infants is between 5-10%, so he was on the higher end of normal; our pediatrician and midwife were aware of this and weren't alarmed. My milk was simply slow to come in... and if we had supplemented it's likely I would have stopped nursing altogether or taken to the pump. Supplementing can be helpful if an infant is actually sick, but it can really mess up normal lactation if it's used unnecessarily. Instead of supplementing I let our son nurse around the clock for the first month and eventually my supply increased and his weight increased to to the 95th percentile.

Eh, I sense the biggest issue here is the lack of social and emotional support for nursing mothers. We have too many people giving us erroneous information and not enough providing us with accurate info. How many women have turned to formula or pumping because their infant lost 5% of their body weight and a physician was needlessly alarmed? Egads! We don't even know what's normal any more.

My daughter was never able to latch on due to my massive overactive letdown and oversupply issues. We tried for months to get her on the breast. At my peak, I was producing over 70 oz a day. Pumping wasn't fun, but I stuck it out for almost a year. I was also able to donate lots of milk. I'm glad this option was available to me.

I wish the article talked more about mothers for whom breastfeeding doesn't work out despite their best efforts. I had no idea before having my daughter all the things that make it difficult or impossible. After 6 weeks of consultants, pumps, shields, books etc.. I was on my own to figure out how to pump. I felt like I was the only one doing this! It really helped me feel bonded to her, and less depressed about the let down of not being able to breast feed... Glad to see the word is at least getting out about this option.

There are many many issues in bottle or breast but if it's mothers milk in the bottle that's one less.
I nursed my first for....forever....and my second is weaning slowly. With the first it was very hard and got gradually better. I pumped and she reluctantly took the bottle. With the second he took to the bottle no problem but i still breastfeed.

"much better than turning to formula"??? is formula considered a poison now?

I had planned to exclusively breastfeed my now 10-month old (thriving, healthy, formula fed) daughter, until she was born and my milk supply just never came in. I logged countless hours a lactation clinics, pumped, used a lactation aid (feeding tube), took herbs, and eventually drugs to try to get my supply up. I breastfed her what tiny bit I had and then supplemented with formula until 8 months when she self weaned (and I'm surprised she kept nursing that long, seeing as she wasn't getting milk from me)

Perhaps I wouldn't have spent the first few months of my daughter's life crying myself to sleep every night for feeling like a bad mother, were there no such much judgmental crud out there like this article.

Breast is not best - FEEDING is best. Power and respect to all parents out there making sure their children are fed and cared for in whatever way works for their situation.

Aaargh! I too have trouble with the hard line that lactation consultants & La Leche league take on breastfeeding as indicated in this article. I agree that breastfeeding has benefits but mothers struggling with breastfeeding also need to hear that it's OKAY to make the choice to not breastfeed. I am proud that I successfully breastfed my son for 9 months despite spending the first month breastfeeding, pumping and then supplementing with breastmilk in a bottle at each feeding every 3 hours on the dot (or more often) for my little preemie. That translates into sleeping for a maximum of 2 hours at a time and being engaged in feeding activities for at least 8 hours of the day. In retrospect, it sure would have been nice if someone said, "don't make yourself crazy, enjoy your baby, he'll do fine on formula" but the pressure from the nurses & LC's to breastfeed meant I didn't even feel this was an option at the time. There's enough pressure on new moms as it is, and these LLL folks need to be supportive and not so judgemental. Whew...rant over.

I breastfed my first child until she was almost 2, even though I was working full time, and it was a wonderful experience. When I decided to leave my job after my second child was born, I assumed we would also have a long, healthy, loving relationship nursing. Everything started off just fine, until at 3 months nursing suddenly became very painful. After visiting a lactation consultant, OB, and a dermatologist it was determined that I had contracted a MRSA infection, and I was allergic to the only effective antibiotic. I pumped and dumped for a month (couldn't feed her the milk) but just couldn't heal well enough while pumping. I was devastated to have to stop and admit defeat. Even though everyone was incredibly supportive of me, I still felt depressed. I had such a wonderful experience with my first daughter, I worried that I wouldn’t bond as well with my second little girl. And of course, I had nothing to worry about. I am very sensitive now to people who are judgmental about bottle feeding, and I say that people should do whatever works for them, and it is not up to me or anyone else to judge them. Breast milk is of course the preferable choice, but formula is around for a reason, and I’m glad it is.

I could share my story (struggled a lot to breastfeed, pumped out of necessity, now pump to be away from baby), but I'll just say: let's all stop judging each other and make the world a kinder place for breastfeeding AND bottlefeeding. You never know what someone else had been through...like my poor friend in Portland being constantly heckled in public for bottlefeeding when she couldn't breastfeed because of her medication...

I had my little girl five weeks ago and have been almost exclusively pumping only giving the breast for night time feedings. We only made it through the first week exclusively on the breast. I would have kept at it dispite the pain and how stressful I found it that first week if at her first doctors appointment I hadn't been told that I needed to supplement with formula as she had lost a pound and six ounces since birth. I was heartbroken and felt so worthlesss that I had starved my baby due to my selfish wish to have bragging rights that I had breastfeed her ( how I felt at that time). I'm now having trouble getting her back into breastfeeding because she wants to sleep almost as soon as I put her on and it becomes this four hour long ordeal of me trying to keep her awake and ending in giving her formula or letting her cry until I get the milk

As a mom who's soley bottle fed, soley breastfed, bottle & breast mix, and at times had to soley pump...I think its crazy for someone to choose to soley pump over breastfeeding naturally. Its so much more work, not to mention, OUCH. Pumping hurts! I realize the benefits of pumping maybe 1-2 times a day and freezing the breastmilk for times when dad needs to take the baby, or mom needs a break, but I wouldn't pump 24/7 unless I had to for a medical reason (baby wasn't latching, baby in hospital, etc).

If there are significant problems in the baby latching on, you'd be better off paying to visit a lactation consultant. Otherwise, breastfeeding should be painless and comforting for both mother and baby.

Also, it really takes at least three months to get both mom and baby in sync with breastfeeding. I wouldn't give up before then unless you really had to. It takes awhile for it to become really enjoyable (I know...hard to imagine when you've got cracked nipples, or clogged milk ducts) but those problems usually go away completely after a few months. My daughter is turning 1 next week and I hardly even think about breastfeeding anymore...its just automatic, for both of us! Its no work at all. Now how to wean her off...???

Oh yes....and for those who are paranoid that the baby is not getting enough, you can do a feed 'n' weigh at most lactation consultant offices...usually for free. They'll have a private room where you can weight the baby on super sensitive scale, feed the baby, weigh again to see exactly how much s/he is getting. It really is worth the peace of mind to find one. You can usually just pop in whenever you want.