breast/formula feeding

I’m aware pumping is a form of breastfeeding. however in this scenario, I mean mouth to nipple breastfeeding. if you don’t want to do that, why not pump instead?

As someone who chose to breastfeed and did for 2.5years. I wouldn't ever choose to just pump (I had to for work etc). But it's hard. Hard to keep track of everything. Bag extra. Clean parts. And it's painful for some people. Also BF if not times right, you can get mastitis etc. I definitely understand why some would just go the formula route. Having a newborn is hard enough. Don't do what you're not comfortable with especially due to peer pressure..I'll be BF again with this baby hopefully but way less pumping.

I was in a horrible relationship and in no fit state mentally to breastfeed my first. I've breastfeed my second for 11 months and we've now stopped because I am sooooo over it. Pumping and breastfeeding are both a huge mental load for any woman.
I don't understand posts like this. How someone chooses to feed their baby is no one else's business.
The fact you've written "I CBA to pump, formula is easier" makes this post seem like an attack for sure 🙃

I breastfed for three months and pumping was very painful and breastfeeding did not give my daughter and i a close bond i had ppd and breastfeeding made my mental health worse. I met with a consultant and it just wasn't for me. Breastfeeding is great but formula is also great. Not everyone wants to or has time to sit and pump either. Every family is different what works for some doesn't work for others. As long as baby is fed and healthy thats all that should matter in my opinion. Your comments seem very judgmental we are all moms doing our best. We should be encouraging in this community/app not passing judgement or shame.

Sounds like you've got a case of "not your boobs not your business" 😂 I exclusively pumped for a while to establish supply while my daughter was in NICU and in my opinion it is the worst of both worlds. All the cleaning and prep of bottles along with feeling like a cow. It was shit, worrying about how much was coming out, cleaning, sterilising etc, it was much easier when I moved to just breastfeeding. I wouldn't do it all again if I was having more.

I’ve been bf 3.5 years, and for the same reasons Jen listed, I also wouldn’t pump.
Creating and sustaining a milk supply artificially without a baby latching to communicate their needs with your body is also astronomically harder than directly breastfeeding or formula feeding.
I have the most insane level of respect for exclusively pumping mamas

I simply just didnt want to. I tried to collect colostrum and felt like I was milking a cow. I dont think pumping over breastfeeding would have made me feel less like a cow

Have you ever pumped long term? That is HARD WORK. Pumping exclusively is like breastfeeding and formula feeding together. You have the hassle of both.

I'm going on 13 months breastfeeding and if I could only pump Vs mouth to nipple I would've formula fed. The first month or two of babies life pumping sent me into a deeper depression than I already was in. I had a very bad relationship with pumping. Not only is it hard on your body with having to pump every few hours, it being painful sometimes. It's mentally hard too with more sleep deprivation. Less time for yourself because it felt like I was forever cleaning not only bottles but pumps too. Bagging everything and keeping track of dates is mentally taxing. There's just so much more to pumping then actually mouth to nipple. Only time I pump is when I'm at work part time to keep up my supply but I pump and dump because I CBA with it and my daughter will not drink pumped milk anymore either. It also very much makes me feel like a cow.

If I couldn't mouth to nipple breastfeed I would 1000% have formula fed.

I absolutely take my hat off to exclusive pumpers. It's most definitely the most difficult way to fe

I’m not here to judge how people choose to feed their babies, I simply just want to understand as I am curious! I believe a fed baby is a happy baby, no matter how they’re fed. I’m sorry if anyone took this post in another way!

I did all 3. Pumping is a straight up pain. Waking every couple hours in the middle of the night, pumping for 30 minutes, then cleaning the parts, storing the milk, etc. Obviously this is my own personal situation but I also had PPD. My baby would have had a better mother if I would have just been sleeping instead of doing that tbh.

I started pump/nurse combo, then EBF because pumping was so much work in the middle of the night and then I switched to formula around 9 months.

Everyone on here offended that OP asked, just don’t answer next time. Logging into this app was an option, voting and commenting is also an option. It’s ok to be curious. It’s ok to also no answer.

Loaded question. But I’ll go.

I only pumped for a month. The colostrum is only really in the milk for the 1st 5 days. He lost nothing. My breasts were so large I could not get appropriate support and it was hurting my back, they were ludicrous- they were GGs before I was pregnant, god knows what size they were post partum but I genuinely could not keep up with the rate at which I needed to buy bras. I was so so uncomfortable. The let down also made me feel so sick.

To top it off he never latched not once and then he didn’t like the milk I made. He just wouldn’t drink it- it was a wasted effort that just made everyone miserable.

… I also …. 😳… think the benefits of breast milk are over exaggerated. …. My bottle fed boy has the immunity of an ox and seemed to grow faster than his peers. I was allowed to share the load of feeding because I wasn’t a human boob. It allowed my boy a more active social life and enabled us to go on outings easily… But there is a debate for another day.

Pumping is awful. I breastfed for 18 months, but briefly tried pumping, so I could share the care with my coparent more. Didn’t work, my daughter wouldn’t accept it. But my god it was hard work and time consuming. I couldn’t imagine doing that as a way to feed my daughter 24/7.

Even formula feeding, I think it’s so much more effort compared to breastfeeding. I know some people really struggle with it, but for me breastfeeding was by far the easiest way of feeding my kid.

𝕀 𝕓𝕦𝕪 𝕓𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕞𝕚𝕝𝕜, 𝕓𝕖𝕔𝕒𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕀 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕦𝕝𝕒. 𝔸𝕟𝕕 𝕀'𝕞 𝕘𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕗𝕝𝕦𝕚𝕕, 𝕤𝕠 𝕀 𝕘𝕠𝕥 𝕥𝕠𝕡 𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕘𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕥𝕠 𝕙𝕖𝕝𝕡 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕕𝕪𝕤𝕡𝕙𝕠𝕣𝕚𝕒. 𝕋𝕠𝕡 𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕘𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕚𝕤 𝕖𝕩𝕡𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕀 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕕𝕠 𝕚𝕥 𝕒𝕘𝕒𝕚𝕟. 𝕄𝕪 𝕨𝕚𝕗𝕖 𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕡𝕦𝕞𝕡 𝕤𝕠 𝕤𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕓𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕗𝕖𝕖𝕕, 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕚𝕥 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕕𝕚𝕕𝕟'𝕥 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕜 𝕠𝕦𝕥.