Breastfeeding vs. just pumping??

Question

Alright we aren't pregnant yet, but my husband and I were discussing our baby plans and he is firmly set on me not breastfeeding. Him nor his brother were breastfed (his mom just pumped) and that is what he wants me to do. He feels there is no point to breastfeeding...we will have to use bottles eventually so why not start from the beginning.
I on the other hand have never even considered the possibility of not breastfeeding. So what is your opinion? Does he have a point and which have you found easier? More importantly which is better for my future children? Thank you!

Answer 1

breast feeding gives you the opportunity to bond closer to your baby. some babies are harder to breast feed than others. pumping is more convenient specially if you work and not liking the feed in public. you can feed at home and pump so if you go somewhere or whatever. as long as your baby is Happy and healthy it doesn't matter

Answer 2

If I had to choose, it would be breastfeeding, hands down.

I exclusively pumped with my daughter (almost 5 years old) and breastfeed my son (5 months old). I wish I breastfed my daughter, I didn't because the hospital didn't give me enough instruction on how to breastfeed (for some reason they thought I had several children and assumed I knew what I was doing).

As stated earlier, breastfeeding is the best possible source of nutrition for a child.

First, it isn't your husbands choice, its yours. Regardless of what he thinks, its your decision. If your hubby is worried about getting bonding time with the baby, then after a few weeks, incorporate a bottle in every day and let him do that feeding.

Second, pumping is a lot of work. You will have to pump up to 12 times a day. Each time for approxiamtely 10-20 minutes. Each time you have to clean and sterilize your equipment. Additionally, your supply will dry up faster, then you'll have to switch to formula, which is expensive.

Third, breastfeeding becomes much more than just nutrition. The bond between you and your baby will be irreplaceable. There is nothing like holding your child, watching him nurse and knowing that you are providing the best possible care for him. For me, breastfeeding is a huge comfort. When I'm laying down, nursing my son, nothing else matters and all my stress and worries just melt away.

Lastly, breastfeeding is just plain easier. There is no warming it up, no cleaning bottles. At night, lay down with the baby, give him a boob, and go back to sleep.

Answer 3

Oh, please, please, please DO NOT let your husband bully you into not breastfeeding! You may have to go to bottles eventually; however, there is no substitute for breastfeeding. In the first days post-birth, the milk is super rich in all the antibodies, etc., that your baby will need to be healthy. Studies have shown again and again that breastfed infants are healthier throughout their entire childhood and are less likely to have allergies, colds, etc.

Breast-milk is always the perfect temperature, comes in a very cute container and is readily available regardless of where you are. The bonding that occurs with breastfeeding is extraordinarily important.

You will never regret breastfeeding, but you will regret it if you don't especially if you've always believed that you would. What would be the point of pumping then bottle feeding? That would be so much extra time wasted, and would raise the potential possibility of contamination.

If you are home with your baby, breastfeed your child as long as possible.

Answer 4

both are fine because since they are mothers milk then nutritionally it is still the best your baby can get.

as a breastfeeding mother though I will tell you pumping is extremely time consuming and you may be more likely to give up on breastfeeding if you exclusively pump.

are you a sahm or a working mom though because really that's what makes the huge difference, because if you are a working mom then if you plan on breastfeeding, at some point when you go back to work you will have to pump.

if you are a sahm though then I would suggest going straight from the source because it is soooo easy, you never have to clean a bottle and it's always the right temp. please do what you feel the most comfortable with because it is your body and I can honestly say at 8.5 mths old that my daughter has never had a bottle.

Answer 5

No offence to you or your husband, but that is just a really moronic idea. Really dumb. Wow.

Breastfeeding 10x easier than pumping, and 100x easier than formula.

One point I don't think others have mentioned is that your breasts will react with the baby's saliva and your milk will actually adjust in content pertaining to the baby's needs. Such as when your baby has been exposed to a virus or sickness -- your breasts will produce more white blood cells and other nutrients to assist the baby in fending off such things.

Immediately with contact with the air, breast milk will start to deteriorate. Bottled breast milk will never be as fresh as straight from the breast. My daughter refuses to drink frozen breast milk, but drink (although not nearly as much) bottled and refrigerated milk. Why? Because there is a difference and she knows it. She wants the real thing. She will still drink pumped milk, but will basically wait until mama comes home.

Without that saliva interaction the milk will reduce in quantity and quality. You cannot pump as well as a baby can suck. Basically, do whatever you can to breastfeed as long as possible. For the fist 8months a baby should only have breast milk and nothing else. After that, slowly very easy to digest foods are introduced, but breastfeeding continues, especially at night. We breastfed past 2 years, but remember, not too long ago, it was very normal to breastfeed until past 3 and depending on the child or living circumstances, even longer. Anyway, do it for as long as you can. Try not to let work get in between you and your child. That's how those politicians have it all planned out, to try to force us back to work before our children are even ready to be left on their own; before breastfeeding is even finished. We need to try to fight back against these bastards. Where I live, parental leave was down to 6mo at one time -- depending on who we elect, it always changes... the most was 2 years, now it's 1yr. Pathetic. So, try to take at least 2 years off for your child -- at least. Perhaps if you worked at a really great company that had on-site daycare where you could do feeding... but... we don't all work at Google...

Pumping is a royal pain in the a** too.

Answer 6

If you pump only you supply will diminish soon. a baby can "milk" a breast way more efficantly then a pump every could. You will end up giving the formula very quickly but ....
Breast milk is best for many reasons. Including its cheaper!

In my opinion you should let your husband know what reasons that breastmilk is best. it is definatly better for baby in the long run, even if you breastfeed for only a few months, not to mention the closeness you feel while your doing it, i say its worth a shot to try.

1. Increases Baby's IQ
Breastfeeding has been shown to increase your baby's intelligence quotient (IQ). The average increase is about 7 points. While it might not be the difference for acceptance to Harvard, we all need every point we can get!
2. Helps mom lose that baby fat.
There are certain fat stores that go on your body during pregnancy that are destined to be for breastfeeding. Breastfeeding helps tap into those stores and reduce the fat deposits laid down in pregnancy.
3. Breastfed babies are less likely to die of SIDS.
About 7,000 US babies die every year from SIDS. While we don't know what causes SIDS, we do know what the risk factors are, that includes using formula to feed your baby. Breastmilk is one of the few factors that you can control.
4. Reduced allergies for breastfed babies.
Breastfeeding your baby causes baby to have fewer allergies. There are lots of reasons why this happens, but remember - Mother's milk is specific for each and every child. It changes throughout the day and throughout the span that you nurse.
5. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that you breastfeed.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that your baby begin breastfeeding within the first hour of life and that they only receive breastmilk until they are older. It's also recommended by the American Dietetic Association (ADA), the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF.
6. Breastfeeding burns calories!
Breastfeeding requires about 500 calories a day to simply produce the milk. You can use those extra 500 calories to add more food to your diet or to help you lose weight after the birth.
7. Formula increases the risk of diabetes (type I).
Infants who are exposed to formula, particularly early on have a greater likelihood to develope Type I diabetes. Infants who were expressly breastfed for at least 5 months with no formula had lower rates of Type I diabetes. The longer they were breastfed, the lower the risk.
8. Postbirth benefits are also many.
By breastfeeding your body releasess a hormone that helps your uterus contract, oxytocin. This can reduce your risk of postpartum hemorrhage or the need for other medications. Nursing also helps your uterus heal after birth and get back to its pre-pregnancy size.
9. Cancers decrease with breastfeeding too.
Your risk of developing breast cancer and other cancers is increased if you do not breast feed. Breastfeeding can help lower the incidence of breast cancer, ovarian cancer, endometrial cancer, etc.
10. Breastfeeding lowers the risk of obesity.
Not only will breastfeeding make your child more lean and healthy, it will help reduce days missed at work for illnesses, etc. Because nursing lowers the risk that your child will suffer from upper respiratory infections, ear infections, etc.

Answer 7

I can see he may want you to pump as a way to greater bond with the child if he does a lot of the feedings. So that would be an advantage.

However you are losing some bonding as missing out on the feedings. Keep in mind its also triple to work, to pump, him feed, and clean the bottles. I think the best compromise is to do both, you to feed, and also to pump.

Answer 8

You do what YOU want to do. Breastfeeding is such a bonding and rewarding experience!! I highly recommend it!
I'm currently breastfeeding my 7 month old daughter!!
Love every minute of it.
Hopefully you're hubby will change his tune once he sees how happy both you and baby are. (He also should be happy that he doesn't have to get up in the middle of the night with the baby).

Answer 9

You should do what is comfortable for you. Pumping constantly is time consuming and you should at least try to breastfeed, even if the baby will be bottle fed later one. Plus, it is bonding time for you and the baby, that is something that no else will have with him/her.