To pump or not to pump? that is the question..
Not every Mama has the natural urge, or even ability to breast feed their children. And before we get started, the absolute golden rule for any of my opinions, any one else’s opinons and usually our Mother in Law’s opinions is…
..FED IS BEST
There may be 1 reason, or a thousand reasons you can’t or don’t want to breastfeed your newborn. But your happiness will determine the success of your foundation weeks of your bond with your child. If you will be absolutely miserable, in pain and just not connecting, your child will pick up on this strain, you’ll be a hot mess and nobody is happy.
If you feel like you might fall into that category (and you can 10000% change your mind at 3am one random tuesday morning) I would highly reccomend purchasing a small easy hand pump and some sterile bottles to have on hand for as soon as bubs is born. That’s the joy of motherhood right, you can be a breastie on monday a Pumper on tuesday, then go back to breast on the wednesday. As long as baby is fed it really doesn’t matter.
Breastfeeding is a wonderful magical experience, for some, so i’ll let you guys go do your thing - but i’m here to chat to the Mamas who are on the fence, or have jumped that fence completely.
There is an incredible feeling of certainty when you can visualise how much milk you have produced in each session, and then, how much of that milk got consumed. When breastfeeding, there’s an art to knowing how much is going out and how much is going into bubs. A pump and a bottle gives more of a mathematical sense of structure and reassurance about what is actually going on down there.
A small hand pump is not too daunting either, eventually you may want to upgrade to a fancy electric one, but don’t overwhelm yourself early on, there’s already a million new things to learn in the first week. It’s cheaper too so if you decide it’s not your thing, and then you haven’t invested too much cash into it.
Privacy is another hot topic for the more shy Mamas. Whilst society has (mostly) accepted breastfeeding in public as a complete norm now, it doesn’t mean you as an individual are ready. Pumping at home and bottle feeding bubs out at a cafe is a completely normal, and a very easy thing to do. There is absolutely no shame in any option. None!
Partner feed sharing - this is a big one. When i had my babies, I was tired, sometimes overwhelmed, and busy (still working from home part time with a newborn was also a challenge, also covid lockdown days - stressful & yuck). Being able to hand the experience over to your partner, is not only a huge reprieve for you, but also an incredible bonding chance Dad’s never used to have in the oldie days. Letting your own friends and family have a go at feeding is also super rewarding for the entire community that’s helping you raise your children. They’re more likely going to want to babysit your rambunctious toddler in a few years time if they themselves got to bond with bubs early on. Future planning - smart Mama!
While I have delved heavy into breast milk pumping, please do not underestimate the power of baby formula when/if you need it. I am not a scientist, so I will not delve further into this topic, you can find plenty of deep research out there on this one. But for anyone out there struggling to even make milk in the first place, or even if you genuinely are unable to process the desire to share your own milk, formula is your saving grace.
Fed. is. best! Please don’t listen to any naysayers, you will find one in every topic of motherhood, do what you need to do when you need to do it. It’s none. of. their. business!
Enjoy watching that baby grow into a nice healthy plump toddler and be so so proud of whichever route you took to get there!
All milky roads lead to happy babies!
