Moms think that use of a pump and then bottlefeeding is easier than
breastfeeding (feeding from the breast). This is a myth. It is not. I am
also seeing a trend in that moms call pumping and bottlefeeding
"breastfeeding" -- they say they breastfed their baby but what they did is
pump and bottlefeed. Meaning moms see the two as equivalent. And yes it is
better that baby has mother's milk, no matter what the delivery system. But
there are flaws to this thinking.
Bottlefeeding uses more natural resources, not matter what is put in the
bottle. If mom is electric pumping, she is using up electricity and that
pollutes the world to the extent it takes to make the electricity. Bottles
take natural resources in the petroleum that makes the plastic and the
electricity and water used to make them also (not including whatever
pollution the factory might make). Mom has to clean the bottles, using water
and soap, and electricity or natural gas to heat the water. She has to have
electricity to refrigerate and reheat the milk when it is feeding time.
Feeding directly from the breast takes no natural resources (water,
electricity, plastic) beyond feeding the mother.
Baby loses out on skin to skin and eye contact that is so important in
bonding. Baby loses out on self-feeding via the breast. Baby may be overfed
by bottle, which is often the case with formula and is one reason I think
obesity is greater with formula feeding. Bottles are too quick, and baby
wants to keep sucking so baby is fed more than he/she really needs. (I had a
WIC client say she was feeding her 3 week old and 6 1/2 LB baby 6 ounces of
formula at a time yesterday!).
Mom loses out on the benefits of feeding at the breast: bottle feeding
(anything) takes more time. Pumping and bottlefeeding is double the work,
double the cost factor (I haven't really figured this cost out, I just say
that). We don't know if pumping keeps the hormone level as high as
breastfeeding does so that the LAM method of family planning will work. Baby
has to cry more while waiting for his bottle than if just feed at the
breast. Mom is chained to her pump, rather than lovingly attached to her
baby. (I think this is one reason some moms prefer to pump and bottlefeed.)
Mom has to pump 8 times a day at first to establish her milk supply and many
mothers complaint that this is "too hard" or "too many times."
Most moms will not go 2+ years on a breastpump but long term nursing is
achievable.
Lastly, if you look on the Medela and Hollister web sites, you will see that
they recommend a hospital grade, or rental pump to establish a milk supply
and for moms who are exclusively pumping. The personal use pumps are not
made to be used 8 times in 24 hours day after day. They are meant for the
mother who is doing more breastfeeding than pumping. If mom needs to pump
without breastfeeding at all, she should be on a rental or hospital grade
pump. If her supply is abundant, then later on she can move down to a
personal use pump (like the pump in style, or the purely yours).
Too many of us have had calls from moms who are using a personal use pump
without breastfeeding and having trouble keeping the milk supply going two
or three months down the road.
Kathy Eng, BSW, IBCLC
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