Exclusive Pumping: What You Should Know

 When working with clients in pregnancy and in talking to friends, pumping comes up a lot. Sometimes I speak to  mothers who wants to exclusively pump. While I commend any mother for choosing to give her infant the most optimal nutrition possible, there are some important things to consider about exclusively pumping.

• Pumping is a lot of work

 I know women who have pumped out of necessity for medical reasons, and most will tell you they would prefer not to. You have to pump, feed your infant, clean the pump parts and bottles and then repeat the process in a few hours. It is nonstop.

• You run the risk of losing your supply.

 Babies naturally regulate their mothers supply to fit their needs perfectly. In a healthy breastfeeding mother and baby, babies are more efficient at establishing and maintaining this communication then even the best breast pump available. For this reason, maintaining a good supply long term while exclusively pumping is very challenging. Many mothers report a decrease in as little as three months if they are not given proper support to maintain it.

• Pumping is more expensive. 

 While it is is still cheaper then formula feeding, you increase your feeding costs when you factor in the cost you may incur for a pump, for storage bags or containers to hold the expressed breast milk safely, and other associated costs.

• Pumping takes time away from bonding with your baby.

 Women who need or choose to pump spend about 15 minutes every 2 to three hours pumping, they do this in addition to preparing and cleaning. This takes time away you could be spending with your precious baby. Breastfeeding at the breast is a  bonding experience especially in the early weeks. The closeness helps you learn your baby's personality.





If you feel strongly about pumping exclusively it is important to really identify your reasons, maybe the problems you have about breastfeeding at the breast can be solved with some support and counseling. In any case if you need to pump, even a little bit, it is important to discuss these with a qualified breastfeeding support person or lactation consultant.