Hello All, I am planning to get a breast pump for feeding the baby when we are outside our home. For ex, going to pead or friends place. I want to feed my baby with breast milk as much as possible but, Since pumping breast milk is a lot of work(at least a bit), I am wondering if formula milk can be fed as a replacement for those outings. Has anybody experimented with this and found formula feeding easier/quicker than breast milk? If so, I might just skip getting the breast pump. Kindly post your suggestions. Thanks in advance, Lavanya.
I had to give half an ounce of top up after most feeds. While most of it was pumped BM, I had a backup of formula too. For me manual pumping took a long time whereas I know a couple of women who used electric pumps which were much much quicker and efficient. Formula is certainly quicker as long as you have plenty of bottles that you can wash and sterilise at one go. It took a whole for feeding to be established in my case; however once it was established, I fed her everywhere I went. A cotton wrap was all I needed for privacy while going out. Also there were specific clothes which made feeding easy - eg. A camisole under a deep neck jersey and a jacket over it helped keeping all unncessaty bits covered.
Lavanya, depending on where you live, some hospitals let you borrow the breat pumps. If possible, get both manual and electrical and see what is more comfortable for you. As such, its always better to feed them breast milk but if there is a need, formula can be given. Like Guesswho, I also had to top up my LO with formula.
Lavanya, I haven't used manual pump but use electronic breast pump everyday as I work full time and baby attends child care during work hours. However whenever we go out , I carry nursing cover with me so that I can easily feed baby whenever he gets hungry and can maintain privacy. I don't know where you live but here baby gets a room whenever we visit pediatrician and nursing cover is enough for me. I have nursed my baby in changing rooms, car, at mall, restrooms, hospital lobby etc. If you can not find nursing cover where you live, here are some simple patterns and it is very easy to make. With my older son I used DIY nursing cover that took less than an hour to sew. Also, you can get nursing cami and wear regular t-shirts over it. Craftaholics Anonymous® | Nursing Cover Pattern with Pocket DIY Nursing Cover Tutorial | Pretty Prudent