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Goat Milk? Formula? Suck it up and pump more?

675 views 7 replies 6 participants last post by  Azik's mom 
#1 ·
i sarched the forums and didn't find anything that specifically related.
Here is the deal: I WOH in a school and have since ds was 6 weeks old. I pumped faithfully at work and skipped lunch to go home and nurse him at lunch, then I pumped 2-3 more times a night in addition to cosleeping to give him full access to nursing. He reverse cycled, then switched back mroe or less over the summer, when I was at home. I admit that I did not do a good job of pumping to build a stash over the summer. I was sick of the pumping after my struggles to do it at work. ok, so when i went back to work I only had about 12 oz in the freezer. I seem to have lost my ability to pump...I only get 2-3 oz combined from each pumping session, if that. Ds is gaining fine, and i get letdowns that are sometimes uncomfortable, so i know that I have milk a nd that he is getting it fine when he nurses directly.

he generally refuses a bottle, but since I've been back to work now for over a month, he has started taking one, although he rarely finishes it. My mom who watches him offers the bm first and will let him sip on it all day or until he finishes it. If he does (which he may if it's just 2 oz or so) then she will give him a homemade goat milk formula or more often just the plain goat milk. This was her idea, not mine, but the ped said the goat milk would be ok on his gut if I chose to give it to him.

I guess my question is: is the pumping worthwhile? Like tonight, I just don't feel like sitting at the pump for 30 or 40 minutes and get almost nothing, and then be attached to ds for another 45 minutes to nurse, and then i still have schoolwork, laundry, etc to do. At this age, can I skip the pumping some days, give him maybe 4 ox a day of the goat milk as needed, and rely on nursing the rest of the time as well as 3-4 solid meals a day for nutrition? if this is a horrible idea, please just give me a kick in the butt to continue. I am just so overwhelmed with responsibility: single parenting my ds, struggling to make ends meet financially which has led to my life being more complicated (i.e. cloth diapers to save money, and not the nice fuzzi bunz kind either!), stressign about the upcoming custody hearing, taking 15 credits in school, working full time....the pumping/nursing situation is becoming increasingly discouraging, especially since he rarely finishes the bottles and i often come home to see 3/4 of what i pumped sitting out on the counter gone bad. I guess i'm just looking for reassurance maybe that it is OK to skip pumping sometimes, just for my sanity...he will be 10 months on the 17th. Again if this is a horrible idea nutritionally or just generally stupid, please say so, so that I will be motivated to continue. I really do want what's best for ds, and I swore i would NEVER give him formula (and I haven't, unless you consider goat milk/acidophilus/molasses/flaxseed oil/vitamin c & a few other things to be "formula") and it just meant so much to me to stick with that. But i am exhausted.
 
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#2 ·
I think that any breastmilk you can give him is great.
If that means he only nurses at night and gets formula during the day then that's completely o.k


Have you tried a massage cushion like in the ISIS manual pump - I swear this worked for me. I wasn't getting anything out of my electric Avent without it.

Dont resent you BF'ing reationship by making it an awful experience. Do what works and makes it easiest for you to continue BF'ing into the future
 
#4 ·
Mama. You are doing a great job.

I have had many struggles about pumping, and how much makes it worthwhile. There is no "right answer"- everyone has to figure out what works best for her own situation. But I do think it's worth it to weight the benefits of spending time with your DS, having time for yourself, being a happy, healthy, person against a few ounces of breast milk. Certainly bm is important- I too have gone to great lengths to make sure that my kid gets as much as possible. But, it's also important to take of yourself, your sanity, and your family. Sometimes, having the time to bond with your child, and the time to take care of yourself (and thus, be a better parent), is just as important. If skipping the evening pumping session will allow you to do these other things, I personally think that that's a fair trade. And you are already a rockstar for having done so much for him.

And big kudos to you for balancing so much. Your kid is really lucky to have such a determined mom.
 
#6 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Greenmama2AJ View Post
Have you tried a massage cushion like in the ISIS manual pump - I swear this worked for me. I wasn't getting anything out of my electric Avent without it.

Dont resent you BF'ing reationship by making it an awful experience. Do what works and makes it easiest for you to continue BF'ing into the future

I will look into that, definitely. My local hospital maternity store probably sells them. and now that i think about it, the funnel part of the medela manual is cushionier (is that a word? lol) than the electric, and it does seem to help. so maybe I can get another one and use those with the double electric pump....

Also, I skipped pumping last night and decided to use the time to straighten my hair myself, which i haven't done in almost a year. It got me feeling so good that I dug through my pre preg clothes and found a cute outfit to wear to my study group.....and I actually got NOTICED. By a GUY. A nice, normal, sane man in my class who was not drunk or attached to an oxygen mask (i seem to attract addictive personalities and old men, lol). Can't tell ya how good THAT made me feel.


I'm only 21 years old....I had forgotten......
 
#7 ·
Pumping sucks
.

Did you read the "low milk supply" stickie at the top of this forum? It has some links & ideas on increasing pumped supply, not just direct BF supply.

Good luck to you as you balance your family / career / scholarly activities. It's hard.
 
#8 ·
I agree with the other posters a little breast milk is better than none; plus the more you pump/ put baby to the breast the more you will produce. That said I know of some mothers who just dont get much when they pump and that is not an indication of how much milk you really have. About the goat's milk I dont know but Ive heard that its better than commercial cow's milk formula.

I also had production problems in the beginning but the more I stuck at it the more I produced.

Good luck!
 
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