History final

Unfortunately, that board started to change recently, as mentioned in my first post. Now every time I go there and see someone like me, someone who has made the decision that pumping is a better choice for her and her child, rather than getting simple answers to simple questions she is bombarded with "encouragement" to try breastfeeding instead "at least at first." Are there some legitimate reasons to try breastfeeding at first? Of course there are: colustrum is thick and therefore difficult to pump (especially since your body's new to this whole pumping thing anyway); babies typically stimulate and empty a breast more effectively than a pump, which will give you a better supply when you start pumping; etc. and so on.

But the people asking for information have already decided that breastfeeding is not for them, for whatever reason. It is rude and offensive to invalidate their decision by telling them over and over how much harder EPing is than BFing (it's not, at least for me -- see tomorrow's post for my top ten reasons why not). Incidentally, it sems like the people doing this are the ones who would rather be BFing but are forced to EP for medical or other reasons. Look, I know you want to BF so bad it hurts, but please, don't project on to the rest of us.

So, finally, that's why I'm here. I hope to make this a place where moms who want to exclusively pump can come and have their decision supported. If you'd rather be breastfeeding, this is not the place for you. Oh, you're welcome to come hang out, check out the tips and tricks (one of which I will be including at the end of each post from here on out), use the resources and so on, but comments about how to get back to BFing, or why you should try BFing first will not be tolerated. That information is readily available elsewhere on the web (Google it, fer cryin' out loud) -- this is not the place for it. You really want to post it that bad, start your own blog.

Today's Tip: If you are using the Medela system and experiencing nipple soreness, you may need larger horns. How to tell, from the Medela website: http://www.medela.com/NewFiles/faq/breastshield_fit.html