If you pump or have pumped milk for your baby only how long did you manage to do it?

I pump milk for my baby only, breastfeeding just didn't work for us at all. I tried. Also I spend lots of time outdoors and wouldn't feel comfortable nursing him, bottle is perfect for me! I have plenty of milk, store some in freezer also. Anybody else pumping only also?? How long could you do it?If you pump or have pumped milk for your baby only how long did you manage to do it?
My daughter is 5 1/2 months old and I pump at work for her.





With my youngest son, he went through nipple confusion at 8 weeks old and I had to pump exclusively. I got frustrated and fed up with it when he was 4 months old, quit, he got sick the next day, I felt guilty, started the relactation process and did it until he was 7 months old.If you pump or have pumped milk for your baby only how long did you manage to do it?
I HATED pumping. To me it didn't seem worth all the stress when I had major milk supply issues I gave up after 3.5 months of nursing , pumping, stressing over nursing, then I started formula feeding him.
I had a preemie so I had to pump almost exclusively for 6 weeks while she was in the hospital.. When she got home, I still pumped half the time for the first couple months. I still have a freezer full of milk and my baby is turning 1 tomorrow. I've moved to exclusively breastfeeding (which we are still doing and she eats solids) and she won't take bottles anymore. Good luck to you. I think pumping is great and it takes a lot of work.
I did it for my first child for 12 months exclusively. No formula, no breastfeeding. It was a nightmare. I hated it, but I really was against using formula and with that child I really had no other choice. And then at 6 months I tried to put her on formula. She either refused ever formula bottle or threw it up. So I was stuck with pumping until she went on cow's milk.





But I think I am rather rare. Most people that I have heard either give up or dry up if they exclusively pump much sooner than I did. I was pumping at minimum 2 hours a day. That didn't count giving the bottle, washing the pumping accessories and bottles.





Good thing though is she is now 3 and half and very healthy. Never been to the doctor other than regular check-ups. And thankfully I didn't have any of the breast feeding issues I had with her with my second. So I am directly breast feeding my second child. But exclusively pumping can be done for a long time if you are very committed to it and are lucky.
When my son was born we tried to breast feed and it just wasn't working. We couldn't get the latch, but I did have milk.





I pumped for almost two weeks. At that point I was so cracked and scabbed and bleeding the my milk looked like strawberry milk. It wasn't good. I was beating myself up about it a lot but we ended up going onto formula and it was the best thing for us.





Kim
I was an exclusive pumper, after a long stay in the NICU my babies just never got the hang of latching on, so I pumped while they were there so they got my colostrum and milk. But after they finally came home, instead of just 'giving up' like some said to do, I pumped. And pumped, and pumped! Through sore and sometimes cracked nipples, I pumped. They were on breast milk (fortified with vitamins and a certain amount of formula mixed in for extra calories-a special preemie formula, something like 1 teaspoon per 90mL's of milk) for like 4 solid months, then despite my best efforts my supply started to diminish, even with fenugreek. At around 4-5 months I started having to make formula, like if they were taking in say 4oz of milk, then they would get 1oz of formula and 3 oz of milk, then I would increase the amount of formula depending on my supply. At around 7months I unfortunately dried out. BUT, I have the comfort of knowing I did my best, that my babies had around 6 months total of nothing but fortified breast milk (2 months NICU, 4 at home) and still some breast milk mixed with formula for several months after that. I could have gone straight to formula when they came home but I refused, and I know I did my very best I physically could for them! :)





If you look on google for 'exclusive pumping' you will get several sites that can help you