Dump the Pump

[Quayla]

http://warner.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/02/why-i-dumped-the-pump/?em

I happen to agree with much of what the author said.

I FULLY support breastfeeding and pumping if that's what a mom wants to do.

BUT, yes, I HATE PUMPING!

I pump a minimum of five times a day usually six or seven.  It is absolutely one of the most degrading things I have done.  I have pumped in storage closets, unused offices in complete disarray, half demolished offices that were under construction, santa's breakroom (hoping he wouldn't walk in, and yes, dirty bathrooms(shared by men and women)-on the floor no less (quite often).  No one, absolutely no one can tell me that it isn't degrading.  I feel like a cow, I feel worse than a cow.  At least cows are given a proper space to be pumped in.  I don't even have that. 

No one can tell me that the best thing that I can do for my son is to pump.  That's bullshit.  No one can tell me that the best thing I could do for my son was to leave him at seven and a half weeks and have someone else give him a bottle of my pumped milk. 

What if the author is right?  What if it's not so much the breastmilk itself but the way that the milk is provided to the baby?  What if it's about the act of BREASTFEEDING?  What if it's my arms and they way he feels in them?  What if it's about the way that I smell?  What if it's my voice and songs that I sing to him?  What if it's my face, my smile, the way my eyes light up when I look at him?  WHAT IF IT"S ME?!?  What if it's me and not my day old milk that was refrigerated and slowly heated back up to my approximate body temperature just the way he likes it?  What if it's me that gives him the benefits and it's not so much about my milk?  What then ladies?

What then?  Then the author is right.  We need to dump the pumps.  We need to stop segregating mothers from babies.  We need to do what is right by families and let mothers stay home with their children.  We need to fully support BREASTFEEDING and completely allow women to nurse their babies for as long as they see fit without worrying about how to pay bills or whether or not they will have a job if they stay home for a year.  We need to continue the fight for women's rights and fight for decent parental leave that will gives moms at least six months of paid leave.  We need to fight for our childrens rights to have moms that aren't over stressed because they are trying to take care of young children and a house after they have been away for 10+ hours. 

Ladies, be angry.  Please.  Seriously.  But don't get mad at women who hate pumping.  Get mad at the society (the corporations) that we have given permission to move on with a clear conscience by "allowing" moms to pump.  We let them get off scott free while moms and babies suffer.

FYI, I have been pumping for 10 months now.  My son has never had even a drop of formula.  I have donated breastmilk when I had a surplus.  I have cried though when my supply dipped.  I watched my son get thinner while I waited for medication to arrive that would boost my supply.  And when I first left him at seven and a half weeks I cried.  I cried on my way to work every day for a month.  I cried at work.  I cried on the bathroom floor, trying to find a way to keep things sterile wishing I could go home.  When I stopped crying, I cried.  I cried because I no longer missed him like I did at first.  I'm crying now because I feel like we have both been robbed of the time we should have had together.  I do understand the importance of breastmilk, otherwise I would not have pumped and wouldn't not continue to pump for so long.  BUT, I also think that there is more to being a mom then milk.  We need to allow women to be mother, fully and completely.  Not just a collection of bottles warmed up as needed.

Women have been fighting so hard against the idea that a woman's place is in the home that we have forgotten that sometimes it really is where we belong.  And now, we can't even be there when we want to.

[MSugarKane]

Apr. 9, 2009 at 6:41 AM

I nursed four children up to one year old and never used a pump.

The pumps are for moms who have preemies in the NICU or moms that have extreme problems getting the baby to nurse from them. 

Many depend on the pumps so they can let their husbands feed during the night or skip a feeding, but its a catch 22 because in doing so , you have to pump more.

You can nurse without pumping.  Its not a need.

[kerrin813]

Nov. 5, 2009 at 11:36 PM

i loved reading this....i pumped with my son and it was the sole reason i was unsucessful at breastfeeding, i was only pumping about 6 oz a day...i felt satisfaction when i would give him that 6 oz bottle at night but i hated pumping and only watching a half an ounce fill the bottle after 30 minutes at the pump...12 times a day!-every 2 hours on a 24 hour schedule!!!-can you say insanity?

im due in 4.5 weeks and i dumped the pump and will solely nurse...wish me luck