What are the pros and cons of a breast pump

We all know that breastfed children are healthier. However, working mothers who breastfeed can only breastfeed their children full-time for three to four months. The rest of the time, if they want to breastfeed, they must express the milk and store it in the refrigerator for the child to eat. Therefore, a breast pump is very necessary, otherwise artificial milk expression is very difficult. To this end, let’s take a look at the pros and cons of breast pumps.

Benefits of a Breast Pump

1. Help dredge the mammary glands and start breastfeeding as soon as possible; (If the milk comes out early, the baby can eat colostrum in time without having to use milk powder first)

2. The milk you express can tell you the amount of milk you produce, and you can also determine how much milk your baby drinks at each meal. You can also see how much milk your baby drinks, and avoid choking your baby by delivering milk too quickly or not delivering enough milk so your baby is not full.

(Moms who breastfeed directly are always worried about not having enough milk, and they don’t know how to judge whether the baby is full or the extent to which the baby’s milk supply is increasing. Instead, they use a breast pump to suck out the milk and compare the relationship between the baby’s age and the amount of milk. If it is indeed insufficient, they can supplement with formula milk in time; some mothers have abundant milk and spray it, which can easily choke the baby. Suckling out the milk and feeding it with a bottle can also avoid this.)

3. The baby will not take too long to feed each time, and the sucking will be effective, so the baby will not develop the habit of sleeping with the nipple in his mouth; (Direct breastfeeding can easily cause the baby to be nipple-dependent, so that the baby will suck milk for a long time, but the effective sucking time is not long, which can easily develop the habit of sleeping with the nipple in his mouth.)

4. Avoid the situation where the baby can only eat foremilk every time he sucks the breast, but not the nutritious hindmilk; (foremilk is generally clearer, while hindmilk is thicker. The nutrient content of foremilk is not as rich as that of hindmilk. The baby generally sucks effectively for only the first few minutes, and what is sucked is foremilk. Many mothers stop letting the baby continue to suck when they see that the baby falls asleep or does not suck much, thus causing the baby to miss the nutritious hindmilk.)

5. Mothers do not need to feed their babies anytime and anywhere, and do not need to maintain the same posture for a long time, which will cause backache and leg pain;

6. You can basically empty your breasts every time, which can reduce the pain caused by milk swelling; (It is easier to judge whether the breasts are empty with a breast pump. Only when the breasts are empty will it not affect milk production.)

7. The baby is not prone to milk rash and will not get his clothes wet; (Direct breastfeeding can easily get milk all over the baby's face and neck, causing eczema. Of course, there are other reasons for eczema.)

8. The mother will not have cracked nipples, thus avoiding the pain caused by it; (the baby's sucking may bite the mother's nipples, which may easily cause inflammation and force the mother to stop breastfeeding.)

9. Babies will not refuse bottles if they are exposed to them from an early age, which makes it easier to feed them water and also creates conditions for mothers to go out during breastfeeding or go to work in the future; (Many babies are used to their mothers' nipples and refuse to eat the nipples of bottles, which makes it more troublesome to add complementary foods or feed them water; and mothers who want to go out by themselves are always worried that their children will not have milk to eat. If a breast pump is used, the milk can be sucked out before leaving and put in the refrigerator to heat up whenever they want to eat.)

10. It is easier to wean. (The baby will not become dependent on the mother's breast. You can add other foods to the baby appropriately and timely to gradually wean the baby. Some babies refuse to eat other things when weaning, which will be very painful for the mother!)

Disadvantages of breast pumps:

1. It’s a bit troublesome to pump milk in advance every time;

2. Rinse after each use and sterilize the bottles frequently;

3. It is troublesome to heat the food for babies in cold weather.

Concerns about breast pumps:

1. The amount of milk will become less and less - Some people believe that using a breast pump will make the amount of milk less and less. Actually, no. In the early stage, more sucking is helpful to increase the amount of milk. The principle of the breast pump is the same as that of the baby's sucking. Of course, the feeling is a little different, but you can manually adjust it to the same frequency as the baby's sucking.

2. The quality of breast milk is not high - some people say this but cannot explain the reason. Personally, I think that the problem of milk quality has nothing to do with whether or not you use a breast pump;

3. Milk leakage problem - Some people think that using a breast pump will make the nipple bigger and leak milk. In fact, it will not. Sucking one breast will stimulate the brain and secrete prolactin to make the mammary gland secrete milk. This stimulation is the same for both breasts, so milk will also drip out of the other side, commonly known as milk leakage. This is a normal phenomenon. Direct breastfeeding will also cause this situation. Using a breast pump can prepare in advance to avoid the milk from the other side wetting the baby's clothes. Sometimes, even during breastfeeding, the nipples may be stimulated by external factors (such as friction from clothing, etc.) and produce milk. Of course, this varies from person to person.

The above is an introduction to the pros and cons of a breast pump. Breastfeeding mothers need to choose whether to use a breast pump based on their own situation. It should be noted here that although the best time for breastfeeding is one year, if you cannot breastfeed due to various reasons such as work, and the quality of breast milk cannot be guaranteed after using a breast pump, it is better to wean the baby.