Is 4 oz a day even worth it?

Question

since birth my baby got 15oz breast milk by pumping and 15oz formula. 1

month ago i dropped to 2 pumps a day getting 8-10 oz breast milk. last

week i dropped down to 1 pump and i'm getting just 4 oz. i go to school

and joined a mom's group so i'm too busy to pump any more than once or

else we have to stay in all the time and i have to use the tv as a

babysitter. i returned my rented double pump since $50/mo wasn't worth

4 oz a day. now i'm using my single avent isis. it takes me 30 min each

breast = 1 hour for 4 oz of milk. he's getting the other 26 oz in

formula. seems like a waste of time but i'm holding on like a hoarder

or something. i'm looking for opinions here. he's 6 months. i had

planned to go to 10 months. couldn't breastfeed due to latch probs.

Answer 1

The first 6 weeks when the clostrum is there is most beneficial. He is 6 months old now and before too much longer you will introduce solids, if you havent already. I would say bye bye to the pump and just let the formula do the work.

Answer 2

In my opinion, I would stop pumping. I understand the non-latching prohlem. The answer before mine said that you'll be introducing solids now, and I agree. The small amount of breast milk that you're giving him is not helping or hurting him, since 90% of his nutrition is coming from formula.

I would like to respond to another part of your question though. You said that you were using the TV as a babysitter, and I have definitely been there, done that. However, I would recommend something a little less mindless. There are lots of toys out there--and you don't even have to go to walmart. Try goodwill or whatever other type of thrift stores that are in your area. Also, this is the season for yard sales, see if you can't pick some up. He's at a very critical developmental stage. I'm not trying to say that you are a bad mom or anything like that. Obviously you care about your child.

I got a bouncer for my little one when he was younger mostly because the TV held little interest for him. I could drag the bouncer with me wherever I went, and there was plenty of room on it to dump some cheerios amidst the toys that were attached to it. When you're as busy as you say you are, I know it's hard to set a time to sit down and play with your baby--the next best thing is to give it developmentally correct toys.

I wish you the best of luck!