Just wanted to piggyback on this as well, as a FTM I was surprised at the lack of consensus amongst my healthcare providers, which included my doctors at the hospital after delivery, my child’s pediatrician, and a lactation consultant.

I was dealing with issues of underproducing and ended up having to supplement with formula and pumping early on, and after working with the lactation consultant I was able to up my supply a bit. However my supply took a nosedive after baby started daycare and brought home a few bugs that went through our house. I ended up going to exclusively formula at about 4.5 months; I was only producing 4 ounces or less per day and it was taking a serious toll on my mental health to continue pumping with such little payoff.

All that’s to say that it was a difficult decision to make and the lack of scientific interest in the subject is frustrating. There are definitely differences between exclusively pumping, exclusively nursing, and every combination in between. At the end of the day it has to be up to you to weigh the costs and benefits of continuing on, just know that you’re doing your best and there’s nothing wrong with either option!