Budgeting for Breastfeeding

A really good breast pump will indeed give you sticker shock! Still, breast feeding is a big money-saver, and is a wonderful experience for mother and child.

I love how much you pay attention to these types of details!

Thanks for your practical tips for breastfeeding mothers. Just one thing, though, if I may – I would have preferred if you didn’t say that breastfeeding is free. As I point out elsewhere (http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1405187212.html) breastfeeding has at least 3 price tags attached (see section 1.3.4. of the first 3 pdf file). Breast milk is a terrific bargain if we consider the life-long benefits for mothers and children. But breastfeeding is most certainly not free.

James,

Thanks for the note. While I agree whole heartedly that breast milk has a value, including a monetary value, the act of breastfeeding is largely free. I personally think that this is one of the reasons that we ignore breastfeeding as much as we do in the US.

Robin, I love your advice about giving yourself a breast-feeding budget. So many moms find that they want to rent a top-quality breast-pump — but finding the dollars that allow them to do so isn’t easy when their income is down and their expenses are up.

I’m always surprised by how negative the information about breastfeeding is. With how low the breastfeeding rates are in this country, do you really think there is a huge group of women who are breastfeeding solely because they thought it would be free???

A pump is NOT a requirement to breastfeeding and many women never need to use one. Another group of women never need more than a simple hand pump. So let’s not cause a rush to concern about pumps.

For the women who do need to pay for an LC or a high grade pump, this cost will be totally worth it in the lifelong health benefits and savings that you reap.

Hi Kim,

As a mother who has breastfed all 8 of her children (including twins and one who had such incredible latch issues that I had to exclusively pump for 18 months), I’m not anti-breastfeeding at all! I simply work with so many families that don’t plan for the these expenses at all and then it’s a crunch. I’d rather moms plans for it, if they don’t need it – it’s additional money to add to another place.

Most moms who work will need a pump. If they plan and save for a decent pump, they are more likely to nurse for longer periods than if they try to make it work with a cheap, ineffective pump. If you’re not planning on going back to work, you don’t necessarily need a high grade pump. (See the article on before you buy a pump…)

Anyway, thanks for your thoughts and I’m sorry you read this as a negative.

For Kim,
I feel it is a requirement and it should be considered as one because there are instances even for a housewife to have one. I needed one because there were times I had to leave my son with my husband or family, and also, it should be mentioned to new mothers that it will be possible that you will get backed up (like I did) and you need to pump this milk so that you don’t get an infection…
Yes, one group for this, and one group for that, but reasons for pumping should be mentioned more specifically because feel that new moms shouldn’t have to go through things alone if there are women out there like Robin who can assist those who need help the first time. Or, even those who didn’t utilize these wonderful options with previous young. They now have the tools and the “why” of these tools.
Thanks!

What I neglected to plan for was the extra food that I would need in order to breastfeed! Seriously… hungry all the time! (Haha, okay, it’s not that bad, but I do eat more than normal, for sure!)

As far as pumps, my little hand pump works fine. I only express when I’m engorged (usually right after a growth spurt), and then only an ounce or so out of the breast (or both) that is sore, so as not to mess up supply. I think I could successfully pump a fair bit more with a hand pump, if I needed to, but as I’m a WAHM, we’ve chosen to feed our son exclusively from the source as long as possible. Almost four months and going strong!

Come on, Robin…women can hand express, take a vitamin, visit Kellymom.com or LLLI.org for advice, and women need bras anyway! Breastfeeding is FREE! I am a lactation specialist at a hospital and we take calls everyday from moms who have questions…and we don’t charge anything. Suggesting that moms need a “breastfeeding budget” is silly and could offer another excuse to just buy formula!

Marie – thank you for chiming in! I’m just saddened by the ways in which we try to talk women out of breastfeeding. I certainly did NOT choose breastfeeding because it was free (and honestly don’t know anyone who did).

And yes, I acknowledge that some women have a need for a more expensive pump but on the other hand some women spend a fortune on special formula. No one is warning them that they may need to spend $1000 per week on their special, prescription only formula.

We will just have to agree to disagree then, Marie and Kim. As a breastfeeding advocate, I’ll stand by my – save some money to spend on breastfeeding. Whether it be clothes or help or a fancy pump. If you don’t use it – get a massage. I personally think it causes more women to be upset when they plan on free and wind up thinking, “Gee, I wish I had some extra money budgeted for some nursing tops…” Or whatever it is that they want to buy or rent. This is one of those things that as a breastfeeding counselor, I’ve seen many, many times.

Robin, I would never question your ability to advocate for breastfeeding (I think you are pretty awesome)…but, thank goodness our ancestors didn’t need to buy nursing tops, pumps, nursing bras, etc….or we wouldn’t be here! Those are WANTS, and should never be confused with NEEDS…two totally different things!

I think Robin is being totally reasonable to say that your average modern woman will have a hard time breastfeeding without spending a dime. Can it be done? Sure! But even my barefoot-dirty-hippie self has spent a couple of hundred bucks (compare to how many thousands per year for formula?) on various breastfeeding items. Could I hand-express into the sink? Sure! Could I strip to the waist every time I needed to nurse? Sure! But I like the efficiency of a pump (even though I only use a small hand pump), and I like the semi-discretion that a nursing tank with snap-openers offers.

Some women might like to buy a nursing cover (I hated them, but they work well for many!), some women may have various reasons to want to hire a Lactation Consultant, some women might like to just spend a few bucks on a box of Mother’s Milk Tea. There are lots of those tiny costs that effect many women, though not necessarily all.

Heck, I don’t bottle-feed EVER, but I still bought some breastmilk storage bags to save the milk from engorgement pumpings. I think I might make soap once I have enough. But I digress.

What Robin is saying, if I understand her correctly, is “BREASTFEED! BREASTFEED BREASTFEED BREASTFEED! And don’t forget that you might like a pump or some nursing tanks, and it’s not likely that you’ll get them as baby shower gifts. And did I mention, BREASTFEED!”

I feel so blessed to be able to breastfeed my baby girl. I was very ill in hospital for 2 weeks after she was born so she was bottlefed, while I expressed antibiotic-filled milk and discarded it to keep my supply up for when I could try to feed her again. Amazingly, she latched with no problem and we’ve been sharing our special breastfeeding times together for 5 months now!
I am also a working mom and appreciate my breastpump tremendously – not only to express for my baby’s feeds the next day, but also so that I can build up a supply to freeze for times when I can not feed her myself. This is also something for many moms to consider.

Again…Megan, nobody is suggesting that there aren’t items that breastfeeding moms wouldn’t like to have…but, to “budget” extra money for breastfeeding seems silly to me. My 15 year old son thinks he NEEDS a lot of things to make his life easier…but, I remind him often, “These are things you WANT”!

Today in our “make it easy for me world”, moms are looking for reasons to say, “Well, if I am going to spend money on breastfeeding stuff, I might as well buy formula because it is a lot easier anyway!” I was suggesting to Robin that we (breastfeeding advocates) be very careful with our suggestions.

Oh, please. She’s offering a suggestion that many woman should remember that breastfeeding CAN come with some ancillary costs, and they should know that information in advance, instead of being shocked to discover how much a pump, an LC, or nursing bras cost, or that they cost anything at all.

Those ancillary things make breastfeeding more comfortable and easier. Easy and comfy breastfeeding is happy breastfeeding, and happy breastfeeders are much more likely to “go the distance,” as the case may be, instead of switching to formula within a month, as nearly half of breastfeeding women do in most places. It’s not just about breastfeeding initiation. Continuation matters, too.

Comparing, say, a good-fitting nursing bra to a child’s video game is a bit glib, don’t you think? I’m quite sure that if I tried to jam my enormous nursing-mama boobs into one of my old bras, I’d have mastitis within a day or two. I sure am glad someone told me in advance that I’d actually be much more comfortable if I “splurged” on a couple of proper-fitting nursing bras. I’d be awfully uncomfortable (and possibly ill) if I hadn’t.

Thank goodness women in third world countries aren’t “told” that to breastfeed their babies (or to go the distance)…they need to “splurge” on a couple of proper fitting nursing bras!

When we (breastfeeding advocates) give advice/suggestions…we never know what or how that information will be processed or passed along.

Again, I was suggesting to Robin that making it sound as if someone wishing to breastfeed needs to create a “budget” to prevent a “shock” …it might be a deterrent to breastfeeding.

AND again…it is just MY opinion!
Marie Ivey, BSN, RN, LCCE, CLC, HCHI, CLD, CPD