By Sally Voth -- Daily Staff Writer

Many new mothers are pumped up about breast-feeding their babies. As they know, "breast is best."

But, in the cases where breast-feeding doesn't work out, many — if not most — women think their only option is switching to formula.

However, there is a third option — one that takes commitment, yet is still feasible — exclusively pumping.

As opposed to women who nurse their babies most of the day, and then pump sometimes, such as when they're at work, exclusively pumping mothers express their breast milk, which is then bottle-fed to their babies for every, or nearly every, feeding.

Registered nurse Laurie Clark-Grubbs, an international board certified lactation consultant at Winchester Medical Center, said latching problems are the No. 1 reason why she sees women decide to pump exclusively. Others choose not to nurse, she said.

"The moms that did not successfully latch the baby to the breast, that's what I encourage them to do, to exclusively pump as long as they possibly can," Clark-Grubbs said.

Very premature babies sometimes lack the sucking skills needed to nurse, said registered nurse Kim Shirley, a certified lactation consultant at Warren Memorial Hospital.

"Sometimes babies just reject moms," she said. "Sometimes there are medical reasons."

Babies whose moms feed them expressed breast milk are getting the same nutritious value as those who nurse them at their breasts.

Exclusively pumping is feasible, Clark-Grubbs said.

"I've known some moms who have pumped up to eight months," she said.

Such moms need to be able to produce a lot of milk to keep up a supply for that long, though, Clark-Grubbs said. And, if women have to supplement with formula, that's OK, too, she said, since their babies are still getting more breast milk than formula.

Still, it is time consuming.

"It's a lot of work to pump and give your baby a bottle of breast milk," Clark-Grubbs said.

According to Shirley, "If you're committed, it can be done. Hopefully, when you're starting off, you want to pump at least every two to three hours just as you would be having a child on the breast. If you're going to exclusively pump, it takes a lot of demand and keeping a regiment going to make sure your milk supply stays up.

"It's much better if you're exclusively pumping if you have a battery-operated or electric pump. It only takes about 10 minutes."

While most women she's worked with have only used pumps for when they're at work, Shirley has come across some exclusive pumpers.

"There's only a few I've had that have had to pump exclusively, and they've [pumped] pretty much up to a year, and they did wonderful," she said. "We try to recommend it, but it's not for everyone."

Shirley recommends that mothers "at least try it."

Mother-of-two Jessica Montagliani, of Charles Town, W.Va., is one who wishes she'd tried to exclusively pump with her first daughter, who she breast-fed for three months before switching to formula.

"Then, I really didn't know about pumping, and had never done it before," she said. "I just wasn't too informed about it.

"With [second daughter Natalia], I've been pumping since probably she was about 3 or 4 weeks old. We had so many problems with latching on, and I didn't want to give up totally with her breast-feeding."

Despite meeting with Clark-Grubbs and taking some tips home, having a toddler and trying to breast-feed Natalia proved too hard.

"I was just getting frustrated, and the baby was getting upset because she was getting hungry and she wasn't getting the food fast enough," Montagliani said.

Natalia is now 6 months old, and her mother is still pumping for her, quite a feat, especially in light of the fact that she uses a manual single pump.

"It worked, and I just stuck with it," she said. "When I first started pumping, I was pumping eight times a day, around-the-clock. It was so crazy. I was even setting my alarm at night so she would have milk through the next feeding."

That got to be too much, so Montagliani gives Natalia formula at night, and pumps four times a day for her other meals.

"When I first had her, I was like, OK, my goal is to do it until six months, but I'm a stay-at-home mom for both of them," she said. "Now the six-month mark has come, and it's not too much of a pain for me to do it. It would be nice to do it up to a year. I guess I will just see how it goes now."

Montagliani said she'd recommend exclusive pumping to other women experiencing what to them seem to be insurmountable breast-feeding issues. While it can be challenging at first, "if you just get over maybe a month of doing it, it will become so much easier for you," she said.

"[Mothers] don't have to give up and feel guilty by giving up [breast-feeding] completely," Montagliani said. "The baby can still have the benefits of the breast milk."

Women whose bodies produce more milk can get away with pumping less often, Clark-Grubbs said. Still, the suction from a pump can't beat the suction of a baby's jaws when it comes to stimulating a mother's milk supply, she said.

"Baby is just a better little stimulator," Clark-Grubbs said.

If a woman notices her milk supply decreasing, she can try to build it back up by increasing her pumping sessions.

Both Clark-Grubbs and Shirley agree most of the same benefits of breast-feeding apply to pumping.

"For babies, of course, there's less chance of upper respiratory infections, ear infections, allergies," Clark-Grubbs said.

Babies fed breast milk from either source have less incidents of constipation, gastrointestinal problems, sudden-infant death syndrome, and Hodgkin's disease, she added.

"I think, personally, if you're not breast-feeding that pumping is the next best thing," Clark-Grubbs said.

* Contact Sally Voth at svoth@nvdaily.com

Breast-pump advice

* Use an electric medical-grade or hospital-grade double pump, which can be rented at area hospital supply stores.

* Pump every two or three hours to establish a steady milk supply.

* Continue taking prenatal vitamins.

* Drink plenty of fluids.

* Be careful with medications since some can dry up the milk supply.

— Source: Lactation consultants Laurie Clark-Grubbs and Kim Shirley