Pumping. It ended up that I had to do it if I wanted my kid to have my milk (would he have starved 100 years ago? No idea!) but it had the excellent side benefit of being able to separate output from input, and my husband was able to pop the bottle into the little gaping mouth, and I got to where I could get all the little guy could drink and some extra in three long blocks per day.

Even if direct nursing is going well, I highly recommend doing some pumping along the way from early on so that if/when she needs to be away from the baby for a few hours, it's not as big a deal.

I know you mean well with this comment but I doubt there's anyone who gives birth these days who doesn't consider breastfeeding. The hospital's push it HARD and we couldn't leave the hospital without a literal class in it.

Not everyone has an easy time of it though. They either can't produce any or not enough and the combination of this pressure and post-partum depression can be life-threatening. There's a lot more that goes into the decision to formula feed than cost.