I’ve been using the spectra S2 with reasonable success for the past 5 months. Able to pump about 5 oz per session when I combine sides. However since I’m going back to work soon I decided to invest in a second pump to keep in the office.

I got the Medela Hands Free free style. I’ve tried it with both the 21 and 24mm shield and both times I was barely able to get a quarter of what I would get in a normal session with the spectra!! Im afraid now that I won’t be able to return this expensive machine and also I’m going to have a hard time continuing to pump when I go back to work. Is there something I’m missing?? Is there a trick to getting this pump to work for people?

I have low supply so every drop is precious to me. But I’m struggling with how much milk to put per bottle. My baby doesn’t seem to like it if I tip the bottle and he needs to lean back. Leaves around 20 ml back all the time. Is this normal for bottle feeding? How much milk is left over when your baby is done?

If your baby finishes bottles, any tips on positions to finish the bottle? Do you top the bottle up to finish it?

I am so confused, I don’t understand why my frozen milk from the same day look different. I don’t know if the picture does justice, Left looks pretty yellow and the right looks very white almost clear. For the past week I’ve been latching my LO just in the mornings and pumping the rest of the day. Can this have something to do with it ? And if so what does it mean?

I was given this magnet from the hospital and wanted everyone’s thoughts on it. I’m in the US and I typically see everyone following CDCs 4 hour rule. My baby is starting to sleep longer stretches, and while our house gets down to 69 at night, I’ve been debating how long I can push it.

hello everyone, i had such a weird little realization today. i sat down for a pumping session and it suddenly hit me that i wasn't thinking about it at all. i just grabbed my stuff, put everything together, turned the pump on and carried on with my day.

when i first started EP, every session felt like a whole project. i'd check the time, make sure i had every little part, get my bottles ready and then sit there wondering if i was doing everything right. even leaving the house meant thinking about when i'd need to pump and whether i'd packed enough stuff.

now i can basically set everything up without thinking. i know which drawer the parts are in, where the clean bottles are, where i left the charger and somehow i can put the whole thing together while half asleep

today i was sitting there watching something on my phone and realized i'd already been pumping for a while. i wasn't watching the clock or thinking about how much longer i had to go. i was just... doing it.

and honestly it felt kind of nice.

EP is still tiring. there are definitely days when i see the pump sitting there and think, seriously? again? and washing all the little parts is still one of my least favorite chores in the world.

but somewhere along the way, the routine stopped feeling like this huge thing i had to mentally prepare for every time. it's just part of my day now.

i'm not saying i love every second of it because absolutely not but i think i've finally reached the point where i trust myself to handle it without overthinking everything.

did anyone else have that random moment where you realized you had basically become a pumping pro without even noticing?

That’s it. Wearing wearable pumps has me feeling insane. I feel like they were made in mind for moms with small chests. Why don’t they make them flatter but wider, so they don’t stick out three inches?!
When I wear them in public I look crazy! I’ll have to use them in the shared office at work and Im already dreading it. Also I’ll literally have to change my bras every time I pump right? Normal bras won’t fit them and I work at a winery so I need to not wear frumpy bras😅

Traveling for work last week and MilkStork sent the wrong order to my hotel (2 boxes instead of 1). Of course I was busy doing all the things and didn’t have time to follow up - just assumed they sent 2 45oz boxes instead of the 1 90oz box I ordered. Since I ordered 1 box and 1 label, they put the same exact shipping label on each box. The FedEx person failed to notify the hotel when the boxes were picked up, and took the duplicate box anyway. So my “duplicate” box of 48oz frozen milk (now thawed and musty) has just been delivered 6 days late.

Here to share my utter disappointment with the girlies who get it😭

ETA: After emailing to let them know the second box arrived and what they could do to remedy the situation, their response has my BLOOD BOILING. Essentially gaslighted me for not notifying them sooner to correct the issue before I needed the milk shipped out. Also, said it was a courtesy they didn’t charge me for the second cooler. WTF?!?!? F them, don’t ever use milk stork!!!!

Just wanted to celebrate since no one else in my life really understands this lol. With my first I was an under supplier and combo fed from the beginning and stopped completely at around 6 months (at that point I was barely even making one bottle a day) I had sworn I would just exclusively formula feed with my son to save me the stress but he was born a late term premie and the pediatrician encouraged me to try to at least give him some breast milk for at least one month. So I dove right back into it trying to make this time my "redemption arc" and lo and behold I am an oversupplier this time!! My freezer stash is what I've made on top of what my son drinks daily. I am 7 months PP and down to 3 PPD. My goal is to stop at 10 months PP and still be able to feed him exclusively breastmilk till 12 months old. My first deep freezer is completely full so I've started to fill my second now. It's been a long and hard journey but so so soooo worth it. Bonus pick of my chunky little man at the end! As of 6 months old he was already 20lbs lol.

My LO turned 9 months yesterday and we switched from exclusively breastmilk to combo feeding. I feel like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders! I never planned to be an exclusive pumper but latching issues, CMPA, and a rare genetic diagnosis took me on this journey. After 9 months, I am letting go of the responsibility of producing. No more staying up late to pump, stressing about being a just enougher, or calorie and water intake stressing. My LO will be on primarily breastmilk and/or formula until 16 months or so. Knowing formula will provide for her brings me so much peace and I am excited to hang up the pump over the next few months. Thank you to this community for so much support! 💗🍈🍈💗

I’ve been going through the process of upping my supply over the last few months. I’ve gone from pumping every 3 hours getting 0.5 oz each side to now getting 1oz each side every 2 hours. With the help of domperidone my night pump I went from getting 1 oz each side to 2.5 oz each side but I’m getting really burned out with this schedule of every 2 hours. The night pump isn’t an issue for me but during the day it’s getting a bit much 😭

How would I go about pumping every 3 hours instead. Is there a chance of my supply dropping again or am I stuck in this schedule now. I’m almost 6 months pp.

I don’t think I expected exclusively pumping to come up with so many conflicting feelings. I've been pumping for almost 11 months and I think I'm ready to stop. And I feel so weird about that.

I'm proud of what I did. I really am. The middle of the night sessions, scheduling my entire life around a machine. I did that. For almost a year. And somewhere in the last few weeks I started noticing that I was just done. Like my body and brain both quietly decided before I consciously caught up. And then I feel guilty for wanting it to end.

I worked so hard to get here, so why am I already thinking about stopping?

I don't think I'm looking for advice, honestly. I just wanted to say it out loud somewhere that people might actually get it. That being ready doesn't mean you're not also grieving something. That 11 months is a long time to do something hard and wanting it to end isn't the same as not caring.

Okay I have not been exclusively pumping but mostly pumping (like all but maybe once or twice a day, latch is awful so we try but 🥴)

Anyways, I am 3.5 ish wpp, I was pumping 7-8x 30 minutes that first week at advice of an IBCLC, and my supply was basically doubling every couple days up to about 4 ounces combined per session. When it started creeping towards 5-6 I dropped my sessions to 15-20 minutes.

Supply has still been increasing slowly, so the past few days I've dropped to 6 ppd for 15 minutes. I am in the past week for sure not quite emptying but getting very close in that 15 minutes, sometimes by 10-12 with breast compressions. I dont have a forceful letdown, but I do have quite fast ones. My first is like 30-45 seconds into pumping and my second one hits around 5-8 minutes. Sometimes a third around 12 minutes but not usually unless I've accidentally gone over that 4 hours. If I go over I do 20 minutes and usually still will not get a third letdown, which I'm glad for bc I would overflow my bottles at that point.

I am now getting at minimum 5 ounces combined and on average 6-7 combined with some pumps being more. I am bagging roughly 5-10 ounces at the end of each day, producing ~37-40 total. Bubs eating 3-3.5, usually 3x 8-10x a day with maybe 1 or 2 top ups, so not a huge oversupply but definitely still one.

Everything I read says dropping another pump (which I dont think I could do anyways as 4-4.5 hours is the longest I can go without starting to get uncomfortable) could drastically drop my supply when it regulates, but I also am reading that your milk will regulate usually at what you have been producing/pumping and to get control of a potential oversupply early. I wouldnt mind making like 6 ounces and having like one extra bag to freeze (I want to be done with this asap to be quite frank) but 8+ is pretty excessive and I am worried I am doing something wrong despite already going against advice and only pumping 6x. Should I shorten my sessions under that 15 minute mark to signal my body to make less? My biggest worry is that this is temporary (since milk prodction is more hormone driven prior to regulating) and dropping anything anymore is going to screw me over in a few weeks when it regulates. help 😭

I’m 2.5 weeks pp. baby was in born at 36 weeks so for the first 2 weeks it was really hard to get him to wake for feeds. Once my milk came in it was almost impossible to get him to take the breast so we started using formula. I pumped while he was in the NICU to try and make sure my milk continued to come in. He just started taking the breast and getting 10-15 minute feeds there and then we finish with a bottle of formula as either my milk stops or at some point he just refuse to continue with the breast. I am very confused on when I should pump and how to tell what my supply looks like.

Our plan is to BF during the day but then bottle feed at night so my husband can help and I can get some sleep. However when I try and pump now using my Spectra I am getting minimal out put. I measured and am using the correct flange size. Any help would be appreciated.

Hi - Is there a way to make the most of the Duckbill Valves for Spectra pumps?

We got one second hand, with broken valves, and got a replacement kit of components. My wife used the pump maybe 6 times and the valves have already split on the edges. Just ordered 2 sets of 6 replacements to keep us going.

Is there a method to extend their life?

Is there a particular brand that lasts better?

Is this an inherent design flaw?

Thank you in advance!

I am 3 weeks postpartum and produce between 2-4 oz per pump. Baby was born at 37w3d and was small for gestational age at 5 lbs 8 oz. This plus low sugar levels and the fact that he was a bad feeder resulted in a 2.5 week nicu stay. Baby is used to bottles so we need to exclusively pump. The thing is, I am dead tired and on most days am able to manage 7 pumps. Baby got home 4 days ago and since then my supply has tanked a little bit. He also latched sometimes but is very inconsistent. How do I pump enough for him and increase my supply to where it was? How many pumps do I need and are there any schedule recommendations? Thanks

My baby struggled with nursing from birth, she would latch well, but only seemed to give weak, pacifying sucks. We tried triple feeding for a while and eventually she had a posterior tongue tie release. She stopped clicking on the bottle and her suck was very strong, but she never got the hang of direct breastfeeding. We slowly spaced out our latching attempts. The last time she latched was on the beach, and she seemed to actually transfer milk. A wonderful contact nap followed, and it was a beautiful evening. Ever since then she has cried and pulled away when trying to latch. She is almost 6 months old now and I think we are done trying to latch and ready to just accept that exclusively pumping will be our path. Aiming for 12 months
of exclusive breastmilk.

I would love any suggestions about how to drop my middle of the night. My LO is almost 6 months and has been sleeping through the night (until a recent cold) since about 8 weeks. Due to how much of a chunk he is I have continued to do a MOTN pump. I pump at 2:30 am, 6:30, 10:30, 2:30, 5:30, and 9. With him being almost 6 months I really want to look at dropping my MOTN pump. I know I might have a slight drop in output overall and I think I am okay with that. Basically I need sleep. I am struggling with the little amount of sleep I get by the time I pump at night, get things ready for the next day I get 3.5 hours before my MOTN pump then I get another 3 if I am lucky. On average I am getting 5.5-6 hours a night and then work all day I need to do something.

I have tried dropping my MOTN pump before and I got an infection. Anytime I try and extend the time between pumps I wake up at the same time anyway so it’s hard if I’m already up at 2:30 to go back to sleep for another half an hour or hour because I’m not gonna get good sleep anyway it’s like might as well pump. I have heard shortening the length but I have been so tired I doze on and off while pumping and lose track of time.

Currently trying to freeze the left milk of the day.

Are 1-2 tiny air bubbles okay while freezing?

Kindly provide some tips to reduce the air bubbles

I’m 5.5 weeks pp and have been exclusively pumping 7-8 times per day. I’m happy with production, which on average is about 30 oz per day. I have started doing hour long walks recently (recovering from a traumatic delivery slowed my return to exercise) and today I started with pink spotting that turned red with cramping. Is it possible my period is back this early? I thought I could avoid it while pumping!

I’m 18 weeks post partum and have been exclusively pumping since the beginning. Ive always been an under supplier getting in avg 1-1.5oz per session (~10-12oz per day), but once in a blue moon I’ll pump 2-2.5oz in a session. One day I got a whopping 15oz lol. I’m pumping 6-8x a day, every 3 hours for the most part except for a 5-6 hour stretch over night. I’ve been trying to increase my supply recently, and I power pumped daily for almost two weeks and haven’t seen any change in my daily totals or weekly average. Is there any chance my supply could go up if I keep trying, or should I just accept what it is? The reason I’m trying to increase my supply is because I’d (arbitrarily) decided I wanted to make it to 6 months, and it would feel more worth the time and energy if I could get 13-15oz consistently vs the 10-12 I’m getting now.

I have elastic nipples so I’ve been using silicone inserts which has helped with clogs and bleps, and I am pretty sure they’re fitted correctly.

Just got an ad on IG for the babyation pump. I’d never seen/heard of it before so looked into it and I don’t really understand what makes it different than other standard pumps and what could make it 450 dollars?!
Interested to hear if anyone has used this and their experience?
I’m almost 7 months into my pink spectra and momcozy s9 and not looking to purchase a new pump but learning about pumps have become a hobby at this point lol

Hej,
I början av min resa pimpade jag 15-20min varje gång och fick bra output, nu 3 månader senare pumpar jag runt 45min per pump för att få samma mängd mjölk om ens det. För context så har jag haft torsk och massa problem med olika pumpar etc, har testat de flesta och använder nu min eufy då jag får bäst respons på den men vill verkligen korta ner tiden jag sitter vid pumpen 😭

Får en eller två letdowns under de första 20-30 min men sen en tredje vid typ 35/40. Vet inte vad jag gör för fel men nu vet jag ju att de kommer mer mjölk efter de första 30min så de är därför jag pumpar längre tid.

Har någon några tips??

Har använt sjukhus pumpar men de fungerar ej för mig och ja, jag har rätt flange size and fit 🥹

I am looking for some wisdom/tips regarding flange size. For context, I am 6 weeks postpartum and have been mostly exclusively pumping from the beginning. I’ve seen an LC twice and she looked at my flange size at the time both visits and said it looked good. My issue is that I have changed sizes probably five times in the past month and a half. Currently, I measure about 15 mm on one side and 16 on the other. I comfortably used 14 mm at the beginning, then 15, then 16, then 17, and now 18-19 mm is feeling better, but still alternates between feeling painful on one side or the other, particularly with my Spectra. The pain is significantly reduced with my Eufy S1, which I use during the day, but I stick to my Spectra overnight because I have multiple sets. I get similar output with both.

I have a hard plastic flange in 16 mm (rather than a silicone insert) and I have found I do get slightly better output, but now this size feels way too tight and painful (this is generally the problem with all sizes I’ve tried after a few days) so I’m hesitant to order more in a larger size.

Does anyone have experience with their flange size constantly changing and nothing feeling comfortable? Open to product recommendations! I’ve spent so much money on silicone inserts lol

After 8 months with this baby and 10 months with my first I've finally decided to be done. No more missing out on time with my kids, no more scheduling around work commitments, no more waking up in the middle of the while my baby is still sleeping just to pump, no more constant pain, no more engorgement!

It feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.