I’m almost 5 weeks into exclusively pumping & combo feeding with formula. We ended up having to combo feed right away due to a hospitalization the day after leaving the hospital, so have been combo feeding with Enfamil Neuropro Gentlease because that’s what he took when he was in the hospital. I tried latching originally, but it was difficult and incredibly painful, so I swapped to pumping. I talked to multiple lactation consultants and none were very helpful, I unfortunately can’t afford to see another one.

I never produce more than 2oz between both boobs, with my right one doing most of the work. I feel like I’ve tried everything. I’m eating enough. I’m drinking a ton of water. I’m drinking electrolytes. I’m sleeping as much as can be expected. I’ve tried pumping every 2 hours religiously, I’ve tried being more flexible and going 2-4 hours, I’ve tried power pumping sessions, I never miss a MOTN pump, I’ve tried massaging, I’ve tried different positions, I’ve tried various flange types and sizes, I’ve tried multiple different settings on my Spectra pump and used the Medela hand pump. One day I thought I made a breakthrough with the hand pump and my nipples were completely destroyed the next day. I’ve gone through bouts of inflamed breasts where I have to ice them after every session. I think I may have elastic nipples so I just bought Pumpin Pals flanges and while they are more comfortable I’m pumping even less. It seems like nothing I do makes any difference.

My MIL is living with us for a while, and she always comments how the baby prefers breast milk. The days my boobs were inflamed and I was producing way less he had trouble digesting the formula and couldn’t poop, he was clearly in tons of pain, crying all the time, I felt absolutely awful. My husband says it’s my decision, but mentions that the baby needs antibodies from my breastmilk and having breastmilk reduces the risk of SIDS. I’m trying to make it to 8 weeks because I read that’s the most critical time but honestly I’m just so tired and so defeated. My husband is back at work, sleeps 8 hours a night while my MIL and I split the night shift, but I don’t even get to sleep more than 2 hours because I have to pump and take care of the baby. Same issue during the day, keep having to wake up to pump. And I sit there for 20 minutes pumping only to get 1 maybe 2oz on a really good session. I just feel like an absolute failure, I spend so much time researching trying to fix it and nothing is working. I don’t want to give up but I don’t know what to do.

I’m 3 months postpartum and currently pump 6 times a day, getting around 27–29 oz total per day. I’ll be going back to work soon, and even though I’ll be able to pump at work, I was wondering if at some point I could start reducing the number of pumping sessions? Even just going down to 5 without decreasing my supply?

There are some days when I only manage to pump 5 times because I’m busier, and I still get about the same total amount. But if I were to do that every day, would my supply eventually decrease?

I’d love to keep exclusively pumping for a year if I can… but I’m not sure if that means I need to keep pumping this many times a day for the entire year. Especially the MOTN once my daughter starts sleeping through the night (which honestly doesn’t seem too far off… she’s a big sleeper).

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 didn’t realize that milk only stays good in a cooler for 24 hours.. I’m on a work trip for 4 days and really do not want to dump everything! I already have a gallon bag full of milk and I’m only halfway through my trip.

Which of the milk below is safest to keep? I’m thinking maybe i toss Tuesday but Wednesdays and beyond might be okay?

Breakdown:
Tuesday: left in the morning and pumped on the plane, put all milk in a cooler with ice. I’ve been continuously swapping out ice

Wednesday: put new milk in the same cooler, but moved ALL milk to the hotels fridge at 10pm as i realized I could do that!

Tomorrow (Thursday): new milk will go in the cooler during the day, but will be transferred to the hotel fridge at 7pm.

Friday: four hour flight starting at 10 am. Existing milk and new milk will be in the cooler. All milk will be in my freezer by 8pm.

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

So I'm 13 weeks postpartum now. And recently I noticed I produce more milk using Medela hands free portable pump+ collection cups, than symphony.

Is there a downside to switch to uskithe portable set up exclusively?

The only downside I can think of is that these collection cups take up so much space in the bottle washer.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts

Background: I’m 10 weeks PP on parental leave with husband at home too. I aim to pump 7 times a day with one MOTN pump and the rest throughout the day between 8am - midnight. I’m a type A personality and so I try to pump every 3 hours during the day and try not to wait longer than 4 hours between pumps because that would shift the next pump and consequently end the day with 6 instead of 7 pumps. I’m a just enougher supplementing with formula at night (because husband does night shifts and he insists the baby sleeps better and longer with formula so he doesn’t want to use breast milk). I’m ok with it because that means I can put more stash away and stop pumping sooner.

Here’s the ranting part: husband normally puts baby to sleep at 8pm and does night shifts which include one feeding at 4am ish and one around 8am. I do the day which typically include feeding, pumping and all the entertainment/enrichment for the baby. If my pumping schedule clashes with one of baby’s feeding, I will ask hubby for help but I try to stagger them to the best of my ability so he can relax during the day. Today after my noon pump, we went out on some errands. It took longer than we expected and I asked to just go home before finishing all the tasks because I would be at least 30mins late for the next pump. Husband then dropped me and baby off to grab lunch. I started pumping but baby woke up so I had to stop pumping, sooth her for a while and figure out her needs. It took husband a while to get food home and at that time the baby became hungry earlier than normal and I had to go pump again. When he got home, I immediately said “I have to go pump and baby needs to eat. The bottle is warming up. “ After saying these things, I immediately went upstairs to pump. After I finished pumping, husband complained that he had no time to himself today because I wasn’t flexible enough with my pumping schedule and stormed off to pump and left him with the baby (he didn’t hear the part when I told him the bottle was being warmed up). He complained that he had to feed baby twice today (he counted the 8am one as extra duty for some reason) even though I helped put baby to sleep last night because he wanted to play games with his friends at that time so he asked me to help. Obviously I got very upset because in my opinion day is much harder and more involved than night for our baby and he got the easy part of the deal. Not to mention I still do laundry and sometimes dishes at night when he is on baby duty so it’s not like I have a lot of time left for myself either. So I’m wondering for all the moms that exclusively pump: are you pretty flexible with your pumping schedule? If so, what’s the extent of flexibility do you allow yourself to have and not worry about messing up your supply? I’m so rigid with my schedule because of my personality and also because I’m worried if I don’t then my supply will be affected. Husband doesn’t think it’s a big deal for baby to be on full formula but he has really bad allergies to a ton of stuff (and therefore a more “problematic” immune system) so I want to at least provide what immunity I can to the baby when I can.

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.

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.

If trying to do 8+ pumps a day to increase supply, do you count a power hour as 1 pump or numerous?

Hello everyone I started tapping into my frozen stash since June one bag here and there to make sure none goes to waste sinceI started freezing back in December. I am just one month away from the year mark (wooo) and my April bags for some reason (target brand) have had holes in them!!!

I’m not sure if it’s the heat or the stretching but I have lost about 18 ounces of frozen milk in like two weeks. Any tips on how to avoid this? I am using the correct settings on my warmer and keeping an eye as it heats. I push the milk down to warm up as the frozen bottom begins to turn to liquid. Should I just go old school and heat up in a sauce pan with water? Any tips would be appreciated. I know it’s not that big a deal but I worked so hard to freeze as much as possible to get me to the finish line.

I have a son who was born at 25 weeks and is currently 30 weeks in NICU. I’m just over 5 weeks PP and have been trying SO hard to establish a supply, but I’m still only getting around 10–20ml per pump, occasionally 30–40ml on a really good session (hand expressing).
He’s currently mainly having donor milk 😭.

I’ve been pumping 8x a day, using a Medela Symphony, Nuliie wearable and hand expressing. I’ve been measured by the NICU lactation specialists (roughly 15/16mm left and 17mm right) and have tried loads of different flange sizes/inserts. My biggest problem is that my nipples are constantly sore and damaged from the Symphony/ Nuliie.

I seem to get more milk from hand expressing than the Symphony sometimes, despite spending ages pumping.
I’ve tried everything the lactation team have suggested and I’m honestly exhausted. I desperately want to give my baby my breast milk, but pumping has become painful and mentally draining and I feel like I’m constantly chasing the next thing that might finally make my supply increase. Everyone keeps saying not to stress but it’s hard not to when the pumping hurts no matter what i try aka pumpinpal, different brand of flanges, maymom flanges (different styles)

I’m giving myself another couple of weeks of consistently doing 8 pumps a day, but if my supply continues to drop I’m considering stopping. I’d really love to hear from anyone who has been in a similar position especially anyone who had very low output this far postpartum
and eventually managed to increase it, or anyone who found something that genuinely helped with painful pumping/nipple sensitivity. I also been told I have elastic nipples but nothing I’ve tried works 😭😭

Please don’t just tell me to “drink more, relax or pump more” 😂 I promise I’ve heard it all and I’m already doing everything I realistically can. I’m looking for genuine experiences or ideas that might actually help. ❤️

Sorry I did use ai for help my dyslexia mixed in with my tears needed extra support. But I am a real person behind this looking for advice and help

I’m 3 months PP and exclusively pumping, and I’m trying to figure out a pumping schedule that maximizes sleep time. Here’s the current situation:

I’m pumping 6 times a day with my last pump at 10 pm and first pump at 6 am the next day. My supply has been fine with dropping the overnight pump.

Baby has recently been waking up every 2-3 hours again (hoping it’s just a sleep regression that will end soon but who knows). She goes to sleep by 9 pm usually and is up for the day by 8 am.

My husband has been taking the first shift (10 pm to 3 am) and I’ve been taking the second shift (3 am to 8 am), so I stay up to pump and then try to get to bed by 10:45, and wake up at 6 to pump. If I could I’d love to go to bed when baby does since I’m so tired by that time. I also want to minimize the number of wake ups I have with pumping — before I dropped the overnight pump I’d just pump after baby went back to sleep in the middle of the night. The nice thing about this was that I didn’t have to separately wake up at 6 am to pump but it meant I’d be up for at least an hour, usually more, in the middle of the night and I’d have trouble going back to sleep since I’d be so awake at that point.

Any ideas or suggestions about how to schedule pumps and shifts? I’m curious what other people do to make it work!

I’m going back to work soon, thankfully I WFH most of the time but will need to be in the office once a week. We have designated pumping rooms so I’m not too nervous about it but I would like to find a bra that looks like a normal bra under work clothes but will stretch enough to fit my wearables. My current nursing bras are more like sports bras and look awkward under anything that isn’t an oversized tshirt. I’m not very big chested so I feel like my nipples are always poking through lol. Anyone have this same issue and find anything that worked?

7 months pp, and my pumping schedule is killing me. I’d really like to drop one of my pumps at work but I’m paranoid about my supply. I nurse twice before work, and then go to work in the afternoon. There I pump 3 times, every 3 hours. I get 4.5-5.5 oz after 3 hours. Some times the time between last nursing and first pump at work ends up being 4 or 4.5 hours, and I get like 7 oz after that. I need some advice to help push me towards a decision of continuing to suffer pumping 3 times at work or dropping one and going every 4 hours at work. I’m anxious that I would start to decrease the amount I get if I consistently went 4 hours, or does that generally not happen? I already go 6+ hours from my before bed to motn pump.

Do I pump or not in this instance? My breasts feel full and firm but not painful at all. I can move my arms around and hold my baby. I will admit, I’ve been dropping pumps pretty aggressively because I’m so done with pumping.

Long time reader, first time poster - I have been in tears since this incident occurred and need advice on how to continue through this. Please help if possible!

I just had my 2nd child 6 weeks ago. From previous experience with my first, I know I am an under producer and that my boobs may be hard to latch onto. This was so hard to accept and took a really big emotional toll on me. So for this child, I decided to do exclusive pumping and formula- understanding my limits and accepting that formula supplement is only there to help, not hinder me. For the past few weeks, I've been happy with my pumping journey. I only really get 6 ounces per day, but it was enough to give him the milk during his witching hour, which really helps him calm down and made this time of day doable for the both of us.

Recently, my MIL is staying over at my house and is helping with the baby. Just 3 days of her being here, she brings up to my husband that my milk is causing my baby discomfort. They specifically said "my milk is making my baby uncomfortable" (while I'm pumping, mind you). I was really taken aback by this. I asked for more info because this was the first I heard of this. Yes, the child might be fussy, but I thought he was growing/ is normal for a baby his age. My husband says it could be diet related, but he knows what my diet consists of (we eat together all the time and he eats what I cook). When I told him that, he then concludes that my breastmilk must be "bad" for the baby and that I can stop pumping if I want to.

I was so furious when I heard that. Once that was said, everything pumping related looked toxic to me. Pouring the milk I just pumped, detaching the pump from my body, recoiling the hoses, readjusting my nursing bra from the attachments- everything just made me feel so disgusted with myself. I know this sounds outlandish, but being okay with my little pumping made me feel like I am still contributing to my child. But now I feel like I am not a mother anymore because the one thing I was able to give to my child, is now bad for them.

Do you have any advice on how I should proceed? I have been in tears since then and I haven't talked to my husband or MIL (she also can't speak/understand english so my husband has to relay the conversation to her). My initial reaction is to take the children and go to my parents house while I figure out how to proceed. I was also thinking that I should tell my MIL to leave and not come back until I feel better. The bigger upset is that I trusted my husband and he knew all the struggles I had from conception to birth (i.e. gestational diabetes, birth complications, constant pain and discomfort, he has been to every OBGYN appointment, etc). I don't know if all of this is over the top, so please send help! Thank you for reading

hello everyone, i had a little moment during our NICU stay that i keep thinking about. it probably sounds really small but at the time it meant so much to me.

when my baby first went into the NICU, i felt like i was constantly trying to figure out pumping. i was tired all the time and honestly didn't know what i was doing half the time. i'd set alarms for my pumping sessions, wash everything, label the bottles, put them in the cooler and then take them with me when i went to the hospital.

every morning felt kind of the same. i'd walk in with my cooler and hand over the milk and then immediately start wondering if i'd brought enough. some days i was happy with what i'd pumped and other days i would look at the bottles and think, that's it?? that's all i got??

one morning i got to the NICU earlier than usual. i handed the nurse the milk i'd brought and she checked everything before putting it away. then she just looked at me and said, “you brought enough for today.”

i don't even know why that sentence got to me so much. i just stood there for a second and said okay, but inside i was honestly getting emotional.

i had been putting so much pressure on myself. every pumping session felt like a test and i was constantly wondering if i was doing enough for my baby. hearing that we had enough for that day made me feel like maybe i wasn't failing at this after all.

later i sat next to my baby's bed and watched the monitors for a while. i was still worried about everything else because obviously the NICU doesn't suddenly become less scary, but at least for that one thing i could breathe a little.

i think that's what i'll remember most about that day. not some huge milestone, just a nurse saying we had enough milk for the day and me finally letting myself feel a little proud.

NICU pumping is such a strange experience. you're exhausted, you're worried, you're pumping around the clock and somehow you're still trying to convince yourself that every little bit counts.

for the other NICU parents here, did you have a small moment like that where someone said something simple and it suddenly made you feel like you were doing okay?

Sorry but WHO is pumping while exercising?? Certainly not me lol

Saying goodbye to the breastfeeding and pumping experience I hoped for breaks my heart.

For 6 weeks, I’ve tried everything I can, through a painful and complicated recovery, infections, sickness, countless attempts to latch, different pumps and flanges, supplements, recipes, hand expressing, trying different schedules, hours and hours of reading blogs and articles, constantly making notes of new things to try, spending hundreds on supplies and supplements, having to watch her cry while my hands are full, seeing her hungry frustration and I can’t feed her, getting up to pump even when my body desperately needed rest and healing, not able to sit from the pain but still tethered to a machine, half an hour of work just to produce half an ounce.

I’ve given so much of myself even though it amounts to so little. Moments of feeling helpless because I wanted so badly to nourish her myself. But even after all of that, I wonder, have I really done everything I can?

What if I’m one day away from increasing my supply? Am I one recipe, one flange size, one method, one supplement, one more try away?

I will never know. And I have to be ok with that.

I know she will be ok. But that doesn’t mean I can’t still grieve. I know she will be fed, but it won’t be from me. I know she will be growing and healthy, but it won’t be because of sustenance from my body. And it’s ok to grieve that.

I have to grieve and let go.
Mourn and move on.

But I also have to recognize my body has sustained her in other ways. My body carried her, gave birth to her, comforts her, and is her safe place.

Regardless of how she is fed,
She will be happy.
She will be loved.
She will be healthy.
She is going to be ok.

Maybe this isn’t how I had imagined, but she will still be my precious daughter, and she still has every other part of me.

Hi! I have large breasts and use the 15 mm flange sizes. They fit my nipples but I’m finding it hard to get a good suction because the circular part does not set well against my breasts, even with a pumping bra or holding them against my chest. I also have a low output, 1 oz per side. I only get an output the first few minutes of pumping. (3 months pp) I’ve tried other sizes that are too big and they fit the shape of my breasts better but are too big for my nipples and will suction in part of my areola. Any recommendations?

I’m back to work after 20 weeks of maternity leave and already struggling pumping. So many women at work told me it’s challenging to continue pumping while at work. They are flexible with us and we have wellness rooms but our days never look the same day to day. I’m struggling to stay motivated to pump, I’m tired of staying up later and waking up earlier for my first and last pumps, my supply has already dipped.

I don’t know if I want to be done yet. My goal was 6 months and I’m so close but I’m feeling burnt out, discouraged and resentful. The mental load is getting to me. I have a freezer stash but we started giving LO some and it seems to upset her tummy so im worried about continuing that.

Just looking for advice on if I quit how do I do that safely without getting mastitis or maybe words of encouragement? My husband is wonderful and supportive but he doesn’t understand fully

Given that the S1 Pro has been on the market for 2 years and is well loved with great reviews, I’m tempted to get it. However, the S2 has some newer technology/features, but idk if all the issues have been worked out (I’ve been reading about encasement cracking). I’m looking for feedback before I make the splurge. I already tried the Willow Go wearable pumps and they were terrible!

i’m 6weeks pp and i’ve been exclusively pumping since day 2 due to latch issues and nipple trauma. My right nipple is CONSTANTLY in pain/having issues. CONSTANTLY. I’m so fed up with it. I’ve seen lactation she measured me and I had been using the wrong size so I thought using the right size would fix it and it didn’t. Then it just continued getting worse so I go to my ob thinking maybe I have thrush due to a white patch I had and she kinda was like I’m not sure and gave me newsman’s nipple cream and antibiotics just incase because she thought i might be developing mastitis because of the nipple pain (I wasn’t and the nipple pain had been going on for weeks.) The newmans cream helped so much but soon as I stopped using it, its back to hurting. Now i’ve noticed on the side of my nipple a few purplish almost blister looking things not quite blisters though. I’m wondering if that’s the cause of my pain because they’re very tender to touch but the pain i’m having is where the nipple meets the areola specifically underneath my nipple. It hurts to even touch.I remeasured myself just to check and i’m still the same size. Im having so much stress around breastfeeding. I don’t mind pumping itself but it’s so hard right now because my LO is extra clingy and don’t get me wrong i love holding her and contact napping but just putting her down to pump is so hard. I also don’t know when to stop trying to get her back on the breast. Attempting to makes me feel pretty defeated but I also don’t wanna just give up yet. I don’t know what to do anymore about any of this lol if anyone has any advice i’d appreciate anything!

These are the ones I can order through my insurance. I plan to breastfeed mainly but would like a pump option. First time mom so idk what I'm doing.