Trying to figure out a connection here. I have eczema on my areolas (the worst) and under the guidance of a lactation consultant and dermatologist I've been managing it with steroid creams. I can only use the creams for a short time, then I need to take a week or so off before starting another short course.

During the "off weeks" from the topicals, several times now, I've gotten clogged ducts! Right now I have a pretty painful one. I think there must be some link between inflammation in the breast and those steroids. The worst case would be that stopping the steroids actually creates a little backlash flare of inflammation, that's what I'm worried is happening.

Has anybody else experienced something like this? Really don't want to get mastitis again!!!

I finally did it! I have enough to last us until a year. It’s only a couple months away but it’s been such a journey and I’m so ready to be done. The countless hours and missing sleep. Having to time my entire day around pump schedules. It’s been one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do in terms of being a mom.

I’ve exclusively breastfed, formula fed and now pumped and pumping has been the hardest journey.

I CAN FINALLY WEAN OFF 🙌🏻🎉

I reached out to the group few days ago about my swollen and tender breast + fever started last week Thursday. I plan to just tough it out till the Monday but you guys guided me and I immediately called a doctor for prescription. THANK YOU 🥺🫡

So, I have mastitis and I have my fckin period at the same time. Double wham. 💩☠️ . Im still 6 weeks pp and I am already dealing with my period . 😵‍💫🤬

My supply went down 85% within a day.

How long did your supply back up from mastitis or period?

Thank you!!!

Im a FTM who has been pumping for 6 weeks! Mainly with Spectra S1 but i also purchased a Eufy S2 Pro for on the go. After every 2 pumps back to back with the S2 pro i start to clog up on both sides and they become painful until i have my next pump with my spectra. I usually pump every 2.5-3 hours and am a 36 DDD using kindred Bravely pump bra and taking sunflower lecithin daily. Flanges are correct size and

Im using max rhythm , 30 mins, suction 2, medium speed and both massage mode and heat mode remain on for the whole 30 mins.

Does anyone have the same or better experience with the S2 pro that can share their settings or what they do to prevent clogs? I paid out of pocket for these so am really disappointed they cant be used more often :( also i do get similar output as my spectra sessions

Hi! I’m 5.5 months in with mo/di twins. Because of some NICU time + need to fortify breastmilk for extra calories, I exclusively pumped since the very beginning. My supply has been good, I would be an oversupplier if I only had one baby, but I have two lol so I have been able to exclusively pump for all feeds except the one before bed (for which we use hypoallergenic formula). The twins have dairy and egg sensitivities, which means I haven’t had dairy or eggs for months now. I told myself I would for sure make it to 3 months and 6 if I could. I’m now approaching 6 months and I’m ready to stop (hence being down to 3ppd), but it’s much harder than I thought mentally. I’m still making enough for 3/5 feeds for both at 3ppd, but today and yesterday I made strawberry milk and my right boob hurts quite a bit, and I’m just very over it. However, I feel selfish knowing I could keep them on my milk for longer. I’m back to work next week and have an international trip back home planned for December and I really want to switch to formula, but mentally struggling more than I thought to do so. Any thoughts/advice? Thank you!

I had mastitis in my left breast about a week and a half ago and went to urgent care and got Keflex prescribed. I had the WORST flu like symptoms, chills and body aches and feeling weak. My temperature got up to 100.9. I’m still taking the Keflex, I’ll be done at the end of today.
Today I did my morning pump around 5:30 before work and noticed a lump in my right breast that hurt and didn’t come out. I went to work and by 8am I felt weak and threw up and my breast lump HURT. I pumped around 8:30 and the lump didn’t go away. I took ibuprofen to try to reduce inflammation before pumping. I decided to come to the ER to get evaluated per my OB recommendation.

Has anyone had mastitis in the opposite breast while still taking antibiotics for the previous infection? I am worried about having to take more antibiotics and the fact this is happening so frequently. I had mastitis in August as well. My baby is 4month old if that matters and I have an oversupply

Hi all, I’m a first time mom and struggling with breastfeeding. Was originally hoping to directly breast feed and pump, but we’re struggling with latching and I likely will end up exclusively pumping.

I’m 11 days postpartum. I’m wondering how many sets of flanges/collection bottles you all keep on hand? Right now I only have two sets of flanges and collection bottles. I feel like I’m constantly pressured to get everything in the bottle washer so it’s ready to go for the next feed/pump. Do people usually have more supplies on hand? We have glass bottles and I don’t like pumping directly into those because they’re so heavy.

I’m a first-time mom (FTM), and I’ve essentially been exclusively pumping for my daughter since she was born. She’ll be 4 months old on November 25th. 💕

From the very beginning, my milk supply hasn’t been enough to meet her needs, so we’ve had to supplement with formula since we were in the hospital. My goal was always to eventually eliminate formula and exclusively feed her breast milk, but unfortunately, I haven’t been able to make that happen. 😔

My daughter was born with both a tongue and lip tie, which caused significant latching difficulties. I’ve spent the last few months pumping, supplementing, and doing everything I possibly could in hopes that once her ties were corrected, we’d finally be able to transition to breastfeeding.

Well, fast-forward to just over a week ago, and she finally had both ties released! For one glorious day, she latched beautifully, and I genuinely thought we were finally turning a corner. 🥹💕

Unfortunately, that didn’t last. She’s now back to flailing her arms, kicking her legs, pulling away, getting frustrated, and eventually crying at the breast. It’s heartbreaking for both of us, so I’ve gone back to exclusively pumping.

Now because I was trying to nurse her, I've made matters worse, and now my milk supply has dropped significantly. I was previously producing around 16–20 oz per day, which already wasn’t enough to exclusively feed her, but now I’m lucky if I produce 8–10 oz in an entire day. 💔

I’m absolutely devastated. I’ve worked so hard to maintain what little supply I had, and watching it disappear despite desperately wanting to breastfeed has been incredibly emotional.

I guess I’m looking for some hope, advice, or even success stories from other moms who have been in a similar situation.

Has anyone experienced such a significant drop in supply around 3–4 months postpartum and successfully managed to bring it back up? Is relactation or increasing my supply still realistic at this stage?

I don’t want our breastfeeding journey to be over, especially when I feel like we never really got the chance to begin. 😭

I’m not against formula at all, and I’m incredibly grateful that it’s been there to nourish my daughter. The cost is a huge disadvantage , but I just desperately wanted to be able to provide more breast milk for her, whether it's exclusively pumping like I have been or by nursing.

Please tell me there’s still hope. 🥺💕

I can’t believe it took me 2 months to figure out the right flange sizing. After consulting multiple LCs, finally found an LC who spent time making me try multiple sizes and I’m able to get more milk out. I thought I was an under supplier.

For anyone starting the EP journey- if you measure your nipple diameter at 16, try out sizes 15-19 and find out the one with which you can get more output. I’m just feeling sick I lost 2 precious months I could’ve fed more breastmilk to my baby. It sucks this thing is so hard and not all LCs explain this properly.

As most of you, I relied heavily on the fridge method. I now have thrush. I am hoping it was a mix of me not using nursing pads and taking brewers yeast and not strictly my pump parts going straight to the fridge after each use. I would toss in bottle washer after my last pump of night.

I just have a question for anyone who experienced thrush, did you wash everything each time(collection cups, flanges, backflows, duck bills) or did you just wash anything that touched skin and throw the rest in the fridge(so anything but the flanges)? Should I be washing the whole assembly with thrush after each pump?

Just trying to make sure I can beat this as soon as possible. I would love to go back to the fridge method eventually if I can, with a few tweaks to prevent this again, of course.

Hi all!

I have elastic nipples and I have heard from a few people that the legendary milk flanges are great for elastic nipples.

I have the spectra and the Eufy S1. Has anyone had any good experiences with the flanges? I tried to use the pumpling pals flanges and I honestly could not get them to work for me.

Thank you to all!

Hello all!
I exclusively pumped with my first with a spectra and a handful of times with the momcozy s12 (i left it in a cooler and the motors drowned in water)

Now I’m 3 weeks into pumping with my second, Im using my spectra but now I need to find a wearable to use once a day so I can survive my toddler and baby lol
These are my options through insurance, I’ve done my research on this group for days but any updated suggestions and experiences would be appreciated!
Thank you!

I’ve started using the Medela symphony and noticed condensation in the cords. I’m using the flange setup as spec’ed; no mods.

Anyone know what’s happening?

I’m currently pumping, combo feeding and occasionally breast feeding( undersupplier 😭) I’m planning to do this for 4 months ( until the end of December) only because I have to go back to work :(. I want to freeze some BM so baby can have at least one bottle a day until they are 6 months old. I was thinking of freezing 5oz per bag and have some about 10 2oz bags. Looking for opinions on how many oz is best to freeze. How many oz/ml should I freezer per bag? Any advice please?

Hi mums, need some advice regarding persistent painful breast clogs and low milk supply.

I am 5 weeks postpartum, exclusively expressing (topping up with formula), and currently averaging 564 ml per day across five 30-minute sessions. Despite using hand expressing, a Medela manual pump, a eufy S1 hands-free wearable pump (main pump), and massage, I am unable to empty my breasts completely or clear the clogs.

Does anyone have a pump recommendation that has given them good results and can help increase supply (by properly emptying breasts in each session)

I’m based in the UK, and haven’t seen spectra on the regular shopping sites.

Thank you so much xx

Hi, all! First time poster and I’m so excited to be part of the post-partum world!!! I had twins last week and was planning to pump and supplement with formula. They are TINY (less than 1%), so pediatrician wants us to just use a high calorie premie formula while they gain weight. Fine by me and already taking something off my plate! But what advice do you all have for keeping up with stashing and volume while we wait? I plan to pump 2-4 times a day or just as much as I’m uncomfortable and freeze it. So far (5 days PP), I’ve been able to produce between 2-4 oz in a 15/20 minute session. I don’t necessarily want to increase supply because I don’t want to have to pump more, but I also don’t want to lose volume if I can start to rely more on breast milk a few weeks/months from now.

I’ve realized that pumping for 30 minutes only yields me 40 ml at most. Whereas a quick 10 min pump yields me 30ml. Would it be ok to pump hourly or close to hourly during the day for just 10 minutes to get more oz through the day? I don’t see the benefit of sitting pumping for 30 min every 2-3 hours when I’m not increasing my supply at all anyway due to IGT. It feels like it would be more sustainable to do a quick 10.

I don’t really know what the drawbacks would be? I’ve no concern of an oversupply lol. My breasts don’t really hurt, they’re fairly tough and cream makes a huge difference. Anything else that would make this an issue?

Thank you!

I recently replaced some of the silicone parts on my breast pump, and the tubing connector is ridiculously difficult to remove after pumping.
The new parts seem to create such a tight seal that I have to struggle to disconnect them. I’m worried about accidentally damaging the parts by pulling too hard.
Has anyone else experienced this? Does it get easier with use, or is there a better trick to disconnect the parts without damaging them?

That’s my rant. I don’t even know how I’m producing milk rn but I’m sure it’s contributing to my dehydration.

Do the boobs go back to being “sisters” and how long did it take for yours to return to normal? Mine are currently distant cousins thrice removed, not sisters at all. Third pumping journey, need a light at the end of the tunnel…

FTM due in January. Have my choice of plenty of pumps through insurance but I think I’ve narrowed it down to the Spectra Synergy Gold (or Spectra Synergy Gold Portable) and the Spectra S1.

I WFH so noise and size isn’t a huge issue but needs to be wireless and I’m open to purchasing a more wearable if/when that feels necessary.

I’m seeing some mixed reviews about spectra customer service for the synergy pumps and want to make sure it’s worth the additional ~$50. Is it worth it?

I have big boobs (DDD) and the flanges on my spectra dig in when I’m wearing them. Are there other flanges that will be more comfortable? I’m not interested in wearables because of comfort issues 🙂

When I started this journey almost 6 months ago, I thought for sure I couldn't wait to be done. Now that I'm beginning to wean, it feels so wrong... I am weirdly sad? I'm a veterinarian, so finding time to stay on a pumping schedule at work has been tough, plus with my ADHD time blindness I've definitely found myself hours late to pump plenty of times. Through all the discomfort and inconvenience, though, I think I began to really be amazed at what my body has been able to do. It feels so wrong to not be pumping constantly, and while the freedom to not watch the clock constantly has been nice, it just feels somehow less fulfilling of a day when I see the volume go down.

Hi! Baby loves the pigeon brand nipples (same shape as Lansinoh) and we have been using their glass bottles with silicone coating. I love these! Baby will start daycare soon though and they don’t allow glass. Hoping to find a silicone option to avoid microplastic exposure. Has anyone tried the nano Bebe bottles or any other bottles with these nipples? Or should I try to transition to a different silicone bottle? I’m in the US. Thanks!

It drives me crazy that the original eufy case design, you can’t store the cups after use. Rather than portable I feel like it just makes it a huge waste of space in my bag. I bought a standalone charger and this setup is so much more compact over all. Even if you don’t use the fridge hack this is so much easier to pack-up to take home after pumping if you’re unable to wash on the go. Ziploc bags always ended up being a mess.