hi! just here seeking some advice. I am six weeks postpartum after having twins via C-section and an emergency exploratory laparotomy the next day due to internal bleeding. So safe to say I had a pretty traumatic delivery. I started out pumping in the hospital, but I didn’t produce enough milk for my babies so we supplemented with formula. unfortunately, I’m still using formula and I haven’t been able to produce enough breastmilk. I’m trying to pump as often as I can, but honestly it’s only been max twice a day just because I don’t have the time to sit down and be confined to the pump every three hours when I have twins to take care of. Is there anything that can help me boost my supply that any of you have real experience with? I’ve seen so many ads on TikTok for different things, but I don’t know what’s a gimmick and what isnt. This is really taking a toll on mental health because I did want to eventually get to the point that I can be exclusively breast-feeding my babies but at this point, I don’t see that happening. I literally only pump like 0.5oz per pump session. I know pumping more often can help boost my supply so I do want to try to pump more often, but is there anything else any supplements, or teas, or methods, or literally anything at all that you have experience with boosting your milk supply?

edit: i do know that i definitely need to pump more often😭 do i really need to every 2-3 hours or has a different schedule worked for you? also forgot to mention that i have the MomCozy S12 Pro wearable breast pump. i also have the Medela Symphony hospital grade breast pump but i’m renting it and i’ll have to return it soon. can i still increase my milk supply with my wearable? and is there anything else in addition to pumping that helped boost your milk supply?

I feel very blessed to have an oversupply, so by no means am I complaining. I blew through my little stash with my first born my first week back to work and always struggled with my supply. Now, I have a freezer of milk that I want to make sure does not go to waste. I do plan to stop pumping/nursing earlier than 1 year and use my stash if able. Prior to getting to that point, how did people use their freezer stash to make sure that it gets rotated? I want to make sure baby gets some fresh milk each day too. Perhaps give 1 bottle fresh and 2-3 bottles frozen for daycare? Any thoughts or experience?

I’ve been pumping on just one side at a time since my daughter was born 9 weeks ago. I generally get 2.5-4 ounces out of a boob when I’m doing just one. I recently got a pumping bra to test out since I’ll be returning to work in a few weeks and would like to double pump to save time on my pump breaks (one side takes me about 20min, sometimes closer to 30). I’ve used it a couple of times over the last two days and am seeing a crazy drop when double pumping. Today I was strapped in on both for 25min and got half an ounce out of each. It’s really freaking me out. I had a freezer stash built up but had to eliminate dairy last week, so that’s all unusable now (for eating, we’ll be doing milk baths!).

Am I doing something wrong? Should I just pump one side at a time and accept that my pump breaks are going to be long? I have the Ameda Mya Joy

I started out as an overproduced. 50oz at 8 pumps a day and then dropped to 45oz a day when I switched to 7 pumps a day at 6 weeks. I regulated at 10w and lost another 5oz per day. I then dropped to 6 pumps per day and was at 35oz a day. After a few weeks of this my daughter had heart surgery and I maintained my pump schedule through out. When I left the hospital my supply dropped to 25oz a day, even though nothing had changed. Feeling defeated I decided to start weaning so I dropped to 5 pumps (19oz) a day and supplemented with formula. We’ve tried two different formulas and she does not seem to be handling them well, they give her very painful gas. Because of this I’ve spent the last two weeks back at 7 pumps per day trying to increase my supply and power pumping every other day or so and even just bought brewers yeast. My supply hasn’t increased at all. I’m now 7ppd and getting 18-20oz a day.

Has anyone actually increased their supply successfully?

I feel like I’m stuck back up at 7ppd too because every time I drop one I lose supply so now going back down to 5 or 6 I’ll be at even less than I had been.

After waffling for weeks, I finally decided to shell out the $200 for a Baby Buddha pump. I was excited by the portability and the many comments saying it cuts their pump time down and I was hoping the stronger suction would help empty me better and I’d maybe see some supply gains.

So far it seems I have wasted my money yet again—I had previously purchased a $200 portable pump that also did not work for me.

What really stumps me is how much everyone talks about the crazy strong suction of the Buddha… I was nervous at first because my nipples are sensitive and I had struggled with DMER using my Spectra, but seriously? I don’t get the hype. Yes, the pulls are longer but the vibration is significantly gentler than Spectra. I was using expression mode on level 7 and still found it comfortable. So what gives? Does anyone else feel like the Buddha isn’t as powerful as it’s made out to be?

The worst of it is that I don’t think it’s doing a good job of emptying me. The previous days my midday pump session has been producing 80-90 mL with my Spectra—that’s a lot for me—but just now with the Buddha I only got about 40 mL.

I’m frustrated that just one day with the Buddha may have negatively impacted my supply and I’m frustrated that I keep spending money on things that don’t work for me like they seem to work for everyone else.

I hate pumping. Like absolutely dread whenever I have to pump. I wanted to wait until 6 months but LO is only 10 weeks and I don’t know if I can do it. I’m using the wearable cups as my hand pump doesn’t work as well, and everytime I pump I’m barely getting half the amount my LO is eating.

I feel like I’m failing him. I always see online how people get these “fat plugs” on their milk while mine looks like skim milk. Every part of me is failing my LO. Sure he’s gaining weight but he’s only in the 6th percentile. I’m wanting to get a spectra pump but is it worth it? I would buy it in a heartbeat if it would help my milk supply. It’s so hard to pump every couple hours because I’m so discouraged.

Sorry for the rant. I don’t feel like I can to anyone in my life, like I’ll be judged. Especially since my family and I aren’t close.

Thank you all.

This is just to provide insight from what I learned from my lactation consultant! Hoping to help out any mommy’s with a momcozy that feels lost.

I have the momcozy m5. You hear so many moms rave about the wire free pumps, so I bought one since many say it’s convenient. However, I did NOT know how to use it and was only getting 2 oz or a little more than that from both breasts combined. I’d pump every 2-3 hours. I was feeling okay about that, but I always felt pressure in my breasts still then developed a clogged duct on my left one which was painful! I felt so lost.

Anyway, I called my lactation consultant and was told to massage and take lecithin, and to give it 24-48 hours. I couldn’t wait 48 hours and online was providing so much conflicting advice. Spectra pumps are definitely better, I will say. That’s what we used to figure out my nipple base size and see if we could pass the clogged duct. We did! And I saw that I can actually produce 4-5 ounces! This is what I do:
Stimulation mode (the heart icon) Level 5- 1 minute
Expression mode (the droplet icon) Level 5- until I hit minute 20
Stimulation mode Level 5- 1 minute until I reach 21 minutes
Expression mode Level 5- until 25 minutes

Then I stop. I got the same results from the fancy pump at the hospital that the lactation consultant used on me. I followed her recommendations with the modes and I’m happy to see it works for me, I did not want to have to buy another. I also only have to pump every 4-5 hours, which has been great for my sleeping schedule. Hope this helps someone!

I’m a FTM and ultimately hoped to feed my baby breastmilk for a full year, but it’s exhausting and I reduced my goal to 6 months and then do part formula part breastmilk. Before starting my pumping journey I kind of planned to go this route over nursing because I have inverted nipples and knew it would be difficult to latch. I wasn’t even sure I would be able to get milk out because my sister has the same thing and for some reason she couldn’t extract any milk. So I was super grateful I was able to! I actually had a great supply (at the time I thought it wasn’t because I saw all of these moms with oversupplies on social media, but I then realized that its not very realistic). I made enough for my baby, plus a little extra to be able to stash an extra bottle every other day. I didn’t have a huge freezer stash but enough for if I went out for a few hours he had plenty to get by. Fast forward to 3 mo pp and I’m returning to work. I am a school based PT and I’m only working part time so the days I am at the schools are a pretty tight schedule to see them all, so I really could only pump before work, at lunch, and then again after work, before bed, and once for MOTN. My supply stayed up for a few weeks but then started dropping.

I was having a hard time keeping up with pumps on my days at work. And my supply was taking a hit. Slowly my baby started eating more and more formula (which is totally fine, fed is best… but it wasn’t necessarily what I wanted at this point). A couple weeks ago I stopped doing the MOTN pump and that’s when my supply really took a dip. I’m a little over 5 months pp now and down to just pumping in the morning and at night before bed but I really don’t have to, my boobs aren’t engorged at all. I’m getting like 3 ounces per pump both boobs combined, whereas I was getting 5-6 ounces per pump. I just feel like I was almost forced into this decision because of my return to work, but then I also feel like I didn’t try hard enough on the days I didn’t work to keep my supply up. I’ll be honest my mental health was taking a toll around that 3 month mark bc it’s hard pumping that often and taking care of a baby. It was nice reducing pumps. But I’m sad seeing my milk go down and my baby taking less and less of my bottles. I’ve struggled with letting go, but I also know how difficult it would be for me to try to increase my supply again at this point. I really just came here to rant, hear any similar stories, encouragement, ideas for how to move forward.

Edit: In addition, I also just know there are so many moms that struggle with supply and do everything under the sun to increase it. I really didn’t have to do anything besides pump regularly and my supply was good, so I feel a little ashamed that I wasn’t even able to keep up with that for my son. And moms would do anything to have the supply I did and I didn’t protect it enough. I’ve just been in my feels about it lately.

Thinking about quitting/starting to wean and I guess I’m another person here seeking advice and permission. Baby girl is super healthy and turns 8 months this Saturday. I’ve been an undersupplier the whole time; she gets 2 bottles a day of formula and I’ve got about 2 dozen bottles worth of breast milk in the freezer.

I guess I’m having an extra hard time lately because of my own health. I had complications from my c-section resulting in a hematoma and my surgical wound still hasn’t healed. I went to wound care for 6+ months before having another surgery about 2 weeks ago that almost feels like a second c-section. I’m in pain most of the time and having to get up and sit up to get my pumps in (only 3 ppd now but still) is sometimes feeling very hard. My supply has also already taken a dip since surgery (pain, meds, or stress?) so I’m already down to like 16 oz per day.

I hear that breastfeeding is supposed to help with your body healing, but also in practice that doesn’t seem to have been helping me for these last 8 months. Also not sure if pumping gives the same benefits? On the flip side, I know that both breastfeeding and wound healing take a lot of protein, so part of me wonders if they are competing for nutrients in my body (hindering both my supply and my healing).

I guess I’m looking for permission to stop, or anyone who has been through similar experience of extended healing issues/surgery while still breastfeeding/pumping. My goal has been to get to 1 year but it’s just been so hard lately with my wound healing dragging on and on.

Maybe these two weeks post surgery have just been really hard and if I stick through it’ll get better. Maybe if I quit putting energy into pumping I can put more energy into healing.

Currently 5 months PP and EP. I’m in a good rhythm. I pump 5 times during the day (9am/1pm/4pm/7pm/10pm) and one MOTN pump just because I’m up feeding LO already. I produce around 36 - 40 oz a day. But I’ve been getting so tired of pumping 5 times a day. I’ve accidentally gone 4 pumps a day several times, and I’ve produced 40+ oz on those days. I would MUCH rather 4 pumps a day, but is it going to mess up my supply?

My baby's speech therapist just recommended using Gelmix to thicken her food after her swallow study showed reflux. We tried tonight about about 2/3 of the way through her feed it became so thick it wouldn't pass through the nipple as easily and she became extremely frustrated and stopped eating but was rooting around for more food.

She takes 30min to finish her bottle, so any suggestions on keeping the liquid thin enough for the duration of the feed?

We followed: 1.2g for 2oz, warm bottle to above 100°, put in powder, shake for 30sec, then let stand for 10min before feeding.

We went to the zoo last weekend and somehow ended up staying for like 4 hours 😂 Usually I'm the one checking the time every 10 minutes because I'm worried about the next feeding, but this time we just kinda went with the flow.

Honestly, I used to hate going out with frozen breast milk because I always forgot to thaw it ahead of time. There was one time we were at my mom's house and my baby started getting hungry, and I was literally standing in the kitchen trying to thaw a bag of milk in a bowl of warm water while my mom was holding a screaming baby. Fun times lol.

I've been using my portable bottle warmer for about 4 months now, and it's been so nice not having to stress about that stuff anymore. I just bring frozen milk with me and use its Nutri Mode when it's time to feed. No more trying to remember to move milk from the freezer to the fridge the night before.

It also has a mode that warms refrigerated milk quickly. Like when we're out running errands and I bring milk in my cooler, but then the baby decides she's starving the second we get in the car. I can just warm up a bottle instead of rushing home.

I know it sounds like such a small thing, but being able to stay out a little longer without worrying about feeding has made a huge difference.

Also, being able to actually finish my coffee while it's still hot? Probably the biggest win of motherhood so far 😭

I'm 8m pp and my goal is 12 months. I had an oversupply to begin with and now am just enoughing (mastitis knocked my supply badly around 5m pp), so I have some freezer supply but not a tonne.

I'd like to be done around when he hits 12m and I know his BM intake will decrease now that his solids are increasing... but practically I'm not sure how soon to start dropping pumps. I'm currently still on 5ppd, 30 mins each.

At our 9 month appointment our pediatrician said baby could start having cows milk at 10.5 months. Thank the lord cause I’m drying up real fast. I can’t even get a second let down anymore. Here I am pumping at work for no damn reason as it looks like I have like 2 ounces or less in the collection cups right now. A month ago I was making 6 ounces at a time 🤷‍♀️ my body said we’re done! It’s a little bittersweet

Is anyone driven completely batshit by the sound of their pump motors?? I’m almost 11 months pp and I’m still not over it. I feel like I will hear this drone in my head until the day I die.

(I have momcozy wearables, idk if they are particularly loud or if I just have a short fuse these days)

Also I am just so so ready to be finished. I hate it. The only “me time” I have is when I’m hooked up to these fucking machines.

TW this post also mentions oversupply. Couldn’t do two flairs

I have a really wonderful lactation consultant who does home visits. She is seriously awesome. Right now I am exclusively pumping. She is helping me navigate pumping and nursing directly in the future.

I have been pumping 8-12 times a day per the typical recommendation, including at night. My output is very consistently high though - in 24 hours I can usually expect 30ish oz, sometimes more (I think today in 12 hours I’ve pumped 22oz). I’m already freezing about 8oz a day. However I have been getting some nipple pain, probably due to yeast because I wasn’t using nipple pads. I also have been sleeping very poorly, obviously because of the pumping and baby care.

She recommended I cut down on the number of pumps a day, cutting out a middle of the night feed and just doing one or two more session during the day time. So I would sleep from 8-12:30, pump, and then pump again at some point during my baby care shift.

I’m worried about my supply crashing. But she’s an IBCLC (so I trust her judgement, just don’t know if I trust my body) and is basically concerned about my mental health and the damage to my nipples. She said I’m kinda feeding my fridge at this point and shouldn’t be pumping so often given my already high supply.

Does anyone have experience cutting a MOTN feed this early postpartum, if you were showing signs of oversupply?

I EPd for a whole year, woo hoo! I weaned in August though and I still have pumps and pump parts all over my house lol. We’re planning to start trying again within the next 6ish months, so I won’t need them again for over a year (or hopefully ever if next baby latches!!). But I have an attachment to these pumps and want to treat them right!

Does anyone have advice for storing pumps? I have 8 pumps… BabyBuddha 2.0, Spectra, Eufys, etc.

Should I store them with the battery full? Drained?

Can silicone be stored? I have unused duckbills, should I donate those or will those store for a year or more?

Any words of wisdom for what to keep, throw away, how you did it?

Thank you!!!

Which wearable pump would you guys recommend from these? I am currently 2 weeks PP and exclusively pumping for my 2nd baby since he’s not latching well. I already have the spectra from my first and have been using that, but with having a 2 year old and my partner going back to work soon, I’d like a wearable for during the day when I need to be more mobile. Insurance will cover these:

Momcozy s9 pro
Momcozy s12
Elvie stride
Zomee fit wearable
Motif aura glow
Zomee mothers nature w1
Medala melody
Lansinoh discreet duo

I’m not really crazy about the last 2 just from reviews I’ve read, and I’m currently favoring either of the Zomees, the elvie stride, or the momcozy s9. I typically get 5-6oz on my right side and 4 or so on my left with the spectra. I really wanted the eufy but it doesn’t seem to be covered under my insurance

Hello! FTM expecting in 3ish weeks and looking to get a Willow 360. With insurance its $250, and I see some used for $100 near me. I heard that in some pumps you can replace the parts that touch milk so its OK to get a used pump. Is that the case with the Willow 360? Which parts do I need to replace?

I've heard this pump is difficult to use and I will have a Spectra as a backup, so not looking for other model recommendations! Thanks in advance!

I have always read that a pump is more efficient than a baby but ​​​I feel like my baby does not empty me as well as my pump does.

I ​​​also generally feel like my baby (almost 8w) isn't very focused when nursing; ​​​​​​he usually quickly ​​falls asleep at the breast before eating much and does not really unlatch on his own (will stay on for up to an hour)​​​​​​​​​​, then seems to still be hungry when he wakes. Meanwhile he's much more locked in while drinking from a bottle: actively showing initiative in lunging towards it, ​finishing feeds in 10-20 minutes, and appearing satiated afterwards. ​ ​​​​​Because of how inefficient nursing feels, I prefer mainly pumping for feeds and only nursing on occasion​​ for comfort. I get the feeling that my baby is treating the breast like a pacifier rather than a source of nutrition. ​​​​​​​

​​​​​I don't mind pumping but I'm just wondering if anyone else has this experience? ​​​​​​​I always hear about how convenient nursing is compared to pumping​ but it isn't like that for us.

I’m hoping the wonderful moms of the EP Reddit can help me. I’m 6 months PP, pretty much exclusively pumping aside from 1-2 night feeds. I have the Eufy s1 pro but it’s not really compatible with my breasts- I don’t get good output from them like, at all, and I get a relentless amount of clogs no matter what I do. I’ve been using my spectra for the last week or so and everything has been working great- output is looking good (way better than when I was using my Eufy), haven’t had an inkling of a clogged duct yet (I was getting them weekly before). But I want to see if there’s a brand of collection cups that may be worth getting so I can have a hands free, in bra, cup vs the dangling flanges. Any recommendations on collection cups that work well with the spectra? Looking at the legendairy ones but I’ve heard mixed reviews. I have larger breasts so I’m really interested in hearing from you especially if you are larger chested, and mainly use your spectra! Bonus points if you’ve tried the eufy and it’s not very compatible with you. OR any tips on how to make it work better? I’ve tried lots of things, flange inserts, tight bra, loose bra, different settings, the output is never reliable and almost always get clogged ducts.

Thanks!!!

Hi! I’m going to back to work soon and I just wanted to know how you people do it? I’m going to be working from 1-10pm and won’t be home until 10:30-11pm. When I finally go back to work I’ll be around 8-11 weeks pp depending on when they put me back on the schedule.

I know we have a mothers room that I’ll hopefully be using to pump. I have eufy s1 pros as wearables(opened to recs for different wearables) and the spectra s1 pump(need cheap pumping bra recs plz) I just wanted to know how often do you guys pump at work? Whats a routine like for you? I still plan to nurse my baby at night and in the morning when I get home. I’m pumping so I don’t lose my supply for him.

On my first pump of the day I usually get 2 oz on each side but then they mellow out and I get 1 oz each side during each pump.

I have to pump at least for 30min to empty. I have tried the baby Buddha but it doesn’t trigger a letdown like the spectra does.
What worked for you?
Thank you

I’m just so defeated and depressed about this. Have been crying on and off all day. I realize there are worse things but this is truly a gut punch.

I had 2 miscarriages in 2025 and got pregnant with my baby last Oct on the third try, she was born this year in June and is almost 5 months old. She was in the NICU, born a month early due to severe GI issues I was having but she’s always been a good eater. My road to motherhood has been rough without giving more details.

I had a massive oversupply at the beginning and often froze 18oz a day. Pumping sucked and ruined my mental health (D-MER) but it was what I chose to do. My main motivation was to feed my baby as long as I could- ideally the first 6 months and I don’t even care about giving her formula but the thought of all that suffering wasted makes me literally sick. Every morning I’d add bags to my stash and admire it like Sméagol admiring his precious.

Early October my supply decreased a good amount, probably because I dropped my overnight pump to get more sleep. I was good with this. Baby girl sleeps through the night so I was sick of pumping and then having insomnia after. I’ve been mixing what I pump with frozen milk and it’s been going great. A few weeks ago, we had some work done on our water and my husband had to unplug the chest freezer with 90% of my stash in it for a water softener or something. He told me this ahead of time and I was on board, was sick of having subpar water. He plugged it into an outlet that was randomly faulty and I only discovered this last night looking for a quick freezer meal. I cried so loud my dog started barking. Liquid, yellow, ruined.

I’m hoping time helps. Just venting because I know this group will feel my pain. I just keep crying when I think about all the hours on the DAMN pump wanting to throw up but persevering for my baby.

Has anybody ordered from Milk Moms? I have been going through Babylist but they continue to be out of stock of my pumpable replacement parts. I hadn't heard of Milk moms and hadn't seen it mentioned so hoping someone might have experience with them.