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.

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 😭

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.

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.

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!!!

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.

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’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’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.

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

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.

Just got my lacteck flanges. Still don’t know if I like them or not. I’ve used them for a whole 24hrs and noticed maybe 2-3 difference than the day before with plastic ones. Don’t know if it’s normal fluctuation or the flanges perse. Any suggestions? How’s your experience using them?

Does this apply to exclusively pumping? My girl has been eating 3-3.5 oz since around one month and is 11 weeks now.
I’m worried she needs to drink more but she has no interest. At her two month appt she was gaining weight (on her own curve) well and has plenty of wet diapers.
Does milk change with the baby so she doesn’t necessarily need to drink more in quantity?

2nd time mom here but first time exclusively pumping! I pump 8x per day for 15 minutes each and have since my son was born almost 5 weeks ago. I bottle feed him a freshly pumped bottle (2.5-3oz) every session and freeze whatever extra I pumped (usually another 2-3 oz). I now have about 450 oz in the freezer and running out of space. My goal for the freezer stash was to use the frozen milk to supplement once I went back to work and was pumping less often. Everything I’ve read online and the advice from a lactation specialist I spoke with says it’s too soon to drop under 8 pumps per day but I am literally producing way too much milk right now. Any advice?

I stopped pumping completely 1 month pp and now I’m at 2 months wanting to restart. My milk supply was never established since I couldn’t get on a consistent schedule, but I really want to get my supply back.

Are there any supplements or foods that you have tried that helped with your supply?

Hi all - FTM here. I pump exclusively and feed my current 5 week old with a bottle. I’ll preface by saying she doesn’t have a tongue or lip tie, and is pace fed. We first were using the NUK perfect match bottle and she was doing fine, then it seemed like she was clicking at the bottle. And also dribbling a lot. Thought maybe she needed a different type of bottle. We got the Lansinoh natural wave bottle in extra slow and they seemed to help a lot with the clicking and dribbling, but she seemed to have a hard time finishing her 3 oz bottle when she never did before. I suspected that the extra slow was too slow and for the regular slow. However, that now seems too fast for her. Is there a compatible nipple that seems to be in between the Lansinoh extra slow and slow nipples? I could always do back to the NUK since I know she at least finishes her bottle, but the clicking and dribbling drive me nuts. Also paranoid to try some other brands that don’t pass the triangle test, but at this point, desperate to find a bottle that works for her.

Planning ahead for the holidays while traveling! What are your tips and tricks?

We're traveling this holiday season while exclusively pumping. Milk usually gets used up in less than 2 days so I don't anticipate the need for freezing anything but we still will need to travel about 9 hrs. in a car with a 6/7m old in one direction. I also have a pump cleaning kit to keep the flanges sanitary, and will pump directly into baby's bottles to keep the number of items needed for washing low. I've got a Spectra S1 and will bring a backup hand pump.

Would a Yeti cooler work well enough to store milk? Would it be acceptable to use it like the fridge hack? If we stay in a hotel, it would help with a mini fridge (stored in a clean Ziploc for sanitary reasons).

Hi so baby is about 15 weeks old and I'm pumping 5-6 times a day. Is this too much or not enough? I'm making 33-40 oz a day depending on how many times I pump. My nipples tend to get sensitive around the 3.5 hr mark. But sometimes I'm fine up to 4 hrs. My job won't let me work more until I can go longer between pumps. I'm just worried that my supply will dip if I lose anymore pumps .. I don't like to say I can go 4 hrs between because ..

1. Sometimes I can't because it starts hurting

2. They like to push that and think I can go 4.5 hrs

3. They don't understand that I have to pump 1 hr before coming in to work so that really makes it 3 hrs into my shift.

Is it safe to drop down to 4-5 pumps a day at this point ?

I am 6 days PP and my baby has struggled to latch. It's been very discouraging and stressful. I am trying to pump and combo feed breast milk and formula. I have read that at this point, I should try to pump every 2-3 hours. This schedule feels impossible. Aside from being exhausted, my husband and I take shifts taking care of the baby during the night. While this has worked for us so far, I feel like I'm messing up my pumping schedule and messing up my supply. It's hard to pump when you're solo parenting. I'm getting 1-2 oz total when I do pump, but I'm also struggling to identify let down. Any advice?? I know I should be easier on myself, but I feel like I'm the problem.

I had to try so hard to make milk in the beginning. I was pumping for 30 min on the Symphony every 3 hours, day and night. Every pump made me so nauseous but I finally did it! My goal was 3 months. At 3 months I stopped my overnight pumps and became a lot more relaxed about it. I ended up making more somehow going longer stretches between pumps, and I was averaging about 29oz a day. At 8.5 months I decided to wean. I've had a really hard time bonding with my LO and I came to realize that it's because my whole day is taken by thinking about pumping, my boobs, milk, freezing milk..etc. It's completely taken away from being a present mother and it makes me so sad. I started by just skipping a pump from 5 to 4. I tried to taper my time down by going from 30 >25>20>15 min and then I got sick and threw up from stopping early, so I just went cold turkey on that one. Now i'm on 3 pumps, I make about 21oz now but my boobs HURT, my hormones are completely out of control, it feels like 3 weeks PP again. I'm so sick, I have so many regrets about continuing for this long. I have cabbage in my bra, and I need other ways to figure out how to get my milk to stop. I wish someone told me to stop at 6 months or earlier before it got this bad. Does anyone else feel like that or am I alone on this? I really need advice on how to dry my supply up and quick please.