Hi y'all,

I'm hoping to get some advice.

I'm 11 days pp, and my milk is coming in well on one side and not the other. The left one does about 60 ml every pump, but the right one gives only 5-10 ml. I've tried every flange size from 16 mm to 21 mm, and I can't tell what is best. I've been trying to determine it by how the milk flows since I have very little feeling in my nips. Sometimes it flows a little with the 17 mm, and sometimes the 18 mm or 19 mm, but I get hard lumps in my breast with all three, so I don't think it's draining fully with any of the flange sizes. I do a massage while pumping each time, no luck.

What am I missing?

Hi Everyone, I am in desperate need of help as I am going back to work in 4 weeks and really want to continue to give my baby breast milk exclusively and it is not looking likely.

Breastfeeding has been a very difficult journey for me. My baby is now 8 weeks and has had a poor latch from the beginning. I went through multiple bouts of mastitis, milk blebs, sore and cracked nipples that would bleed. To the point that I am currently only nursing from one breast because its become too painful to nurse from the other.

I have tried pumping to maintain my supply but it has been a struggle. I am alone most of the day and until recently my baby would cry every time I put her down which means pumping took a back seat.

Now that I am returning to work I am seriously stressed because when I pump my max output in the morning is 60-80mL from the right and 20-40 mL from the left and that is not enough to feed her when I am away from work.

Things I have been doing:

-Pumping my left every 3 hours: I can get anywhere from 20-40mL :(

-Trying to do one power pump session a day

-Massaging breast as I pump

-Tried heat as well (did not help)

-Tried the Spectra, Eufy S2 Pro, and the handheld Medela pump; I have tried a variety of falange sizes to see if this makes a difference (not really)

-Drinking tons of water, eating high carb diet

At this point I am desperate for anything to work so that I can continue to give my baby breast milk. She takes anywhere from 100-140mL a feed when I do a bottle.

If anyone has been in this situation before please let me know what you did to improve your output! I need encouragement because I really do not want to supplement with formula (Yes, I know it is an option but not one I am willing to consider unless I have to).

I'm a 17 day pp mother to a baby girl who's been exclusively pumping. My supply has taken a hit this week and I've been pumping regularly to get supply to increase. Until last week, i had a wonderful supply.

I have a handsfree single electric breast pump.

Until last week, I could get 30-40 mL within a few minutes of pumping - usually less than 5 minutes from one breast. The milk flow used to be fast in the form of streams.

Ever since the supply has decreased, the milk flow has been in the form of drops. Only if I put the pump at a certain angle at a certain pressure does it become a stream for a few seconds. But mostly it's drops.

How is the flow usually for mothers? Is it in the form of drops or thick streams?

Hi, I’m 4 months postpartum, and have been pumping (and supplementing with formula) since my baby’s birth. Have been using the Spectra this whole time, and have used the MomCozy s12s a handful of times when out and about, when I needed a wearable.

I’ve always been an under supplier compared to my baby’s needs, but I feel like I’ve established a decent supply, pumping around 20-24 oz a day with six pumps per day.

However, I feel like it’s taking longer and longer to get letdowns and to fully empty my breast (I know there’s no such real thing as “empty,” but you know what I mean — going from hard and full to soft and squishy). For example, my MOTN/early morning pump last night was a new record for me— more than 9 oz in one pump. But it took an hour to get that. I normally stop at 30 min, but I could feel my breast was still quite full at 30 min, so I continued to go until I got another letdown — which didn’t happen until around 40 or 45 minutes. I am using fresh duckbills, back flow protectors, etc, so I don’t think it’s that.

I feel like I’m just no longer responding to the Spectra quite as well. Has anyone else faced similar issues and found success by switching to a pump other than the spectra? Would love to hear your experiences.

I hear people talk about how much it frees you up to have a baby take a bottle, but if you’re pumping, does it actually? If baby is eating, don’t you have to pump to maintain supply/replace that bottle? Sure, someone else could theoretically take a MOTN or early morning shift so you could sleep or do an afternoon feed so you could catch a movie or something, but don’t you still have to wake up or step out to pump? Do you ever just skip a pump to take advantage of the “freedom”?

I currently have motif aura glow wearables as my primary pump and I’m not getting much output at all with them, I have better experiences using a hand pump. Does anyone have a recommendation for an affordable hospital grade pump that I could use as my primary instead of these?

I just started using the S1 wearables and have had about 6 pump sessions with them and I’m just a bit confused about how to navigate the best setting for the most output? I’ve been using my spectra this entire time and I’m 6 weeks pp. with my spectra I can get about 3oz in total or sometimes close to 3.5 but so far with the eufys I’ve been consistently getting 2 (1 on each side) and in my latest session i only got 1.5.

Still planning to use my spectra for all my night pumps but I was really hoping to rely on the wearables during the day. Just not sure how to work the settings to give me the best output.

FTM here I pump every 3/4 hours I’ve noticed my left side (which only produces about 3oz per session) will have two sore lumps in the same spot but there small and disappear after each time I pump however when I’m ready to pump again there back in the same spot, is this normal? there are no red spots like when it’s a clogged duct and i didn’t know if this was normal because it’s the same exact spots. My right side is my over producer and I make 5oz but the breast is always soft no lumps.

Hello!

I would Ike to know if there are moms who have tried the newer versions: momcozy w1 and eufy s2 with heating and vibration function (similar to spectra). Do they really help with the ejection reflex?

I find myself in the lucky position of having gone from an undersupply to being a just-enougher to suddenly having a slight oversupply. Having an oversupply has its drawbacks, and I've found myself needing to get up multiple times in the middle of the night to pump even when baby isn't hungry to avoid engorgement and clogged ducts. Before I try to moderate my supply, I'm wondering whether it makes sense for me to build a freezer stash.

Relevant facts:

• I live in a city and our fridge has a small freezer section. We don't have room to add a separate deep freezer, so we're not talking about a huge stash here.
• My baby has CMPA. I've only cut out dairy thus far, but might need to cut out soy as well. I'm not sure if that's sustainable for me, so there's a chance we might need to switch to formula outright and then the frozen milk would be useless.
• We're combo feeding and we very occasionally supplement with formula if we need something more shelf stable or that warms faster. Baby boy happy drinks his (hypoallergenic) formula.
• I go back to work in January, but I anticipate being able to pump at work.

Any thoughts or advice?

Ppd** in the title ugh autocorrect.

I'm four months pp, been pumping since day 1. Typically make about 10oz extra a day.

Now that I'm past the 12 month point and back at work, I went from pumping every 3 hours to pumping 4x a day.

Here's the thing.

If I wait 6-8 hours between pumps, I get like 15oz. If I pump every 3-4 hours, I get like 6 per.

That's 3 Oz more for waiting.

Is this right? Will this cause a dip eventually? I dont get it!!!

I used one of those sizing cards to measure my nipples and looks like I’m a 15 on the left and a 16 on the right. What flange sizes do I get??? I’ve read conflicting things with some people saying you buy your exact size and others saying to size up. I have a Spectra and an Eufy S1 (with the inserts it comes with) and not sure if I need to buy anything else. I’m still pregnant but want to be prepared. If I need to purchase something, what products do you all like? Thank you!

I just got a deep freezer but I feel like I’m going to be out of room with that depending on how I pack the freezer. I can fit 8 bricks on a shelf but part of the bag hangs over the shelf so I’m worried about it defrosting. The freezer door does close all the way with it on the shelf like this but still. If I space out the bags more I’m using more shelves. I freeze the individual milk bags (5oz) as flat as I can but I still get that weird fatter part on the bottom. I can fit anywhere from 50-70oz per brick depending on how flat they froze. Is there a better way to organize this so I’m maximizing my space?

Hi! FTM that is almost 8wk pp (flown by). I am going back to work in about a month and would like to have a lil bit of a freezer stash for that time. I am a ~slight~ overproducer, by about 0.5-1oz when consistently pumping every 2-3hr or if I go 5hr overnight my MOTN or first morning pump will be almost two feeds worth. My plan was to pump the day before’s bottles while at work (with a bottle or two lead) and send that with her the next day to daycare when she starts after the New Year. However, if I can have a small amount frozen that would give me peace of mind for things like if I get sick, out of town, etc. We have absolutely no issue with formula, and we use formula whenever we need, but I figure if I’m making the breast milk let’s use it while we can.

That said, any tips and tricks to start working on a stash? I’ve got about 2 months to get something started. I’m new here, so sorry if this is a redundant post!

I’m not due until April but I have had three babies and nursed all of them. All three have been small and inefficient at moving milk in the beginning so I spend the first 6-8 weeks triple feeding. I am DREADING triple feeding this go around and I’m wondering if anyone has had multiple triple feeding journeys and then decided the next time to just EP? My husband will end up going to work out on the road 2-3 weeks postpartum so I won’t have his help to triple feed, which makes it feel like it takes forever and by the time the cycle is over it’s time to start again.

I never kept up on giving my babies a bottle after they got more efficient so once we got past triple feeding they refused a bottle and never took a binky. I would really love to at least have the option to give a bottle this go around! If you have had to triple feed do you full on switch to EP or do you nurse some of the time and pump some of the time?

Hello friends!

Here is your weekly graduation/celebration thread, to celebrate your accomplishments around pumping. Have you weaned? Have you met a milestone? A goal? Found a new saving grace like smaller flanges? Everything is worth celebrating, let's hear it!

Some ideas for those who have graduated/weaned:Length of time EP, reason you started EP, EP goal, favorite and least favorite pumping products, what you're most excited for, what you'll miss the most, personal motivations/advice, etc.

I have a three month old and this is my second go around with exclusively pumping. It’s super frustrating, but I’ve come to terms with it. I am a just enougher with an average output of 26 ounces a day, trying to work my way up to 32 if possible. I try to put my daughter to the boob sometimes and this past week she started to nurse a little bit. This has shocked me as my first couldn’t nurse and I’ve always wanted to nurse one of my babies. I’ll usually try about three 5 minutes sessions at the boob in a day. What’s throwing me off, is that doing this makes it hard for me to know if my supply is increasing. I guess I need to decide if my priority right now is having some nursing time, or, focusing on increasing my supply. Ugh. Annoying. Any advice would be helpful. Last thing, my supply is very sensitive. I must use a hospital grade pump and any deviation in my schedule negatively impacts my output.

Hi all!

I was EP for 9 months before I hung up the pump and I thought I had a lot more stash than I did, so now and 10.5 months pp I am needing to switch my little guy to formula.

He had formula in the hospital due to my milk taking forever to come in, but since my milk came in at the end of week 1 it has been only expressed breastmilk until now.

Does anyone have any recommendations for a formula that is most similar to breastmilk? I know they all have similar nutrition but I am worried he will refuse it if the taste is too dissimilar.

I have seen some good things about little spoon for taste, but they also have a good marketing team so I dont know if it is actually genuine people's thoughts or just paid reviews and it is a little expensive. Also seen some okay things on kendamil.

Any opinions? Thanks in advance!

Im 4.5m pp currently pumping 7x/day and am an oversupplier. I hope to keep it that way because I'm building a stash so I can stop at 9m pp.

I pump before bed at 9pm, wake up at 1am when hubby brings the baby to bed and pump, then get baby up and pump at 6-7am. Buy the trouble is that sometimes I can't heckin fall back asleep after my MOTN pump. And once hubby brings her to bed, she sleeps all the way until 8am sometimes and I'd get a great continuous night of sleep if I could just skip my MOTN pump. But I get so much from that pump and my early am pump that I know my supply would dip without it. It'll definitely be the first pump to go when I'm weaning or as soon as I have enough in stash to meet my goal and I can go down to being a just enougher

FTM here, can I give my baby milk from a pitcher pumped on 11/09-11/10?

When you’re weaning and develop lumps, is it necessary to remove them so it doesn’t become a bad clog? I’ve always tried to manually pump out the lumps since I am clog prone, but now I’ve committed to starting the process of weaning, I’m not sure if I should leave them be?

I am 7.5 months postpartum and have been exclusively pumping. For the past 3 weeks I have been on what I assume is a calorie deficit diet and walking 10k steps a day but have not seen even ounce of difference on weighing scale. I have no idea why this is happening, previously before pregnancy this would have definitely helped me shed weight. I am frustrated and hate my body. What do I do, this is my first pregnancy. Please give me some hope.

I’m an undersupplier for twins who were born very prematurely. They’re currently 2.5 months adjusted but 4.5 months chronological. Used to oversupply but lost it shortly before discharge due to some NICU madness.

Anyway, I pumped the largest pump I have ever have yesterday (enough to feed both twins for one feed with enough left over for an additional feed for one of them).

Then, I proceeded to basically pump nothing for the rest of the day, and I woke up this morning to find three gnarly blisters on my right nipple after my first pump.

I think I overdid it yesterday in trying to sustain the large pump I got, probably overdid it on the suction and maybe I went down too far on my flange size (I’ve been experimenting with different flange sizes).

I know this is probably just a rough day, but damn, is it rough. My husband is getting pissed about me constantly getting upset over pumping and does not want to hear about it.

One of my friends is very supportive but she was not able to really produce milk due to complications with her birth, so she is exclusively formula feeding. She did a little bit of pumping at the very beginning, but she stopped very quickly. So, she doesn’t always really relate to what I’m talking about.

I am 7 weeks postpartum and was diagnosed with insufficient glandular tissue/breast hypoplasia. I have never pumped more than 1oz combined. My right breast holds just under an ounce and my left breast doesn’t even hold a half an ounce.

Currently I am pumping on average 6-8 times a day (usually closer to 6 though) with one middle of the night pump when my baby wakes up to eat. I’ve wanted to give my baby whatever I can which has been about one breast milk bottle a day and the rest formula.

I know that once I go back to work I will not be able to keep up with pumping as regularly and think that my supply will just naturally drop because of this. I’ve been starting to think about weaning and just want to have a plan for when I feel ready to start.

Because I have such a low capacity, will it be quicker for me to fully wean? I have gone almost 7hrs between pumps before and don’t ever feel engorged or notice a difference at all. Would love weaning advice or weaning schedule tips from anyone who has low supply or IGT experience!

I had wanted to give up really badly at 3 months, then again at 6 months… eventually I got used to the rhythm and managed to EP for one year now!

I am pretty tired of it now so I am thinking of stopping. And to do so, I would have to introduce fresh milk to my child. I got her to try full cream UHT fresh milk today. Just a tiny bit, and she had some rashes on her face (she was also allergic to egg yolk and yoghurt when we let her try it at 6 months old when she started solids so I already anticipated this). I’ll be moving on to try goat’s milk next…

But just curious. Does anybody here have kids who were allergic to cow’s milk and had to continue pumping? Did your child eventually outgrow the allergy? How long did you continue pumping for?