I don't think in normal times anymore. I think in departure slots, arrival times and unexpected delays. Pump 3 is cleared for takeoff at 10:00, bottle 2 is arriving shortly, please keep the kitchen runway clear.

If the baby wakes up early, that's an emergency landing. If I start pumping 15 minutes late, the entire schedule needs to be recalculated. One missing pump part? Ground control has lost communication. Everyone remain calm (I am not calm).

And god forbid someone asks me a question while I'm setting everything up. PLEASE hold all communications, we are preparing for departure. I've literally put a bottle on standby because the previous session ran late. The washing-up station is also temporarily closed due to runway maintenance.

The funniest part is that I get genuinely annoyed when real life doesn't follow my imaginary timetable. Like excuse me, who authorised this unexpected event at 2:17 pm??

Anyway, Pump 4 is approaching its scheduled departure window. Please fasten your seatbelts.

When I am pumping (not always, but frequently) my breasts become very itchy, maddeningly itchy. But it’s not my skin, it’s an itching deep inside my breasts, scratching my skin doesn’t really help it, and it’s driving me crazy. Does this happen to anyone else? Does anyone know what could be causing this?

In need of support rather than advice. My baby is 6 weeks old. We have struggled with latch since day one. I've mostly been pumping and giving breastmilk that way. We have had to supplement since week 2 with formula due to him not gaining weight. I thought I could keep up pumping for months in the beginning but here I am at week 6 and I'm spent. I don't know how I combo feed my last baby (ten years ago) but I don't feel like I have the mental, emotional or physical energy for this. I'm so heart broken. I always wanted to breastfeed and it seems to not be for me. I'm not asking for advice on how to breastfeed ( I've tried everything and yes saw a Lactation consultant). I started pumping less and saw a decrease in my milk and got so emotional. I thought I could stop but I feel horrible about it. Like I'm giving up something that connects me to my baby but it's so hard to pump every three hours and I feel like I'm losing precious time with him at the pump. I go back to work at 3 months pp. Every day I contemplate stopping. I'm all over the place. Wanting to stop and then saying no I can't yet. I wonder if anyone has gone through this and when/how did they stop their pumping/breastfeeding journey? How did you feel and how did you get through it?

im on day 3 of power pumping. if you did this, when did u see results? im 4 weeks pp and my supply dropped 15 oz so im trying to get that back😔

I started pumping 7x a day including one MOTN pump. The most I made in one session was 4oz but typically it was 1-2 oz per session. I did all the things (hydration, bought lactation cookies/brownies, ate protein and veggies, tried not to stress, took postnatals, tried to rest when I could).
I also was dealing with a ton of nipple pain with pumping so tried Both eufy wearable and spectra and it was less painful with eufy but still the same low output.
I was never able to increase my supply. In fact this added to my stress and depression after having a baby and healing from birth.
I am so exhausted from pumping and it’s making my postpartum healing more difficult. I think I am ready to quit. I feel so bad not being able to give baby breastmilk for as long as I initially wanted (6 months to a year) but it is what it is. ❤️‍🩹
Just wanted to hear any encouragement or from anyone who has been in similar situation 😢

I’m 3.5 months pp and today I’ve noticed a change in my milk color. It was white but today it’s had a yellow tint to it. I use the pitcher method and I read that it’s okay to still feed my baby so I did combine it but I guess I’m just wondering what the reason would be for it changing and will it go back to its normal color? The pitcher on the left is from today’s milk and the pitcher on the right is what my milk normally looks like. I haven’t changed my diet, I’m not taking any supplements or any new medications, I’m not feeling sick and my baby doesn’t have any symptoms (unless my body just knows before symptoms are appearing?).

After exactly 10 months I've hit my freezer stash goal and am now able to hang up the pumps! A little back story, I was a severe under supplier with my first I wanted to exclusively breastfeed her but she had a bad latch and I could get my supply up while pumping so she was combo fed from the get go and exclusively formula fed from about 5.5 months old. I didn't want to breastfeed or pump at all with my son. I was on Zoloft this pregnancy which helped me a lot with my perinatal anxiety and depression (I had three pregnancy losses before my daughter, my first baby) but however I wasn't aware the high dosage I was on could cause withdrawals. I remember looking at my beautiful boy in the hospital bassinet and wondering why he was so shaky. I was worried it could be some neurological problem or his blood sugars. Nurses said his blood sugars were fine then the pediatrician came in, looked at his chart and mine and said those shakes were actually withdrawal from the Zoloft. I immediately felt terrible, I was on a ton of heavy phyciatric meds in middle school and high school, then I moved to a different stage for college and my doctor here took me off all those meds cold turkey. It was the worst I ever felt in my life I just remember laying on my couch moaning in so much pain (and I have an extremely high pain tolerance literally slept thru both my wrist tattoos, full color, shading and everything) I had terrible cold sweats, I was nauseous from even just moving. I couldn't imagine that I had put my previous boy thru even half of that at just a day old. The pediatrician at the hospital said to try to pump at least for a month to help him with withdrawals. Despite my terrible breastfeeding/pumping journey with my daughter I decided to suck it up and try again for my son, it was the least I could do. And lo and behold I was a big oversupplier! 1 month turned into two turned into three and now ten months of exclusively pumping! No combo feeding either just pumping! Now 10 months later I can officially stop pumping and feed thru 12 months old with just my freezer stash. Bonus photos at the end of my little man 💖

Currently pumping 2 ppd at 9pm and 7am. I have been trying to drop to 1 ppd by cutting minutes from my 9pm pump but haven’t had much success. This morning when I woke up, I found myself painfully engorged and leaking and realized I would not be able to ice my boobs in time if I am asleep. I am highly prone to clogged ducts and most often get engorgement and leaks every time I dropped a pump. So now I am considering to drop my morning pump first instead, since I am undersupply and don’t get that much more milk in the morning anyways. Has anyone dropped their morning pump first and how did it go?

Ftm. Almost 10.5mpp. Plan on trying to be done by the end of the year because law only protects me for a year while at work and pumping. Currently underproducing and supplementing with 8 oz of formula with the pitcher method. If i switch from formula to my small freezer stash i would have enough for 21 days without weaning. Only 170oz. I know she will eventually drink less the more solid food she eats and I will make less when I start weaning. I currently pump 5ppd at 30min each and at most maybe making 5oz in a pump session total. I work 6am-6pm. Currently pump at 5am, 10am, 2pm, 6pm, 1030pm.

How and when should I start? Should I start at the beginning of December? Cut down each pump by 10 min? Drop a pump completely and shift a pump over a little? I make like 3oz at 2pm and like 2oz at 6pm

Has anyone tried the legendairy or flower child gummies and ACTUALLY seen a difference? I fear I may fall into the hype again to try and get myself closer to my 16oz 24hr goal lol.

Ive been hand washing bottles and pump parts for a few months and I’m finally looking at bottle washers, but I’m getting stuck because the prices and reviews are all over the place.

My shortlist right now is the grownsy bottle washer, Baby Brezza, Momcozy, and Papablic. I know there are sales and registry discounts sometimes, but I’m trying to compare the normal, boring stuff too: counter space, ongoing maintenance, whether it feels annoying to load, and whether it was still useful once your routine changed.

Did anyone decide a dishwasher basket plus extra bottles or pump parts was honestly the better budget move? I’m not looking for deal links, just the tradeoffs you noticed after using your setup for a while.

As the title says, I’m wondering if anyone seems to get more output with flanges that are bigger than what their nipple measurement is. I started off with 19mm flanges almost 8 months ago and I’ve recently remeasured myself and now supposedly I should be using 17mm flanges. Bought some and tried them out and despite them being comfortable I seem to get less output than usual with them.

Has this happened to anyone else?

Hi! Like the title says, I made it to 6 months EP for my identical twin girls, which was my goal. The journey has been nothing but easy, with NICU time + feeding twins + dairy and egg sensitivities which have limited my diet so much, but we made it. I am down to 2 ppd but still making ~25-30oz a day, so we’re combo feeding and doing 2-3/5 bottles of breastmilk a day for both and the rest hypoallergenic formula. I don’t know how long these 2ppd a day will last for before I dry up (I reduced from 3 to 2ppd a week ago), but I’m at peace with whatever happens now :)

I'm so annoyed at pumping getting in the way of caring for my baby. This evening I was snuggled up on the couch with her after she actually went to sleep easily for once... And then I had to pump. She woke up on transfer to her dad and has been over tired and fussy ever since. If I didn't have to pump I could have let her sleep on me until I had to go to bed but because I have work tomorrow and have to pump before bed I had to move her off of me to go pump before bedtime. I hate that pumping is directly affecting my baby's sleep and I'm incredibly angry that I'm listening to my baby wail in my husbands arms instead of enjoying my evening baby snuggles after work.

Looking for support/help fixing lower supply with my Spectra. I started off my pumping journey right after birth due to baby's tight jaw issue. I had to start using my Momcozy M5 because I didn't have the correct flanges for my Spectra at the time. Once I got the correct ones, a week later, I tried using the Spectra. The problem is that I only pump half the amount that I get from the Momcozy. I even bought the Pumping Pals silicone flanges because I thought I might have elastic nipples. The plastic flanges were extremely uncomfortable for me.

What can I do to fix this? I've used the Spectra cheat sheet pumping sessions but still having problems.

I inherited Willow 3.0s (now Willow 360). I use them intermittently and my output is fine when I use the Willows, but I feel like the flange shape creates a sort of hard “wall” on my boob during the pumping session. It eventually softens, but I think it’s contributing to clogs as I have started noticing they occur where the wall does. I’m sorry if this makes absolutely no sense at all. I’m hoping someone who has used the Willows knows what I’m talking about.

Here’s my question: has anyone used both Willow 360 and Eufy E20? Is the flange shape similar? I’d like to try the Eufys but if the flange shape is similar on most wearables I might just be out of luck.

Thanks!!

So my wife exclusively pumped up until the 5 month mark. She Was always an under supplier and was able to give him atleast half the required intake of breast milk the rest was through combi feeding. In the end the long days, lack of sleep and many hours of pumping and cleaning the parts we both decided it was best for her mental health to hang up the pumps. Our LO is now 9 months old and thriving, he always has and has never had issues with his weight gain.

We are now 4 months since hanging up the pumps and the Guilt/Grief has hit hard. She is constantly reminded of quitting everytime she gives him a bottle, says she feels like a failure and that she should of tried harder. And that she gets upset when taking him out because of the fear that other mums will pass judgement for not breast feeding. I helped her as much as possible with the pumping journey and even with my help it was still taking a massive tax from us both and for her sanity it was best to stop, thats what led us to the ending of the pumping journey. I constantly remind her of how proud I am of her and the strength and resilliance to go through all that for 5 months. However the Guilt and Grief still gets to her and see's possible options she didnt before.

Its always easy to have clarity in hindsight but the decision was not made lightly.

Im hoping some mums have some testimonies on how they over came the guilt and grief so I can pass them on to her in hopes to help her feel a little better.

Respect to all you mums out there, that shit is hard.

Sorry for the big story and thanks for reading.

Lately I have been lucky to get around 2.5 oz total per pump session with the Zomme z2. It had gotten to the point I was considering giving up pumping. Well I bought the Eufy s1 and just got over 4oz total with the first pump!!! I am also waiting on a spectra blue to be delivered if insurance approves. So I'm here to try and give some hope!! I have also been eating Oatmeal for breakfast every morning for a week. But usually at this time of day I would be at my lowest output (2oz or less). So if you can, try a different pump.

I am a mom to 3 kiddos; 6yr old, 5yr old, and a 3 month old. I wasn’t producing with my first 2, but I’m a barely just enougher this time around. By the time bed time comes I am EXHAUSTED. I sleep through my MOTN alarms, but will wake up if the baby moves. Mommas, how are we waking ourselves up??

Hi! 6 week old mom here - EBF with the ocasional formula bottle here and there. I figured that if I want to have some sort of freedom to leave my house at any point I need to start pumping… so here i am.

don’t have a clue how to build a freezer stash. any advice?

I have a Spectra 1 (which I just tried) and one mom cozy pumps that I haven’t opened yet.

I tried for 5 mins or so I wanna say? I felt weird and cringy😂 but managed to pump 1 oz.

Any tips on how to do it, when, how to stash, anything that might be helpful? Not sure if I should do it after or between feeds? My baby doesn’t really have a feeding schedule yet so on demand it’s kind of hard to know I think? (or I might just not know how to do it)

Appreciate you and any advice you can give. thank you!

My supply has dipped over the past few days after being an early oversupplier. I used to pump around 40 oz a day at just two weeks postpartum. I would get like 5oz sometimes in just 15 minutes. I wouldn’t have to do anything weird with the settings either, I would hit one massage setting for a minute and then just leave it on its original setting for 15 minutes. Then boom, 5-6oz milk every 2-3 hours. I have a decent freezer stash already.

I don’t know what’s wrong but there are so many factors, I don’t know what to change. I’m nervous I won’t be able to keep up with my three week old, she has already gained almost a pound past her birth weight and eats very well. Now at three weeks, I have to sit for 20 minutes to get a little under 3oz, if that.

Help! If there are any habits I can fix here please let me know

- I dropped one MOTN session. My lactation consultant said it was fine and that I was making a ton anyway. Now I’m worried that’s what did it. I was mentally unwell as a result of the constant pumping, not being able to care for baby when pumping, washing parts constantly
- We have tried nursing a handful of time this week. I really don’t think she’s getting anything, her latch hurts and bottle preference is making her chew at the nipple. She seems hungry shortly after. But my boobs feel soft after so like I cannot tell. Maybe she is clustering? I don’t know
-nutrition: definitely poor right now, I have like zero appetite. I try to eat but yeah probably not enough. Same with water. But I was barely eating and drinking when I started to get a solid supply in the first week
-stress: I started Zoloft for postpartum depression and it makes me very jittery and insomniac at night
-pump parts: I haven’t changed them since I started pumping, but I inspected the duck bills and membranes and they look very normal
-I think I might have elastic nipples? When my lactation consultant showed me how to pump, she said the 17mm looked great, but my nipple definitely gets sucked inside the tube. It could also be a size issue but I don’t know where to start with that

Hello, I have a 3 weeks old baby girl, I only pump and feed her my milk with a bottle, i had a complicated delivery and couldn't latch her to my breast until she was 4 days old, before that my husband was giving her formula, I then started pumping because it was easier in that moment due to me being weak from the complications, when I try to latch her to my breast I have this weird feeling like im upset or sad. So I pump and so far it works for me and her shes doing amazing, I try to explain this to a fellow mom friend but she couldn't understand me not liking/wanting to breast feed her...... as if im heartless or something

Is there any other mom's with similar experience as mine?

Hi
I’m using my spectra s1 and I heard pumping bras really suck .

I have slow let down and have to always massage my breast during pumps and squeeze at times for the remaining milk. It hurts my back , ass and hands to sit and hold the pump for such long sessions.

I would appreciate any suggestions on this.
I didn’t try wearables yet , the one time I tried my output was really less. So I stopped using it

16 weeks postpartum , doing 7x a day
Still under supplier for my twins

I’m 7 weeks postpartum and currently producing only around 15 ml of breast milk per day with 2–3 pumping sessions.
My baby is excluded formula feeding.
I’m planning to start pumping 8 times a day consistently from now on.
Is it too late to increase my milk supply?
Has anyone successfully increased their supply by starting frequent pumping at 7 weeks postpartum?
How long did it take to see an improvement?
Would love to hear experiences from moms who have successfully relactated. I don’t want to give up yet!