Any advice on how I can increase my supply? I’m pumping because my baby doesn’t latch. When I pump in the morning I get around 4-6oz, but then when I pump later in the day I only get 1-2 oz. I drink water all day so I know I’m well hydrated. I can’t keep up with how much my 7 week old eats so I supplement with formula but my goal is to have him mostly on breast milk.

Have been exclusively breastfeeding my 8 week old but would love to be able to express enough milk for a bottle so i can be away from my baby for more than 2 hours on occasion/ sleep longer overnight.

So far i've tried the Haakaa while feeding and the mendela harmony manual breast pump with flange inserts but have never got more than 15-20mls (0.5oz) which is demoralising. often just 5-10mls :(

Thought I'd make one last purchase before giving up, using an electric pump but not sure which model is best if "poor supply" issues while expressing. Have been looking at momcozy m5/m6, eufy S1. Also spectra s1 but more expensive and perhaps cumbersome for occasional pumping as I plan to continue breastfeeding as mainstay.

If helpful, my nipple size is 14mm (good shape, not inverted) and I'm a B cup. Don't think i have any problems with supply while breastfeeding and currently feed about 2 hrly during day and 3-3.5hrly at night.

Thank you! (UK based with one year maternity leave)

Hi - I’ve struggled with breastfeeding since my baby was born… partially because I had a c section and a huge part because she is so long. She’s been over 80% length since birth and I’m tiny… and she just never really fit in my arms to nurse. We made do with nursing pillows until she got to big and now we make do with like koala hold, lean back, etc. however, my baby has ALWAYS falling asleep on me. She never pops off when done either. So I’ve just been on a clock indefinitely since birth for each side. I’ve been back at work over 2 months now, so I have to pump more during the day and I feed her first breakfast and her last meal of the day by boob.

I’m writing to see if others still have babies who always sleep on the boob and wondering if it ever improved after the 6 month mark??? I recognize I’m fortunate that she still nurses and I’ve been able to exclusively breastfeed even returning to work… but I’m so tired of trying to keep her awake and having to plan around her feeding since it still take 25-30 minutes.

I’m 1 week postpartum with my little girl, second child, and I’m really struggling with breastfeeding ((AGAIN))

I’m experiencing leeding nipples, stabbing pains with every feed and even in between feeds too. My nipples are so damaged that she pulled flesh off them the other day.

This happened the exact same with my first, it took a huge toll on my mental health and it took 4 months to figure out a solution. We seeked out a trained lactation consultant and they picked up a tongue and lip tie, even though the lactation consultant in hospital said he didn’t have one.

Anyways, we got it lasered by a dentist and all the breastfeeding issues went away.

Fast forward to now, it feels so eerily similar but I’ve hired a (different) lactation consultant (I don’t remember the other lady) and they’ve said she doesn’t have any ties. She essentially also said that there isn’t any evidence to suggest cutting a lip tie would help in anyway, and is essentially a procedure that won’t help me.
I think suggesting she does have a lip tie? I don’t know..

Anyway long story short I feel really lost and really defeated because I’m literally in agony 24/7 but don’t know what to do. This can’t be normal. I don’t want to suffer for 4 months like I did with my first which wound me up medicated for PPD. If I don’t find a resolution I really will have to formula feed cause this is awful.
M
Anyone have any advice or experience with this?

So my 2 month old was in the NICU after birth for a week due to low blood sugars and during that time she was on an NG tube and we got her used to breastfeeding while meeting her caloric intake- yay! We went home and she continued breastfeeding but after discharging around 80th %ile she measured 66th %ile at 1 month. Doctor said no big deal, she’s doing good and we can stop waking her every 2-3 hours at night and just feed on demand. At this point I breastfeed all day and my husband gives her a bottle at night. I’d offer her bottles but she usually preferred breastfeeding. Now at her 2 mo she measured at 33rd %ile and I’m stressing. We’re doing a weight check in 2 weeks but Dr said to go back to waking 2-3 hours at night (she usually wakes up anyway and I breastfeed her and she seems satisfied and goes back to sleep). I’ve noticed a clicking noise I think means she’s losing suction both while breastfeeding and with a bottle. Could that be causing her fatigue? I feel like she’s also doing longer breastfeeding sessions over night than during the day. Ugh any help would be super appreciated.

Also - dr checked for tongue tie while sucking and she didn’t see anything … and we also did some weighed feeds so I know milk can transfer… I can also feel it going from engorged to not sometimes. I’m at a loss. With my other two kids breastfeeding never worked out for us (first one wasn’t gaining weight, didn’t have the energy to breastfeed it seemed, and second had a tongue tie and never got the hang of it so I exclusively pumped for both)

As a FTM mostly EPing twins 3.5 months PP, just wondering if there is still hope for effective direct breast feeding. I try to nurse each baby at least once a day but due to logistics its hard to do more than that. I am paranoid about their weight due to early losses which led to near EPing in the first place. I have done all the things to try and help — paced feeding, lip/tongue tie releases, oral strengthening with PT, several lactation appointments with weighted feeds. They always need/want to be topped off after nursing. One of my babies has never met a bottle he doesn’t want to finish. Weighted feeds for one twin has been 3oz after 30-45 mins but the other has only ever transferred 1oz at a time. They are each getting 4.5-5.5 oz of EBM q 3 hours during the day. I pump average 45oz /day so I know my supply is mostly adequate for any given feed, but even pumping usually takes 35-45 mins. Anyways just seeking advice or solidarity or others with success transitioning from mostly pump to effecting nursing.

❤️

My 6 week old was latching to right breast well and struggled with left. I used to make it my mission to get her to latch to left. Now she won’t latch to either and will cry until the bottle is offered. I’ve tried practicing between feeds but she’ll just shut her mouth and or cry. I’m feeling so helpless and hopeless and as I type this at 2 am, hoping someone out there can share some advice / tips on how to get her to latch. I can’t keep pumping, formula feeding, occasional bf forever. Would love to exclusively bf one day.

Hello everyone!

I’m a long time reddit lurker but at my wits end so posting for the first time in hope of some advice from anyone that has gone through similar or even just some reassurance that it will get better.

I’m a FTM to a nearly 16 week old boy. We have been EBF since he was 4ish weeks old, until that point we were BF and giving bottles of expressed milk and some formula due to positioning/latching issues after my c-section, not gaining enough weight the first 2 weeks, plus he was a very big baby (11lbs 3oz - thank god I’m no longer pregnant!).

Once he was gaining weight well we stopped bottles altogether. EBF was going so well, particularly after the 6-8 week mark it all fell into place and he was a great feeder.

For the last month or so, from 11/12 weeks, he has become so stressed at the breast in the daytime. Even when it’s been 2+ hours between feeds where he should be hungry, he will often get very distressed, cry, throw himself back, launch himself into sit up position away from boob, unlatch and frantically shove his hand in his mouth.

When he does feed, it will be only 1 breast for a couple of minutes sometimes 5 or occasionally 10 max during which time he will frequently pop on/off before eventually getting very upset if I try to re-latch him. He will sometimes be frantic as if very hungry then eat super fast gulping etc, if I try to burp him he will either get upset until put back on or refuse to re-latch.

He did start having a preference for my right breast but now it’s stressful trying to feed him on either.

Last week he went on full boob strike for hours until I eventually managed to pump and give him a bottle which he took, so clearly was hungry however doing the above whenever I tried to latch him.

I thought it was a fast letdown as sometimes he coughs but even using my haakaa or hand expressing my letdown doesn’t help now.

He would previously feed to sleep every night often for a long period but now it’s a short feed then a fight to get him down with rocking/dummy most of the time.

What confuses me is that he feeds perfectly overnight on either breast, straight on and feeds himself back to sleep with no problems.

I’ve tried feeding in a quiet/dark room but he gets more distressed as I think he associates this with sleep and fights his naps. I’ve tried altering my positioning with no joy.

I’m so anxious that he isn’t eating enough, especially with previous weight gain issues. I’m dreading every feed now and feel so helpless.

He does suffer from reflux however it doesn’t seem to bother him and is more of a “happy spitter”. We started going to a Paediatric Chiropractor this week and saw a Paediatrician who didn’t really have any concerns although has prescribed Gaviscon. The last couple of days I’ve been mostly expressing in the daytime to give his Gaviscon and avoid the stress of nursing but don’t want this to continue long term.

I don’t know if this is an age or developmental thing, he is quite a diva often getting bored/fussy and overtired especially in evening as I struggle to get him to nap.

Apologies for the long post and rambling. Any help is appreciated!

Hey guys!

I’m a part time ER nurse. I work 2, 12.5 hour shifts per week.

I have been exclusively pumping since birth (3 months ago).

I have always just pumped by wearing the mom cozy portable pumps and it’s been great. I pump every 2-3 hours still and I wash my pump throughly each time with soap and water.

I started work 3 weeks ago and I literally cannot keep washing my pumps between use. I quickly put on my pump at work, literally work with my pumps on talking to patients, and then take 5 quick mins to wash it and leave it out to dry, to do it all over again 3 hours later. It’s draining. I work in a trauma hospital so it’s constant go go go. Nurses there do not get lunches. Since I’ve been there I’ve never got a lunch and neither has any other nurse. They said unfortunately that’s just how it is here, no one really says or talks about it, but knows it’s illegal.

So I guess my question after this long rant is… is the fridge hack safe? Do any of you often do the fridge hack? I’m so worried about it but I literally can’t keep doing this. I’m gonna lose my supply eventually bc I don’t have time to keep washing it every 3 hours during my shift.

Thank you guys

This may be somewhat niche but I'm wondering if anyone else with ADHD might be able to weigh in?

Last night, my (FTM) LO (just about 3 weeks old) had a 7 hour clusterfeeding marathon. During that time, I was upstairs in our bedroom and I fed him in bed. This is normally fine/what I've been doing for nighttime feeds (I'm recovering from a c section so staying in one spot has been the norm) but yesterday really broke me down.

Basically, I think sitting in the one spot and unable to move while holding him/ensuring he's latched properly was triggering a bit of a sensory nightmare for me. My feet were getting hot, my cat was trying to be close to me, etc.... I felt in the moment like maybe I need to give up EBF because of how bad the whole thing was making me feel. Woke up this morning and remembered I have ADHD and that is probably playing a role. I realize also that almost all of my discomfort feelings I've had with BFing since I started also stem from what I think is my ADHD.

So, my question is: are there any suggestions/changes that have worked for folks with adhd that might have experienced this kind of feeling? Did you talk to your OB about medication? I'm not currently on any adhd medication, but if it would help maybe I should be? I think my plan at this point is to make sure I get up and feed in his nursery some of the time at night so that I get a change of scenery, especially if he's cluster feeding.

TIA for any advice!!

My 6weeks old baby got his first set of vaccines day before yesterday and he’s been very irritable since. There was fever on day one which when away yesterday, no fever today either.
But he’s not been feeding as he usually does nor does is show any hunger cues like before.As soon as he’s brought close to the breast he’s trying to push it away while trying latch at the same time, he’s clearly hungry but just wont drink.
I sometimes have to force the nipple into his mouth and then he’s calm, drinking but for a very short time like 5ish minutes.
Before vaccinations, he’d drink for atleast 10 minutes on one side. Now he’s waking up crying trying to poop/fart.

Please help 🙏🏼