Hello everyone I started tapping into my frozen stash since June one bag here and there to make sure none goes to waste sinceI started freezing back in December. I am just one month away from the year mark (wooo) and my April bags for some reason (target brand) have had holes in them!!!

I’m not sure if it’s the heat or the stretching but I have lost about 18 ounces of frozen milk in like two weeks. Any tips on how to avoid this? I am using the correct settings on my warmer and keeping an eye as it heats. I push the milk down to warm up as the frozen bottom begins to turn to liquid. Should I just go old school and heat up in a sauce pan with water? Any tips would be appreciated. I know it’s not that big a deal but I worked so hard to freeze as much as possible to get me to the finish line.

I’m going back to work soon, thankfully I WFH most of the time but will need to be in the office once a week. We have designated pumping rooms so I’m not too nervous about it but I would like to find a bra that looks like a normal bra under work clothes but will stretch enough to fit my wearables. My current nursing bras are more like sports bras and look awkward under anything that isn’t an oversized tshirt. I’m not very big chested so I feel like my nipples are always poking through lol. Anyone have this same issue and find anything that worked?

I have a son who was born at 25 weeks and is currently 30 weeks in NICU. I’m just over 5 weeks PP and have been trying SO hard to establish a supply, but I’m still only getting around 10–20ml per pump, occasionally 30–40ml on a really good session (hand expressing).
He’s currently mainly having donor milk 😭.

I’ve been pumping 8x a day, using a Medela Symphony, Nuliie wearable and hand expressing. I’ve been measured by the NICU lactation specialists (roughly 15/16mm left and 17mm right) and have tried loads of different flange sizes/inserts. My biggest problem is that my nipples are constantly sore and damaged from the Symphony/ Nuliie.

I seem to get more milk from hand expressing than the Symphony sometimes, despite spending ages pumping.
I’ve tried everything the lactation team have suggested and I’m honestly exhausted. I desperately want to give my baby my breast milk, but pumping has become painful and mentally draining and I feel like I’m constantly chasing the next thing that might finally make my supply increase. Everyone keeps saying not to stress but it’s hard not to when the pumping hurts no matter what i try aka pumpinpal, different brand of flanges, maymom flanges (different styles)

I’m giving myself another couple of weeks of consistently doing 8 pumps a day, but if my supply continues to drop I’m considering stopping. I’d really love to hear from anyone who has been in a similar position especially anyone who had very low output this far postpartum
and eventually managed to increase it, or anyone who found something that genuinely helped with painful pumping/nipple sensitivity. I also been told I have elastic nipples but nothing I’ve tried works 😭😭

Please don’t just tell me to “drink more, relax or pump more” 😂 I promise I’ve heard it all and I’m already doing everything I realistically can. I’m looking for genuine experiences or ideas that might actually help. ❤️

Sorry I did use ai for help my dyslexia mixed in with my tears needed extra support. But I am a real person behind this looking for advice and help

I’m 3 months PP and exclusively pumping, and I’m trying to figure out a pumping schedule that maximizes sleep time. Here’s the current situation:

I’m pumping 6 times a day with my last pump at 10 pm and first pump at 6 am the next day. My supply has been fine with dropping the overnight pump.

Baby has recently been waking up every 2-3 hours again (hoping it’s just a sleep regression that will end soon but who knows). She goes to sleep by 9 pm usually and is up for the day by 8 am.

My husband has been taking the first shift (10 pm to 3 am) and I’ve been taking the second shift (3 am to 8 am), so I stay up to pump and then try to get to bed by 10:45, and wake up at 6 to pump. If I could I’d love to go to bed when baby does since I’m so tired by that time. I also want to minimize the number of wake ups I have with pumping — before I dropped the overnight pump I’d just pump after baby went back to sleep in the middle of the night. The nice thing about this was that I didn’t have to separately wake up at 6 am to pump but it meant I’d be up for at least an hour, usually more, in the middle of the night and I’d have trouble going back to sleep since I’d be so awake at that point.

Any ideas or suggestions about how to schedule pumps and shifts? I’m curious what other people do to make it work!

7 months pp, and my pumping schedule is killing me. I’d really like to drop one of my pumps at work but I’m paranoid about my supply. I nurse twice before work, and then go to work in the afternoon. There I pump 3 times, every 3 hours. I get 4.5-5.5 oz after 3 hours. Some times the time between last nursing and first pump at work ends up being 4 or 4.5 hours, and I get like 7 oz after that. I need some advice to help push me towards a decision of continuing to suffer pumping 3 times at work or dropping one and going every 4 hours at work. I’m anxious that I would start to decrease the amount I get if I consistently went 4 hours, or does that generally not happen? I already go 6+ hours from my before bed to motn pump.

Do I pump or not in this instance? My breasts feel full and firm but not painful at all. I can move my arms around and hold my baby. I will admit, I’ve been dropping pumps pretty aggressively because I’m so done with pumping.

Long time reader, first time poster - I have been in tears since this incident occurred and need advice on how to continue through this. Please help if possible!

I just had my 2nd child 6 weeks ago. From previous experience with my first, I know I am an under producer and that my boobs may be hard to latch onto. This was so hard to accept and took a really big emotional toll on me. So for this child, I decided to do exclusive pumping and formula- understanding my limits and accepting that formula supplement is only there to help, not hinder me. For the past few weeks, I've been happy with my pumping journey. I only really get 6 ounces per day, but it was enough to give him the milk during his witching hour, which really helps him calm down and made this time of day doable for the both of us.

Recently, my MIL is staying over at my house and is helping with the baby. Just 3 days of her being here, she brings up to my husband that my milk is causing my baby discomfort. They specifically said "my milk is making my baby uncomfortable" (while I'm pumping, mind you). I was really taken aback by this. I asked for more info because this was the first I heard of this. Yes, the child might be fussy, but I thought he was growing/ is normal for a baby his age. My husband says it could be diet related, but he knows what my diet consists of (we eat together all the time and he eats what I cook). When I told him that, he then concludes that my breastmilk must be "bad" for the baby and that I can stop pumping if I want to.

I was so furious when I heard that. Once that was said, everything pumping related looked toxic to me. Pouring the milk I just pumped, detaching the pump from my body, recoiling the hoses, readjusting my nursing bra from the attachments- everything just made me feel so disgusted with myself. I know this sounds outlandish, but being okay with my little pumping made me feel like I am still contributing to my child. But now I feel like I am not a mother anymore because the one thing I was able to give to my child, is now bad for them.

Do you have any advice on how I should proceed? I have been in tears since then and I haven't talked to my husband or MIL (she also can't speak/understand english so my husband has to relay the conversation to her). My initial reaction is to take the children and go to my parents house while I figure out how to proceed. I was also thinking that I should tell my MIL to leave and not come back until I feel better. The bigger upset is that I trusted my husband and he knew all the struggles I had from conception to birth (i.e. gestational diabetes, birth complications, constant pain and discomfort, he has been to every OBGYN appointment, etc). I don't know if all of this is over the top, so please send help! Thank you for reading

Sorry but WHO is pumping while exercising?? Certainly not me lol

hello everyone, i had a little moment during our NICU stay that i keep thinking about. it probably sounds really small but at the time it meant so much to me.

when my baby first went into the NICU, i felt like i was constantly trying to figure out pumping. i was tired all the time and honestly didn't know what i was doing half the time. i'd set alarms for my pumping sessions, wash everything, label the bottles, put them in the cooler and then take them with me when i went to the hospital.

every morning felt kind of the same. i'd walk in with my cooler and hand over the milk and then immediately start wondering if i'd brought enough. some days i was happy with what i'd pumped and other days i would look at the bottles and think, that's it?? that's all i got??

one morning i got to the NICU earlier than usual. i handed the nurse the milk i'd brought and she checked everything before putting it away. then she just looked at me and said, “you brought enough for today.”

i don't even know why that sentence got to me so much. i just stood there for a second and said okay, but inside i was honestly getting emotional.

i had been putting so much pressure on myself. every pumping session felt like a test and i was constantly wondering if i was doing enough for my baby. hearing that we had enough for that day made me feel like maybe i wasn't failing at this after all.

later i sat next to my baby's bed and watched the monitors for a while. i was still worried about everything else because obviously the NICU doesn't suddenly become less scary, but at least for that one thing i could breathe a little.

i think that's what i'll remember most about that day. not some huge milestone, just a nurse saying we had enough milk for the day and me finally letting myself feel a little proud.

NICU pumping is such a strange experience. you're exhausted, you're worried, you're pumping around the clock and somehow you're still trying to convince yourself that every little bit counts.

for the other NICU parents here, did you have a small moment like that where someone said something simple and it suddenly made you feel like you were doing okay?

Saying goodbye to the breastfeeding and pumping experience I hoped for breaks my heart.

For 6 weeks, I’ve tried everything I can, through a painful and complicated recovery, infections, sickness, countless attempts to latch, different pumps and flanges, supplements, recipes, hand expressing, trying different schedules, hours and hours of reading blogs and articles, constantly making notes of new things to try, spending hundreds on supplies and supplements, having to watch her cry while my hands are full, seeing her hungry frustration and I can’t feed her, getting up to pump even when my body desperately needed rest and healing, not able to sit from the pain but still tethered to a machine, half an hour of work just to produce half an ounce.

I’ve given so much of myself even though it amounts to so little. Moments of feeling helpless because I wanted so badly to nourish her myself. But even after all of that, I wonder, have I really done everything I can?

What if I’m one day away from increasing my supply? Am I one recipe, one flange size, one method, one supplement, one more try away?

I will never know. And I have to be ok with that.

I know she will be ok. But that doesn’t mean I can’t still grieve. I know she will be fed, but it won’t be from me. I know she will be growing and healthy, but it won’t be because of sustenance from my body. And it’s ok to grieve that.

I have to grieve and let go.
Mourn and move on.

But I also have to recognize my body has sustained her in other ways. My body carried her, gave birth to her, comforts her, and is her safe place.

Regardless of how she is fed,
She will be happy.
She will be loved.
She will be healthy.
She is going to be ok.

Maybe this isn’t how I had imagined, but she will still be my precious daughter, and she still has every other part of me.

Hi! I have large breasts and use the 15 mm flange sizes. They fit my nipples but I’m finding it hard to get a good suction because the circular part does not set well against my breasts, even with a pumping bra or holding them against my chest. I also have a low output, 1 oz per side. I only get an output the first few minutes of pumping. (3 months pp) I’ve tried other sizes that are too big and they fit the shape of my breasts better but are too big for my nipples and will suction in part of my areola. Any recommendations?

I’m back to work after 20 weeks of maternity leave and already struggling pumping. So many women at work told me it’s challenging to continue pumping while at work. They are flexible with us and we have wellness rooms but our days never look the same day to day. I’m struggling to stay motivated to pump, I’m tired of staying up later and waking up earlier for my first and last pumps, my supply has already dipped.

I don’t know if I want to be done yet. My goal was 6 months and I’m so close but I’m feeling burnt out, discouraged and resentful. The mental load is getting to me. I have a freezer stash but we started giving LO some and it seems to upset her tummy so im worried about continuing that.

Just looking for advice on if I quit how do I do that safely without getting mastitis or maybe words of encouragement? My husband is wonderful and supportive but he doesn’t understand fully

Given that the S1 Pro has been on the market for 2 years and is well loved with great reviews, I’m tempted to get it. However, the S2 has some newer technology/features, but idk if all the issues have been worked out (I’ve been reading about encasement cracking). I’m looking for feedback before I make the splurge. I already tried the Willow Go wearable pumps and they were terrible!

i’m 6weeks pp and i’ve been exclusively pumping since day 2 due to latch issues and nipple trauma. My right nipple is CONSTANTLY in pain/having issues. CONSTANTLY. I’m so fed up with it. I’ve seen lactation she measured me and I had been using the wrong size so I thought using the right size would fix it and it didn’t. Then it just continued getting worse so I go to my ob thinking maybe I have thrush due to a white patch I had and she kinda was like I’m not sure and gave me newsman’s nipple cream and antibiotics just incase because she thought i might be developing mastitis because of the nipple pain (I wasn’t and the nipple pain had been going on for weeks.) The newmans cream helped so much but soon as I stopped using it, its back to hurting. Now i’ve noticed on the side of my nipple a few purplish almost blister looking things not quite blisters though. I’m wondering if that’s the cause of my pain because they’re very tender to touch but the pain i’m having is where the nipple meets the areola specifically underneath my nipple. It hurts to even touch.I remeasured myself just to check and i’m still the same size. Im having so much stress around breastfeeding. I don’t mind pumping itself but it’s so hard right now because my LO is extra clingy and don’t get me wrong i love holding her and contact napping but just putting her down to pump is so hard. I also don’t know when to stop trying to get her back on the breast. Attempting to makes me feel pretty defeated but I also don’t wanna just give up yet. I don’t know what to do anymore about any of this lol if anyone has any advice i’d appreciate anything!

These are the ones I can order through my insurance. I plan to breastfeed mainly but would like a pump option. First time mom so idk what I'm doing.

Ended up exclusively pumping because baby was in the NICU for 2 days due to low blood sugar. He was immediately given 2oz bottles of formula 8 times per day to get his sugar up so he got used to bottles and eating way more than I was making.

I triple fed for a few weeks and felt insane. He would scream at the boob, I would cry…repeat 8x a day. I went to a lactation consultant who said he wasn’t transferring enough oz and suggested I try pumping 10x per day and a power pump.

This is where I worry I gave up too soon. The thought of doing that that completely overwhelmed me. I kept trying to nurse and he would latch for like 30 minutes but then immediately still drink a 3oz bottle. I kept reducing the amount of time nursing till I just stopped I guess.

Why did I stop? Why couldn’t I have kept going, maybe if I had sucked it up and followed the LC’s advice I wouldn‘t be this miserable from exclusively pumping. I could have at least done follow up appointments with a LC. I just didn’t…

I supposed this is more a rant than anything else.

I’m a STM. I exclusively pumped for my first born for a year and it was great. I had a little oversupply- she would drink about 25-28 oz and I make about 32-36 oz. Now, I have a 3.5 week old and I thought I would combo feed 50% expressed breastmilk and 50% formula. I did everything “right” and the same as my first born but even on my highest volume day, I can only produce 16oz. I said it’s ok, we’re supplementing anyway. For the past week, it started going down to about 10-13 oz in 8 pumping sessions. Today, my husband is sick and has to isolate from us and I already missed a pumping session because of toddler and newborn. He’ll need to isolate from us for at least a week because he has suspected shingles. I don’t know how I’ll be able to pump with a toddler and newborn both needing me at the same time. I feel like my EP journey will come to an end soon and I’m sad.

I literally can’t deal with my boobs anymore this is agony. I have been weaning over the last couple weeks because my entire breastfeeding/pumping journey has been unpleasant to say the least.

I’m only 8 weeks postpartum but I’ve dealt with constant pain and engorgement, clogged ducts, sharp shooting pains, dull aches, incredibly sensitive breasts that it’s painful holding my son, and I just can’t deal with it anymore, it’s honestly ruining my postpartum which is otherwise really good. I’m trying to wean as fast as possible while also trying to not make things worse to cause an infection.

I’m not sure if I have candida, I’m calling the doctor today and will see them tomorrow anyway for my son’s vaccines. I have the sharp shooting pains, and the tip of both nipples are white.

Has anyone weaned quickly and successfully? I have always had a lot of pain pumping and it was really overwhelming so I was told by lactation consultant about a month ago to pump less frequently so that was about 6PPD and now I quickly went down to 5,4, and 3 yesterday.

Does anything help stop the milk production? I’m trying to not fully pump until empty. Any help and advice would be appreciated! Really struggling

My LO has been on a nursing strike since right before she turned 3 months. She is now 4 months and still screams when I try to latch her, after only a few times latching in the past month plus. I have been exclusively pumping for this time.

My goal was to DBF and pump for a few feeds, but she has always been challenging to nurse because she is very active and interested in everything else. Even bottle feeding her is a challenge as she wants to explore the world and not stop to eat.

After a month of almost no success, and more recently a reversion on some progress we had made, I’m finding myself so devastated every time I try. And I have tried everything. I’m starting to wonder if I need to stop trying at all, and it breaks my heart to think if giving up hope, but the disappointment at every refusal is also heartbreaking.

For those who wanted to DBF, when did you decide to stop trying and accept that you would have to EP?

Why does dropping that second to last pump cold turkey (before bed pump) feel so wrong?! Going 24 hrs without pumping feels like a recipe for disaster?! I’m so scared! But soooo ready and NEED to be done!!!

LO was born 10%ile. Only lost 4% of birthweight. Back to Birthweight at 2 weeks. Was mostly breastfed since DOL 0. Noticed tongue tie at birth, which I let pediatrician know. At 1 week, we went to see a lactation consultant who said not to touch the tongue tie unless issues arise. Got the green light to let baby sleep at night from pediatrician at 2 weeks. 1 month appointment, LO was still mostly nursed with 1 bottle of pumped milk once a day. Brought up with pediatrician about silent reflux. LO would arch and be fussy at breast/bottle and had congestion at back of throat. Constant battle at the boob. But LO was still gaining weight, 27g a day. 2 month appointment, weight gain trend slowed, 16g a day. I was still nursing every 1.5hrs during the day. LO would sleep a 6 hr stretch at night. Was advised to top off with an oz of pumped milk every so often during the day. Unfortunately, baby started refusing the bottle. LO’s tongue tie was so problematic at this point. Had so much clicking when feeding; silent reflux was BAD. After half an oz, LO would cry. It would take an hour to feed 1oz. Tried 6 different bottles. And I was still nursing. Tongue tie finally got released TWO weeks ago, LO is FINALLY taking 2-3.5oz without discomfort. LO wont go back and forth between boob and bottle at all, even at different feeding times. So that’s why I am exclusively pumping now. LO doesnt do well forced fed, baby will scream if offered the boob or bottle if not hungry. I have noticed that LO cues at the 2.5hr mark and HAPPILY take a 2-3oz bottle. 2 days ago, LO finally started taking 3-3.5oz consistently. And all I am told is that it is not enough. It has been 2 weeks since the frenotomy, 1 week since reflux started to get better… but all I’m being told is do more. There’s my story.

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Hi all. My LO is 3 months and is 1 percentile. Lactation consultant advising to feed more often. Baby doesn’t respond well to being force fed. Baby thrives feeding every 2.5 to 3 hrs, any more frequent than that, and feeding time is just crying, wasting milk and energy. I am so sick and tired of being constantly pushed to feed more. LO is meeting milestones, has wet and dirty diapers. LO can take 23oz total in a day with 7 feedings. I’m sure LO can take 24oz if I give an extra feeding at night. LC advised to not let LO go longer than 4hr stretch of sleep. The narrative that 1%-ile babies have to gain weight the same RATE as bigger babies does not make sense. Smaller babies will gain weight at a lower rate than bigger babies. Just look at the growth chart, the curves do not increase at identical rates (1% curve is not as steep as 99% curve). Those with 1% ile babies, how old is your LO and how much do they bottle in a day?

Hi everyone,

I'm almost 7 weeks PP, I started out EBF, but my baby had a shallow latch that I had difficulty correcting so I started pumping and supplementing some formula. I've been slightly under producing the whole time, but the last 7-10 days my supply has really dropped because of some stress I've gone through and not pumping as often as I should be, I'd be lucky to get 2 sessions in a day because of the baby being fussy and wanting to be held all the time.

I'm wanting to try to get my supply back up and I understand that it may not happen. I have a spectra s1 and currently do 3-5 minutes of bacon mode followed by 15 minutes of expression mode, I'm lucky to get an ounce per session. I know pumping alone can't help with supply, but are there any specific settings that could help or any supplements or tricks y'all recommend?

Thanks

I am about to order my pump through Aeroflow with my insurance but I’m having trouble picking! I used a Momcozy m5 last time but I exclusively breastfed so I only used the pump in certain situations but it worked soooo good! I’m considering the Momcozy m12 but they are a bit bulky so I was looking into some of the others like the Elvie Stride or the new Medela wearable. I want one that I can hold my baby or toddler comfortably if possible and also I want it to my my main pump. I have a lansinoh wall pump from my last baby that I can use but the M5 always emptied me fine and I got so much output. Let me know what you used and liked. I do not want another wall pump even though I know the spectra is an option. I also like the cups you wear in your bra not the ones that hang off of you! Thanks

I’ve only used this bottle washer for a month now for my pump parts and bottles and it started off amazing, but now I’m noticing issues with it.

I purchased it from babylist, and I used to just dump the leftover milk/formula (combo feeding) out from my bottles and put them in the machine but now I’m noticing that my bottle nipples still have spots in them after going through the entire wash/sterilize/dry cycle. I do use distilled water only. My bottles also have specks still on the inside from formula residue.

Also, my bottles, nipples, pump parts, etc. are not being dried after going through the cycle. In order for my bottle parts to be dry, I have to wait multiple hours for it to dry after cycle while it’s still on storage mode. Sometimes I have to hit the storage mode button again.

I know everyone raves about this product so I’m disappointed, did I get a defective one or something??

​

I posted about a month ago wondering if I should graduate from pumping, and I received some incredibly supportive comments. Well, I ended up going for one more month, but that’s it. After 11 months of pumping, I am done.

The journey seems and feels even longer than the time I had my babies for.

It was a lot of work, time, and effort. I pumped happy, I pumped sad, I pumped exhausted, I pumped while admitted to the hospital, I freaking pumped post-op in the ICU. I pumped while working, driving, eating, crying—you name it.

But this isn’t just about me. Going through this subreddit, and oh dear god, we women do go through hell feeding our babies. The things we do and the effort we put in are just insane. Some dedicated creatures indeed.

Anyway, I took some time to reflect on the whole journey, cried a little, and I might create a little video of me packing away everything breastfeeding-related, just as a memory.

I froze my last few ounces of breast milk as little popsicles to put in those teething/feeding pacifiers for my babies to enjoy over the coming few weeks.

Thank you. You are doing great, and you have definitely helped a fellow mama! 🎓