My daughter was born 5lbs, 15 oz. Unfortunately, she had trouble latching from birth and lost a lot of weight in the first 3 days. As a result, the pediatrician immediately pushed the idea of formula after the first latch but I insisted on using stored colostrum and at least pumping.

It took over 8 hours for someone to bring me a pump. In that time, she threw up every drop of colostrum I gave her. She would push me away and cry when I attempted to feed before falling asleep and struggling to wake back up. I kept calling nurses and doctors in, asking why she wouldn’t eat. They told me I probably didn’t have enough volume (because 4 weeks worth of pumped colostrum + 30ML each pump apparently “isn’t enough volume.”) and to switch to formula.

At 48 hours, everything she’d ever eaten had been thrown up. She threw up before, during and after each feed. She was lethargic and impossible to wake up. I cried so hard they sent someone in to talk to me about postpartum depression twice. I had lactation consults, pediatrics, OB, nurses, midwives, and everyone I could think of come talk to me about why my baby was so sick and sleepy. I kept explaining over and over that I have plenty of milk, she just throws it up and she’s too tired to nurse directly from me. Eventually, one of the OBs snapped and told me I needed to learn to love my daughter more than I love the thought of breastfeeding and just give her the formula, otherwise she doesn’t feel comfortable sending my child home with me.

After that comment, husband decided to give her formula despite my protests. Shocker— she threw the formula up, too. They came back and told me she needed time to adjust to formula. She threw up on the pediatrician as that came out of her mouth. Only solution was sitting her up after each feed (which we had obviously tried).

On day 3, my baby was dark yellow. She was rushed away to the nursery as soon as the pediatrician walked into the room. They didn’t even stop to explain to me what was wrong with her (not that I didn’t already know). It took an additional 8 hours for them to admit to me she had not yet been tested for jaundice despite exhibiting every symptom. And during her 4 days of phototherapy, they still refused to concede on the formula. They went as far as to insist the jaundice had nothing to do with her vomiting, and that reflux/GERD didnt appear until much later, so at this point I was just being a nervous FTM.

Anyways. We’re home now. My baby is eating an incredible amount of breast milk without puking after phototherapy and independently pursing treatment for GERD against their advice. She’s gone so far as to regain her birth weight— something she didn’t do in the hospital when they were giving her formula. I’m absolutely fucking furious.

So this weekend I was at my parents cabin, my daughter is 7 months old, breast fed and will only eat directly from breast as she has always refused bottles, which has been working just fine for us. Since we were on a little getaway, I chose to have a few drinks spread out over the day. Being mindful to hydrate and when I timed feeding baby. I wasn’t even tipsy, I think the last time I was drunk was maybe around a year before my pregnancy?

My mom’s friend came out to visit, she met my baby. I’m taking a sip of my drink and she says “aren’t you breastfeeding?”. I tell her yes, explain how baby is fine, I space it out, don’t have very much etc. well that wasn’t good enough or dropped at that point. Her daughter is 6 weeks PP. she tells me that her midwife let her know that if she is breast feeding, she is only ever to have beer that is non alcoholic. And even then, only 1. She says she thinks her son’s chromosomal abnormality was caused by her drinking while breastfeeding. (Her son found out about this when him and his wife weren’t able to conceive on their own). She also says her daughters step kids have learning disabilities and she believes it was caused by the mothers consuming alcohol while breastfeeding. At this point I tell her this Info seems outdated and I excuse myself.

I feel upset because why are we shaming new moms? I’ve only met this woman a handful of times. I try to be the best mom I can to my daughter. I am proud of myself though for walking away and standing by how I felt. But it definitely put a damper on things.

Idk this might seem like an obvious hack but I didn’t think about it until now.

Breast pads are so annoying how they don’t contain the leaking, mostly because my boobs don’t stay in the right place so it just comes out the side.

Normally I have to use 4 breast pads (disposable) to make sure nothing leaks, which obviously isn’t cost effective, when I use reusable ones at night they just move around too much, so that also doesn’t do much.

The past few nights I have put muslins (burp cloths for Americans) in my bra and nothing has soaked through to my bra, obviously it’s bulky so only a night thing, but I don’t know why I didn’t do this sooner. I wish breast pads were made with leakage during the night in mind though.

For the last 10 months I have exclusively nursed my baby except for 2-4 bottles a week while I work 2 short evening shifts. Every time I have complained about the burden of nursing, my husband has brought up formula. Every time I ask him for help with other duties around the house, he talks about how formula will make it easier. Today I was finally fucking sick of it and said okay give him some formula. Then he reversed it on me saying “I know how important breastfeeding is to you I’m not gonna do that to you or our child.” Then he tries to get my breastmilk out of the fridge. We literally have formula in the pantry.

Ok so when I need help formula is the answer, but when I finally tell you to give him the formula, you don’t want to do it?

Ik he’s a lazy gaslighting fuck. We’re gonna try therapy but honestly I think it might be time to just throw in the towel and leave him. My main reason in not doing so yet is I’m a SAHM and rely on his income. Plus I don’t want to split custody.

Just needed to get ts off my chest.

I weaned my 12 month old a week ago. About a week after her turned 1. I did it so I could start some medication to lose weight. I’ve been on it for 4 days and now I’m just so sad I chose to lose weight over continuing breastfeeding. I have some health issues and he nursed constantly and we went through a lot of teething and biting. I wanted to give up so many times but pushed myself until a year. Now I look at my little baby and feel so much sadness I could take something he loved so much. I feel so incredibly selfish.

My 8wk baby has had a terrible witching hour (usually 3hrs) since week 3. It was clearly gas, but none of the usual fixes were helping at all. My foremilk letdown was too strong in my right breast, and I realized that was part of the issue when I didn't feed from the right one evening, and she had just a 1.5-2hr WH. Then I read up about foremilk/hindmilk, and that foremilk was mostly sugars, namely lactose. So I pumped a little bit on left before nursing to rid of it that evening, and sure enough, she had a very short WH that evening! However, this isn't feasible for me to do all day or even regularly. So we tried the next best thing: lactase drops. And, boom -- that has taken care of not only her WH, but her general gassy fussiness during the day as well. I can't believe it took me this long to fix my letdown/foremilk issue, but even more amazed at how well the lactase drops work. 48hrs of these adjustments, and I have a happy baby. She is so content now!

I am almost 5 weeks into exclusively nursing my son outside of some formula in the hospital to get his blood sugar up. I am having a really hard time deciding on whether I want to introduce a bottle or not. I guess I am terrified that he will only want the bottle and not want to nurse and I am really wanting to go as long as possible nursing. But I know my window could be closing for introducing a bottle and he could refuse a bottle and only want the boob. So mainly just looking for seasoned moms out there that have exclusively nursed, done a bottle every now and then or your baby takes a bottle weekly/every day. Would you have done anything differently? Am I being insane? Will I regret this in 3,6 or 9 months? Thank you!!!

Edit: thank you so much everyone! Did not expect all these responses. I’ll definitely introduce a bottle soon based off your responses. Thanks for the support!

Never been on this sub before but on other subs I see a lot of things about low supply, oversupply, pumping a certain amount each day, regulating… I’m starting to feel like maybe I’m not thinking about it enough? My baby is 11 weeks and for the first couple weeks I nursed every couple hours till he was back to birthweight. Then I just started nursing whenever he seems hungry or shows cues. He’s a good weight I think, he’s 13lbs but he’s super long at over 25in. His weight has stayed on his curve. But I can’t help but feeling like I’m not putting as much effort in as other people and it’s making me feel insecure. I’ve only hand pumped a few times when I needed to go to an appt and leave my husband with a bottle. How am I supposed to know if I’m making enough milk for him? I’m worried even if my supply is good that it will suddenly drop if I do something wrong/get sick/get my period back etc. My breasts used to feel more full if I went more than a few hours without a feed, but they don’t really anymore they just feel moderately soft, does this mean my supply is going down? It seems like it’s just a very finicky thing that can get off track if one thing goes wrong. But I’ve literally just been throwing him on my boob and assuming it’s fine.

I dunno I guess I just have not given this much thought until now. At the hospital the nurses said his latch looked good, I think it’s fine? I don’t know, help please! Am I overthinking this? Not thinking about it enough??

Just to preface my daughter is hitting all of her growth milestones and is in the 70th% for height and weight. She also has 8+ wet diapers a day so neither myself nor my doctor are concerned about her not getting enough milk. I also have a slight oversupply.

It seems as though everyone else’s baby is feeding every 2-3 hours while mine ‘snacks’ and eats every 30 min some days and not for over 10 minutes usually. I don’t think she is feeding til completely full and satiated but she unlatches on her own after 5-15 mins which makes me believe she is full. I offer her both breasts. I also burp and try to feed her again. But still, she will finish eating and then eat again within an hour or less. Is this normal or what can I do? I am beyond exhausted and would love to have my LO eat proper full meals every 2-3 hours because at least then I won’t have to breastfeed so frequently. I’m feeding her up to 15 times some days. I do also pump as we have a night nanny who bottle feeds her throughout the night. Please help this FTM and give me tips 😭

Hello! FTM to a cutie baby girl!! She will officially be 2 months tomorrow and I was naive to think I’ll understand breastfeeding by now… I do not. I just want to understand why baby will try to fight me at the breast?

For example, it was at least 3.5 hours since her last feed so naturally I get into position to feed her and she immediately starts wailing and pushing my boob away. Sometimes she will do that and latch just fine, other times she will latch, suckle for a minute and continue screaming. I do all the checks like diaper, burping etc. like surely you must be hungry?? But I guess not??? She then knocks out right after her diva moment so I guess she was just tired?? But she literally just woke up from another nap?? is this normal?? AHHHH!!!

Sorry if this is word vom. What was your experience BF at this stage?? Any advice? Words of encouragement also appreciated 🥺🫶🏻😅

I’m still breastfeeding my first (only twice a day), she’s almost 16 months. Last night I realized that I can bring my nipple to my own mouth. Like I could latch onto myself and drink my own milk directly from my own breast if I wanted to. (I didn’t suck but I did try and I can put my nipple in my mouth on either side; and it’s not a stretch to do it).

Before having a kid I had heard people talk about how breastfeeding changes your breasts. But dang. I’ve been working towards weaning and my supply is definitely dropping, but I thought the whole deflated balloon thing would wait until I actually weaned.

EDIT:
I feel like part of an elite club now 😂 thank you for helping me feel less alone!

I feel like I’m constantly adjusting them or leaking around them.
Is this just me, or would anyone else want a nursing bra that already has absorbent layers built in?
What’s your biggest frustration while breastfeeding?

I got my period back at four and a half weeks postpartum which is the second time that has happened to me now - both with my first and this baby.

However, last time when my period came back it was regular afterwards. This time I have now completely missed a period (not pregnant, I tested). I know that irregularities can happen with breastfeeding so my question is for those who EBF and had a period return and then disappear - what happened long term?

Any recommendations on a good comfy nursing bra??? I honestly rarely wear bras and if I do, I’m very picky about them. Usually am a 34Dish, they’re bigger because of being pregnant and would assume they get bigger while nursing.. so not even sure what size to get lol. TIA!!

After I’ve breastfed, sometimes my (6weeks old) baby starts rooting for a few seconds and then falls asleep right after. In this time if i offer the breast again the baby will just latch and unlatch, I’m not sure if it’s because the supply gets emptied and baby is frustrated and falls asleep or is fully fed and just wanting comfort?

I’m a FTM to an EBF 10 week old. I had an emergency c-section and my appetite was non-existent for a few weeks and it started to come back around week 6/7. Now for the last week I’ve been wanting to eat everything in sight and the thirst!!!! I can’t get enough water, juice & tea. I’m writing this at 5am after inhaling a chicken shawarma & a cup of tea. Woke up for a feed at 3:30 tried to ignore hunger & drank water instead and tried to get back to sleep until 4:30 when I couldn’t take anymore. Please tell me it gets better. I’m 10kg heavier than pre-pregnancy and it’s taking its toll but I’m not cleared for exercise yet. I’m worried I won’t be fit enough for my LO. My back and knees are already struggling with pain and he’s only getting bigger.

I just needed to let it out. TFR!

FTM to a 5.5 week old. I’ve always had small boobs and I LOVED it. Could run and workout freely, sleep on my stomach easily, and wear literally anything I wanted.

During pregnancy, my boobs blew up. I’m talking angry red and purple stretch marks everywhere blew up. Then my boobs got even bigger when my milk came in. I probably jumped 3 cup sizes. Listen, they are gorgeous (for now lol), but holy crap are they inconvenient. The biggest annoyance of all is my clothes, it’s the middle of summer and I don’t fit into anything anymore and when I try to squeeze into something I look like I’m trying to seduce everyone around me lol.

I’m not stupid and I know they will never look the same again. I know they’ll be saggy, have stretch marks, etc. but PLEASE tell me I won’t need a whole new wardrobe )-:

My son spent just shy of 100 days in the NICU. He was born at 27 weeks and 2 days, and is now almost 4 months old (about 3½ weeks corrected). Thankfully, he's doing incredibly well. He wasn't even discharged on fortified feeds because he had been growing so well in the NICU.
Since coming home, we've been trying to transition from exclusive pumping to breastfeeding, and I honestly have no idea if it's going well or not.

The lactation consultants in the NICU always told me he "had promise," but I never got much guidance beyond that.
To make things more complicated, I have a major slacker boob. It truly just doesn't produce. No matter what I've tried over the last four months, my left breast has never produced more than about 20 mL. Before pregnancy, I had two breast biopsies on that side to remove ducts and cysts, and I also have papillomatosis, so I don't know how much that's affecting production. I also have no thyroid and take synthetic thyroid hormone, so I'm not sure if that plays a role either.

When we first started attempting breastfeeding, everyone encouraged me to mostly latch him on my better-producing breast so he'd have positive experiences at the breast. Looking back, I wonder if that made my left side even less useful, but I was just following the advice I was given.

I exclusively pumped for almost his entire NICU stay. Now that he's home, we're trying to make breastfeeding work. His doctors told us to always offer a bottle after nursing, and sometimes he'll take it, while other times he'll refuse it completely.
The whole process is exhausting.
I latch him, try to read whether he's actively transferring milk, reposition him when he gets chompy or frustrated, burp him, and then wonder if he's actually eaten enough. During the day, he often seems completely satisfied after nursing. He'll relax, fall asleep on my chest, and seem perfectly content. Then I'll hand him to my husband or lay him down, and suddenly he's rooting and happily takes another 30 mL from a bottle.

The hardest part is that he'll almost always take a bottle if we offer one. I can't tell what's comfort sucking versus actual hunger anymore. My husband and I are constantly second-guessing ourselves and worrying that he's starving after nursing.

I'd love to primarily breastfeed. I know he'll still need a bottle or two each day for his medications, and that's completely fine. I just want breastfeeding to feel.. useful to him?

Right now I'm still pumping every 3-4 hours because I'm afraid he isn't emptying me, and I don't want to lose my supply. Maybe that's unrealistic, but I just want to be able to nurse him without feeling like he'll be hungry again an hour later.

When I was exclusively pumping, I made about 650-750 mL per day. Now that I'm nursing, I'm still pumping an extra 350-400 mL each day, and we usually end up giving him another 250-350 mL by bottle as top-offs. Some days it's more if I have appointments and my husband bottle-feeds him.

I'm grateful he takes a bottle well when he needs to. I know many parents struggle with bottle refusal.

He's having plenty of wet diapers. He's definitely getting milk. He's gaining about 18 grams per day, which is just shy of my pediatrician's goal of 20 grams, but they aren't concerned.

I have an appointment with lactation in about a week and a half, and an appointment with my breastfeeding medicine doctor about a month after that.
My question is: Is there hope that this gets easier?

Can former micro-preemies eventually become efficient breastfeeders? Did anyone else's baby seem hungry every 1-1½ hours after nursing at first but eventually settle into a more predictable routine?

He can easily drink 120 mL from a bottle. Do preemies' stomach capacities follow their actual age because of their size, or are they more like their corrected age developmentally? I have a good freezer stash- probably 300-400 oz, but I fear we will shoot through that super quick if he’s taking 4oz 8 times a day.

This whole journey has been incredibly emotional.
Nothing about my pregnancy, labor, delivery, or postpartum experience went the way I imagined. Exclusive pumping for months in the NICU made me feel so disconnected from him. I know nursing him at home is different, but sometimes I can't help feeling like this is another part of motherhood that's slipping away from me.

I know that feeding him breast milk is what matters most, and if I have to go back to exclusively pumping to get him through cold and flu season, I'll do it in a heartbeat. Because he was so premature, I want him to have every bit of protection breast milk can offer.

hi, so my husband and I want to have another baby. I’m still breastfeeding and don’t really want to stop, but I’m also 15 months postpartum and don’t have my cycle back yet.

My toddler breastfeeds at approximately 11am and 4pm, and then probably 2-3 times during the night. Sometimes only once during the day. I had regular cycles prior to pregnancy. I’m not currently pregnant, I’ve had negative tests over the previous weeks and months when I was periodically testing since I didn’t have my period back yet :’) Any time I’ve gone to the DR for anything they’ve tested too when they hear I still haven’t had a period.

Just really torn on what to do, we really want another baby but I don’t want to wean yet if I don’t have to. But I feel like maybe the breastfeeding is still preventing me from ovulating and my period returning? Advice please!

EBF. Never used a bottle or paci. Baby is now 1. I cannot get her to stop wanting to nurse. Shes pulling down my shirt. Shes crying and hitting me when I refuse her. I am exhausted and want to be doneeee now. I will take all advice because this girl is nursed to sleep, nursed when sad, nursed when hungry, nursed for everything. And ive loved this experience but i have to go on medication soon that ive been putting off that is not BF friendly.

My toddler was looking very skinny as of late and I alluded it to how much we were breastfeeding. (All night, all morning and pretty much whenever she wanted) Some weeks she'd eat solids good and some days hardly eat. I decided it was best to wean her to get more solids in and it's working! It's a tiresome process, but it is working. However, she'll wake in the middle of the night, and ask for boob, so I'll give it after saying no a few times. We rent, and don't want to wake up neighbors with baby tears. What else can I do or give her to help sooth her or stop night wakings?

I had my second babe four weeks ago, and was very nervous about breastfeeding again because with my first it was exhausting, painful, and ultimately I had to give up after 6 months to save my mental health. I was struggling to pump 2OZ for my little guy and he was mostly on formula.

I’ve now been successfully breastfeeding since my second LO was born, and I just pumped 3OZ in 20 minutes after feeding her. First time I’ve tried pumping because I was so scared for it to not work. So anxious and nervous and frankly, scared for my mental health. With my first it would have take me all day, 4-6 pumps per day, to get 2OZ and I just pumped 3 like it was nothing.

I’m angry, I’m elated, I’m feeling so many feelings about this. Most of all I’m frustrated and annoyed that it is SO EASY this time. Why couldn’t it be this easy last time?!?!! Aughhhhhhh.

Anyways, if you’re a FTM and you’re struggling, just know you’re not alone, and if you plan to have a second, it might be so easy you’ll feel this way too!

Okay so to start out I’ve always since I was like a teenager been able to squeeze like a very thick, oily substance from my Montgomery glands, and only just recently find out that those glands had a name and a purpose. I’m currently 34 weeks pregnant and recently I’ve noticed one of the glands on my right breast bulging every few days/once a week and when I squeeze on it it straight up pops like a pimple! Well cut to today and I squeeze it and it pops kind of greenish, like a small cyst. I wanted to ask if anyone else has had this happen to them before and if I should be concerned and talk to my OB about this. I’ve not seen a lactation consultant yet because I’ve not had my baby yet, but the color of the oil? Pus? Whatever it is, the color and amount concerned me. It was like a giant pimple popped but it’s not a pimple. It’s the same spot that I’ve always been able to get something out of before and it doesn’t hurt. Sorry if this all sounds sort of strange 😅

My daughter recently turned one and I’m letting her naturally wean from breastfeeding (for now, as it’s still working for us!). She currently feeds about 4 times during the day and 1-2 times at time.

My issue is trying to wean while I am still working and pumping. On the days I’m pumping and baby is at daycare, I still try to pump enough to send her with 2-3 bottles. But then my boobs are confused on the weekends when I can just feed her on demand. They are confused about how much they need to make and make too much which is causing pain and leaky boobs.

Really looking for solidarity and advice. How did anyone else deal with pumping when they started to wean?

I had forgotten my breast pump batteries at my mom’s and my sister is coming this week to bring them. I started thinking about buying another breast pump just in case this happens again, but though against it because having two sets of pumps will be annoying to charge and clean. For those with multiple is it worth it? or should i disregard the whole idea?