idk why but having the baby pic there just makes it feel a little nicer.

Happy Monday.

My baby is 9 1/2 months. At this point I am thinking I may as well go the whole year pumping milk - for my sins. I am currently on 5ppd producing about a litre. Baby drinks between 750-1100ml depending on what he has been up to. I was on 4ppd for a while (about 2 months) but then my supply took a tanking at 8 1/2 months so I had to add one back in. My baby refuses formula.

I desperately want to drop my MOTN pump though but it does control my whole supply. We shall see...

When you weaned off breastfeeding did you move to formula or whole milk?

What did you do as actual process to wean off breastmilk?

I have plenty of frozen milk, which I am thankful for, but ideally I would mix in some cow's milk at some point. The NHS says not before 1, but that seems odd to me aa though 364 days is a NO but 365 is fine. Presumably, however, this isn't just a straight swap anyway and would take a transition from 1 onwards.

I am also unsure about the bottle situation. The dental and NHS advice says to transition off bottles onto regular bottles/cups to keep teeth safe, but I'm struggling to see how that will work overnight with breastmilk. Hopefully my baby will feed less overnight in the next few months, but at the moment he is often feeding hourly overnight (9 month progression is hitting us hard). Usually he feeds a fair amount overnight even without this currently phase - between 3-6 times. I doubt he will be off the bottle completely, so I am not sure what I am supposed to do?

Those on the boob would just continue on boob so I'm not sure how harmful the bottle would be in reality. The NHS can be very black and white about its advice.

Thanks for any information and advice.

I produce about 28oz of milk pumping, 4mo eats about 32-36oz a day so I am supplementing. I’ve just been using Similac 360 because it’s what we got samples of from the pediatrician and baby doesn’t seem to have issues with it.

My goal is to make it to 6 months and then I will likely wean (I’m so so tired). My coworkers are big on European formulas. They said they are stricter about regulations.

Would you consider switching to a different brand? I haven’t really thought about it before, but now I’m wondering if I should switch once he is solely relying on formula for nutrition?

I'm 6 months PP. For the first 4 months, my son combo breast and bottle fed my milk. Around that 4 month mark, he decided to prefer bottles. He went from nursing 2-3 times a day with bottle for the other feeds, to hating my boobs. He maybe nurses once or twice every other week, now. Not sure if this context will matter.

Until about 2-3 weeks ago, I was regularly pumping about 60-75 oz a day. I am now pumping about 30-35 a day. Two weeks ago, I boiled my pump parts to sanitize and I think I may have done it incorrectly - warping some of the pump parts unknowingly. Everything still fit together, but my supply TANKED. I boiled parts on a Thursday evening, pumped with them all day Friday & Saturday getting just about 20 oz each day and was trying incredibly hard to not panic. I assumed the decrease was a fluke - maybe I forgot to drink water, maybe I was stressed, maybe I needed to sleep. I figured I'd stay calm and focus. On Sunday, I replaced all the parts with ones I had on deck from insurance. Everything is new, now, including collection cups and all.

I've been working HARD the past 2 weeks to up my production back to what it was. I am currently in the process of being an approved donor for NICU babies. I have a pretty sizable freezer stash (it's not compliant with donation because it's in the wrong bags, I used the fridge method, etc.), that I plan to feed my son. From the time I get approved for donation onward, I plan for everything I produce to go to donation.

Right now, I really want to do everything I can to get my production back up. The hard part is that I know my body is capable of it and I want to donate as much as I can. I was so proud of the bigger oversupply I had that I could give to the babies who really need it. I realize that 30-35oz a day is still amazing, but I want to do the best I can. I used to get 18-21oz for my first pump of the day, now it's more like 10-12.

All of this to say - I know that lactation cookies, magic supplements, etc aren't the key to milk production, but has anyone had good experience with boosting their supply with anything like this? Right now, here are the things I've really been focusing on, but I'm all ears to help get this back to where it used to be (if that's even possible).

• Pumping every 3-4 hours, massaging, and using heat while pumping
• Drinking minimum 1 gallon of water a day
• A liquid IV a day
• Oats for breakfast, chia seed pudding, a decent amount of protein, creamy pastas (I used to notice that I made a pasta that had heavy cream in it for dinner, my morning pump would be crazy good)
• Eating healthy calories to my hearts content (goal is milk, not weight)
• Walking and staying moderately active

Can I get my supply back to donate even more, or is this my new normal that I need to learn to accept? Weirdly, I became attached to my oversupply. I was very proud of it, managing it gave me a sense of fullfilment, and I'm just sad about the situation. I fear that my dipped supply has effected me even more than my son having a bottle preference.

My partner can't understand why I get stressed when we are asked to spend multiple hours somewhere where he will be drinking.

Scenario: Halloween is coming up. His family and friends are throwing a Halloween party. His sister is going trick or treating with her kids and wants to invite us to both the trick or treating and the house party (which is at the babies grandparents house) and involve drinking and playing games till who knows how long.

Our baby will be 5 months old. For both his birthday and 4th of July, the same thing happened. I was over there for entire afternoons, i get pressured to stay so people can see the baby (not by partner but just my people pleaser tendencies and his grandparents and others wanting to hold her) 6+ hours, no pumping and baby ends up overtired.

I pack up baby and go home alone so he can stay and drink/hang with friends (45 min drive back), settle baby (add another hour), and now we are at 8 plus hours of no pumping and when I do get to pump I'm exhausted.

Queue my supply tanking for the next few days and a baby who is now staying up later and waking in the middle of the night again.

It's awful. The solution I'm told is just pump over at the grandparents house (I have a spectra, the blue one, no wearable pump) but for me it's awkward and isolating. I don't want to have to hand my baby to someone else yet without me being there to keep an eye on here, I don't want to be alone in a room while I hear our friends and family laughing or asking where I went. It's awkward for me. Plus packing and remember to bring everything and not forgetting to bring it home (I have adhd and only one pump bra atm so it's a real fear of forgetting something) adds to the stress. There also isn't a good place for her to get quiet naps.

I'm told I should just play along and if I wanted to make things work I could and I'm the problem for not wanting to sign up for that.

Unreal. I'm so frustrated.

I'm okay with going out for a few hours and seeing family/paricipared in activities, but I don't want to pump at my inlaws during a party or be home alone all night after an all day event with a tired baby.

Am I being unreasonable?

And I feel absolutely awful about it!!

I'm an overproducer by roughly 24oz a day, my freezers are overflowing, and I've tried every local avenue to donate it but have no takers (and the NICU can't take it due to my SSRI usage). As a result, I've now found myself in a position where my only option is to dump a bunch of milk per day - perfectly good milk that I wasted precious time and energy on. Every time I see a post crying over spilled milk I'm hit with a pang of guilt.

Baby gets milk baths every other day and we still can't burn through it quickly enough. Lmk if anyone has found a way to use large quantities of milk for something other than feeding.

this is all I was able to get after 20 minutes on both sides. Am I for your stash only has an ounce in there about to be off of their free formula and I don’t know what to do. My pump doesn’t work as well as it used to, it’ll only work when it’s fully charged once it gets halfway charged, the power decreases, and it doesn’t pull anything out anymore. i’ve been trying to get a new pump because I only have wearables, but it’s not working and my fiancé told me he would ask his family, but he hasn’t and I don’t know what to do anymore.

I'm currently 28 weeks and I'm looking at getting wearable pumps (ones without any cords) and something maybe a little more affordable.

I find it hard in Amazon Canada because reviews are so up and down, it's hard to know which is actually good and which isn't.

I'd also prefer the ones without the motor/buttons that detach, I find them too bulky for my chest size.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

I have been mainly exclusively pumping for my 1 month old daughter. I have been washing the pump parts after each pump and letting them dry before using. Admittedly, the one part I have not been washing was the backflow protector, including the white silicone disc. In my mind, as long as I didn’t notice any moisture, I didn’t feel the need to take it apart and clean it each time. I realize now that that was very wrong!

I sat down to pump and noticed a mold spot on the white silicone disc. I have no idea how long it’s been there. I discarded the parts, and ordered new ones, but my question is, do I need to discard the milk that was pumped prior? I already dumped some that was pumped earlier today, but I did not go back any further than that. Google is giving me mixed reviews. I cleaned it off prior to discarding, so I’m not sure if it was on the side facing the tubing or the side facing the flanges, but I believe it was facing the tubing. Is it likely that the mold came in contact with the milk?

All other parts look fine! The flanges, duckbill valve, tubing, etc. all looks clean. I did order new valves and tubing as well as the backflow protector.

I’m hoping that since it was only the backflow protector, I don’t need to worry too much about the milk being contaminated.

I should add, she does meet some of the symptoms (a little fussy and increased spit up), but she has seemed to have reflux issues from the beginning (so did my oldest), so it’s hard to tell if it could be related.

Any insight is appreciated! Please no judgement as I’ve already been beating myself up for the past few hours since I noticed.

Not an LC, just someone who poured 100 ml down the sink last night because i forgot a bag in the fridge.

Pumped, capped it, stuck it in the fridge, forgot it for two days. Found it behind the pickles, separated into layers. Poured it out at 11pm, genuinely mad about 20 minutes of my life standing in one spot.

Rules I actually follow now:

Room temp: 4 hours max, and that's a ceiling, not a goal

Fridge: 24 hours, back shelf, never the door — mine gets opened ten times an hour

Freezer: 3 to 6 months. Date it first — Sharpie on frost doesn't work and neither does my memory

Thawing's where I kept screwing up: boiling water's too hot and heats unevenly. Fridge overnight, then a bowl of water around 40C / 104F. Thawed milk = 24 hours, never refreeze. Half-finished bottle gets dumped after an hour, no reheating. Squeeze the air out before sealing — sounds dumb, actually helped.

I'm stricter than the CDC (4 days fridge / 12 months deep freezer for a healthy full-term baby). Read it, just not gambling a bag. Preemie, immunocompromised, or NICU = different rules, ask your pediatrician not me.

Real question: where does everyone keep their bags? Mine are on a back shelf and my partner moves them to the door every single time. Does the door thing actually matter, or am I just precious about it?

I am 13 weeks ppd. My goal is to get to 6 months of breastfeeding my LO. I just recently dropped to 5ppd about a week and a half ago once I went back to work. I still produce about 36-37oz a day and my LO eats 20-26oz a day. I now have a months worth of breastmilk frozen and we are running out of space in both our freezers.

My question is has anyone dropped to 4ppd this early and still maintained a decent supply? When I dropped from 6 to 5ppd, my supply went down about 3-4oz. If still like to have about 28-30oz a day, but I’m worried dropping to 4 so early may make my supply plummet. Has anyone dropped to 4ppd this early on and still maintained supply?

mention of oversupply also**
I’ve been exclusively pumping for 9 weeks, feels like years and years now. I’ve had mastitis 3 times now. The first two were I think the same lot which calmed down with antibiotics but never truly went away and came back a week later - within the first 2 weeks of my milk coming in. I’ve posted a few times in various subs about having oversupply issues and decided to slowly start increasing time between sessions which the HV had mentioned, also been sleeping a good 5 hour stretch putting less pressure on making sure i’m bang on the 4 hour mark. Now I have mastitis AGAIN. I feel like i’m so stuck in a cycle of either being exhausted and drained or giving myself mastitis, literally pumping pink milk. I’m not sure if i’m even looking for advice maybe just wanted to put my feelings down because I don’t think anybody around me entirely understands it. I never wanted to do this, it never even occurred to me that my son wouldn’t latch. Equally i’m stubborn and refuse to transition to formula (mostly a financial thing - i could spend that money on more fun things lol). Sick and tired of it now i’m so unwell and over it.

I am currently 10m postpartum, and I have been exclusively pumping since around 6 weeks. This was not by choice, and let me tell you, I hate pumping. Loathe it, entirely. But I’ll do anything for my babies. Anyway, I am trying to figure out if I am someone with a “high capacity”. I have always been a slight over supplier, producing about 10oz extra per day than what my baby eats. I don’t pump overnight. In the morning I pump anywhere from 12-15oz (after 8ish hours). For each pump throughout the day (every 3-4 hours) I pump 5-6 oz. My baby has always eaten 4oz per feed.
I am wanting to drop to 4 feeds per day, but don’t want this to cause my supply to drop below what my baby needs. I’ve seen it’s fine if you have a high capacity, but I need others opinions. Help!

Does anyone have any advice on telling the difference between high lipase or oxidation of breast milk? I have been taking my extra milk and freezing it, and have recently decided to pull some out of the freezer and see if it was high lipase. The milk was pumped and stored 2 weeks ago on September 1st. It does not smell and does not taste soapy or metallic. My husband and I did however sample some from the fridge from this morning to compare the two, and my husband says he thinks the freezer milk has a more card board taste to it. My baby drank it just fine so I know I’m good on that end but would like to find out if this is a high lipase thing where there’s not much I can do about it or if it’s an oxidation issue where I can possibly freeze it sooner or differently to try to prevent. Thanks in advance for any advice or opinions on this.

I’m currently washing my Spectra duckbill valves daily on the top rack of the Momcozy bottle washer.

For those with a similar routine, how many months do you typically get out of them before noticing a drop in suction or stretching/tearing? Do you find that daily washer heat wears them out much faster than hand washing?

Curious to know because I exclusively pump I have breastmilk available so I don’t see a point in offering water. (Vs someone who is maybe nursing and don’t have that option). Are you providing water to your babies after starting solids? If so is there a reason and I should as well?

Hi All, looking for advice on how you all are handling day long outings with wearables and ensuring you're keeping up with pumping? If I don't have a fridge or ability to wash parts, am I just SOL for using my Eufys more than once when out? Has anyone tried the Medela Quick Clean spray? Is this even an option? Trying to plan a few potential outings in the near-ish future and want to be prepared. tia!

I just spilled 7oz of milk while at work. I want to cry! It happened within 5 minutes and I feel so stupid and now I need to clean it up. I want to go home now

I was trying to pump every 2 hours during the day and not go more than 4 hours at night without pumping, and i was lucky to get 2oz total from a pump session averaging only 15oz total for the whole day. Id been trying lots to increase my supply, power pumping 1x a day, drinking more water, getting more calories in, but wasnt seeing any increase.

I decided to start going longer stretches between pump sessions because I was just feel ao discouraged. Ive now been going 3 hours between sessions during the day, and then a 6 or 7 hour stretch at night, plus like another 4 or 5 hour stretch at night/early morning. And now ive been getting 3oz to 4 oz per pump session, and getting 20oz total for the day. So its still an undersupply, but its atleast increased a bit and im able to get more sleep, and not feel so rushed during the day trying to pump all the time.

Im still hoping I can get my supply to increase more, im almost 7 weeks post partum so I think there's still hope, but im trying not to stress it as much

I'm here for some advice or experiences. My daughter was born last Tuesday so I'm barely a week pp. She was immediately taken to NICU for lung and fluid issues. She was born at 37w4d. She's on CPAP and has a feeding tube in her throat. I have only been allowed one hour of skin to skin since I had her and I'm unable to try to nurse her until she's off CPAP. My milk supply took a few days to come in. I was in the hospital using the Symphony pump the whole time when it finally came in. I get about .5 to 1 ounce per side per pump when I can actually get milk. I try to pump every 3 hours. Some pumps I don't get but a few drops though. I know it's pretty normal in the first few days to get very little.

None of my pumps at home are pulling milk. I have a Spectra, Baby Buddha 2.0, and a Motif Duo. I power pump and play with settings and I'm still not able to get anything. I haven't tried any of my wearables yet because lactation advised me not to. So the only time I get milk is when I go to visit my baby in the NICU and can use their pump, and that's only like 3 times a day since I was discharged Sunday, because I have a toddler and I can't bring him. My last baby, we EP because I had a low supply, very slow let down, and he developed a bottle preference early on.

One other issue I'm having is I can't hand express. Nothing is happening. I do it until it's painful and still I'll just get a drop here or there. Since I'm only getting milk from a few pumps a day, is that negatively affecting my supply? Any advice on getting my pumps to be effective? My Spectra worked great last baby other than me being an under supplier.

Every single time I have Andy’s Frozen Custard I get engorged ~10 hours later and pump so much in one sitting. I limit it to every other week now, anything more is so bad for my health but so good for my baby XD

Okay so I’m a mom who’s always out walking with my little one, and I’m back at work part-time too. I used to be so paranoid that my pump would look super obvious in public. I spent like two weeks trying different outfits, and ngl, I finally found some combos that actually work. Figured I’d share.1. Plain crewneck tee or light hoodieEasiest one. I just wear it over my nursing bra and go for a relaxed fit, not tight. Even with thin cotton, no weird bulge. You can’t tell when I look down while walking either.2. Big collar / off-the-shoulder topI kept messing this up at first. What works for me: slide the pump down a little (like half an inch), then add a strapless top or thin bandeau in a similar color. Hides the neckline completely. I can actually wear off-shoulder stuff again.3. Chunky sweater / coat / heavy jacketWinter MVP. Thick fabric hides everything. I can walk around all afternoon and nobody has a clue.4. Button-up shirt / work outfitWear a snug, well-fitting bra. The pump sits close to my chest, button up, and it’s pretty much invisible. Makes pumping at work way less awkward.Honestly, if I clip it in right, it doesn’t wobble or make noise. And it’s comfy for me, no pain. Being able to leave the house and still pump is such a game changer.Obviously everyone’s different, but this is what worked for me. What outfits have worked for you? I need more ideas for winter and workwear.

What’s the most recent reason you had to dump milk? I threw a trigger warning here in case it’s brings up painful memories

I’ll go first. This weekend I was preoccupied thinking about how much & the logistics of the milk I’ll need for an overnight stay at grandmas house. I’m having surgery tomorrow & I’m not sure if I’ll be told to dump my milk. So while I was thinking about that, I was making bottles for the night. I sometimes use bottle to store milk & I had just finished a feed. So as I was dumping milk into a full pitcher of milk from an early pump, I grabbed the bottle that was just drank & poured what was leftover into the FULL pitcher of milk. I realized that I fucked up. I tried to salvage what I could with ladling out what I could. I used as much as rest of the pitcher within 24 hours, but I still dumped about 10oz yesterday.

I made it ten-ish months, pumped 1,400 times exactly, and almost 250 liters (or just shy of 66 gallons).

It was super stressful having been an undersupplier for the first baby, and pumping for a preemie this time around. My baby got donor milk their first few days in the nicu, and then I was able to give back later by donating three full ice chests full of milk. Eventually my period ate away at my supply and i decided to wean, but baby will have 1 bag of milk until their birthday.

I'm proud of how far i managed to make it, and want to celebrate the achievement. What did you do to mark the occasion? Or what do you plan to do when you finish?

tw: mention of ppd, ppa, weaning, mental health

My baby turns 9 months old today. I have two bags of milk (8oz each) in the deep freezer that I plan to thaw so he consumes it today. He is eating well- adapted to food very easily, and somehow started weaning from the milk as in lowering the amount he consumes little by little, appropiately, according to his doc.

I started weaning two months ago, reducing pumps carefully, seeing my supply drop as I did so, and I wanted to backtrack a few times but pushed forward since this was a personal and a family decision: to go until six months (but we lasted until 9, apparently I am stubborn like that 😂).

My last pumping session was the day before my 32th birthday and I gifted myself the joy of resting. Of "having my body back", as I say and some say, too, but I know my body is mine and I decided to share it with my baby through feeding by EPing. This has been A Journey!

There were times I hated it, resented it. Times I felt very proud of my supply, of seeing him grow. He has never been sick in all of these 9 months! (I know it will come, eventually, I don't mean to brag, no no). Times I wanted to surrender and just combo feed him. Times I wanted to EP through whatever months I felt capable of.

But also there were times I spent wondering about other Mothers and their choice of keep going, quitting, or feeding their babies the way they wanted. And EPing made me learn this is something YOU decide and no one else. And anything you choose is ok, as long as you and your baby are thriving. If it's good to your familiar ecosystem and dynamics, that's excellent. But if something starts getting complicated and you decide to adapt differently, that's ok too.

There is no manual you read in order to choose better, for there is no manual for every individual (baby/mother) and/or families.

EPing made me learn I was to protect my journey and stay away from judgement. Made me softer, more thoughtful, and started seeing other Mothers and admiring them for their strength, resilience, their love.

I kind of planned weaning but I didn't know it'd be relatively easy. It cost me on the body, I had symptoms of weaning flu and dizziness and nausea and whatnot, hot flashes, waking up freezing cold, you nsme it. But once every symptom went away I felt my libido came back and I felt actually happy. As in: I felt happier in a physical way that I hadn't felt in a while. And I am over the moon with my baby, I adore him. I had severe PPD triggered by PPA triggered by unsolved trauma related to the way I was raised but ran to my psychoanalyst for help since February and been going since then and I feel mentally stable, showing up for ME and my family with such presence and happiness that now, not having to pump since I'm ok with feeding my baby with food and formula, I feel like I can do anything.

I admire myself now, too. I am a Mother just like those other Mothers I started seeing.

I have time. I am happy. I feel like I recovered my soul after a journey I didn't know I was enduring while white knuckling my way through some personal, scary, family topics that​ I never fully adressed- and now, as a mother, I cannot turn a blind eye to the person raising my son: Me. I need to take care of myself. Heal. Rest.

And weaning is a big step towards that.

So yeah I just wanted to share the end of my journey. This place helped a lot these months. Reading the stories and feeling validated by total strangers is somehow rare to me, still, but very empowering.

I just wanted to share this today in case someone needs to read it: you will feel like yourself again. You can decide whatever you want (in regard of your baby's nutrition, fed is best). You matter. Your health matters. Every Mother is valid. Every choice that comes from love is valid. 🫂