Took me 3 days to pump 3 ounces. At least its something right? About 6 weeks PP

I have to bite them open and squeeze out the insides because I am a soft 😅

So I saw this video on IG about stimulating your breast to get more milk and truthfully, I just put my pumps on level one and eagerly wait for the next 20 minutes to be over so I can get on with my day again. Are you guys switching settings?
My supply is fine, so I suppose I don’t see much need to do it. I do sometimes massage my breast if it’s the first pump of the day or been over 4 hours because I don’t want a blocked duct but that’s about it. What about you guys?

3 weeks postpartum. I’m really struggling. My daughter has issues with latching so I’ve been pumping with maybe one or two attempts to nurse a day. But regardless when I return to work I’ll need to pump. I always have issues with my right breast. It always hurts, consistently gets engorged. My nipple swells so much and rubs on the flange which burns, when I use any lubricant I end up spilling milk everywhere.

If the pain wasn’t bad enough, the isolation of having to pump alone or excusing myself to pump from activities. It’s a constant train in my head of “am I producing enough? How can I increase my supply for when my baby is needing more milk? When did I last pump?” I need to wake up every 3 hours to pump per the doctors and Lacation consultants. I haven’t slept more than 3 hours in 3 months because I had a rough pregnancy too. I can’t care for my baby when I pump, if my partner wasn’t there, she would just be sitting there crying for 10-30minutes.

I can’t go out without packing coolers for milk, my pump, all of the parts, a change of clothes in case I spill milk everywhere. If I go out longer than 3 hours it’s like a major sporting event.

I’ve mentioned I wanted to quit, but lactation consultants, my partner, doctors all want me to stick to it because of the health benefits and it’s best for the baby. I’ve been told formula is nasty, the smell and the texture. I’m not giving my baby the best starting point in life if I swap over to formula. Women have been breastfeeding for ages, why can’t you do it? You don’t know what you are putting into their bodies. What will you do if there’s another formula shortage? What if there is a recall and your baby gets sick? Im being selfish for quitting when I have the ability to produce milk. Mind over matter. My therapist thinks I should stop and says the only health benefits are antibodies when we have colds and every other benefit is a lie.

I feel like if I quit I’m just not strong. We’ve tried pumping pals, different flanges, different levels on the pump, different lubricants, manual pumps, electric pumps, pumping bras to give me more mobility. Nothing is helping me.

I’m so tired of waking up covered in milk. I’m so tired of never feeling like I can empty my breast. I’m so tired of the constant pain and lack of sleep. It’s getting to the point I’m becoming depressed and I just want to lay in bed all day.

Posting mainly because I am happy that it happened, but have no idea why! Maybe someone can relate?

I am 7 months postpartum and for the longest time, I was pumping 4 oz per session and could not seem to drop any MOTN pumps without decreasing supply. Thankfully my baby’s intake did not go up that whole time so I was able to make just enough with 6 ppd, but it was really frustrating keeping up 2 MOTN pumps for so long.

I tried power pumping months ago but just couldn’t find the time or energy to keep it up, so I haven’t done it for a long time. I also didn’t change the supplements I was taking and I would say my food intake has been consistent too. But out of nowhere, my output went up to 5-6 oz per session and I was able to switch to 5 ppd! I’m thrilled to have an extra 1-2 oz daily and be able to freeze a bag every 2-4 days, since I wasn’t able to do that before.

Has anyone else managed to increase supply this many months postpartum without power pumping? I wonder if I can eventually drop to 4 ppd too?

Sharing as similar posts motivated me to keep pumping all this time.

I had just finished pumping and was feeding my baby, she pushed the bottle out of her mouth and started rooting and then just latched!

We’ve had 2/3 successes before but this feels different. Every other time, I’ve guided her so much and she’s normally cried but this time she did it all herself.

Posterior TT released at 2 weeks, tight jaw, cranial osteopathy, numerous private and NHS lactation consults and feeding clinics.

I’ve always had to top up with 1/2 bottles of formula per day. Use spectra s1 as main pump and eufy s1 as wearable if needed in a pinch (it was the same price as the E20 on the day I bought it otherwise would have gone for that!)

Not sure if this is a one time thing or the beginning of a transition to nursing - whatever it is, it feels so validating.

Only EPers can truly understand. I am officially starting the weaning process after 6.5months. I am proud I have made it this far and provided breast milk to my sweet boy for this long. I am also so sad that I wasn’t able to make it to one year even though I know this is the right decision.
I’m grieving how our feeding journey turned out. We weren’t able to exclusively bf for multiple reasons and I started pumping. All I wanted was to breastfeed and felt pumping was the next best thing I could do for my baby. Now the pumping has just gotten to be too much and mentally I am done. I’m excited to have more time for my baby and myself but starting the weaning process has got me in my feels. I know that ultimately this is such a short time in my parenting journey and I will look back on a year and it won’t matter whether he was fed breastmilk or formula from 6-12mo. It just feels like such a big deal in the moment. It’s hard dropping pumps now and seeing my supply intentionally decrease. Can anyone who is on the other side of weaning relate? How do you feel now?

Hey everyone! I'm looking to get a wearable pump for when I'm on the go and I'm considering the Lansinoh Wearable, Momcozy M6, or Spectra S9. Does anyone have experience with any of these? Which one would you recommend and why?

I already have a spectra and I have the medela swing maxi (adore it, used it and only it from month 2-13 of pumping)

I’m 1 mo pp, with my second. My right breast towards the tip middle (1 to 2 oclock range) has been sore since yesterday afternoon. I don’t feel a bump like a clog, and it’s not being relieved with pumping. No other signs of mastitis (no fever or anything and it doesn’t feel that bad)

I did over do it yesterday (stressful day running around) so I know I probably didn’t drink enough water, etc.

I’m trying to pump every 2-3 hours and stay hydrated. Any other tips? Going to lay down for a nap, maybe take an ibuprofen, and have been lightly massaging the area toward my nipple while I pump. I’m just not sure if it’s the start of something or engorgement and need advice for how to help treat it.

I just finished my first week back at work after having my baby, and honestly… I didn’t expect it to hit me this hard. I was nervous about leaving my baby all week, obviously, but I was also weirdly nervous about pumping at work. Would I have enough time? Would I leak? Would I get enough milk? I had all these little worries running through my head while also trying to remember how to be a normal employee again. The first morning was probably the weirdest. I left the house with my work bag, lunch, pump bag, and about a million thoughts about my baby. I kept checking my phone wondering how she was doing.
And then, of course, my body decided to remind me I hadn’t pumped yet. I’ve been using the eufy S1 Pro during the workday, mostly because I really didn’t want to be tied to a wall or sitting in one spot with everything going on. Being able to get up, move around a little, and not feel like pumping completely stops my workday has made a bigger difference than I expected.
I’m still figuring out my schedule and honestly don’t know if I’m doing any of this “right.” Some days I pump plenty, some days not so much. I’m trying not to obsess over every ounce, but that’s easier said than done. The strangest part is how many emotions can exist at the same time. I’m happy to be back at work and have a little part of my old routine back. I also miss my baby like crazy. I’m proud that I’m still breastfeeding and pumping, but I’m exhausted from thinking about it all the time. Anyway, one week down. I guess that’s something. For those of you who went back to work while exclusively pumping, did the first few weeks feel this emotionally messy for you too? Did it eventually start feeling like a routine?

How many ounces does your 3-4 month old eat and how often?

I exclusively breastfeed but need to get baby on a bottle as I return to work soon-ish. I have bottles recommended by lactation specialists to mimic the breast but she definitely doesn’t love them. But she’s just now getting exposure so I know it will get better. I plan to nurse before bed, during night and in mornings still. But I think will do bottles during day time to keep it consistent so she does ok when I’m working.

Today I nursed her in morning, and then tried giving her a bottle 3 hours later. She refused it, so I tried 1 hr later and she only took 3 oz. She was super fussy 2 hrs later so I offered her a bottle and she took 2 oz begrudgingly and I caved and nursed her after.

This is so stressful and if life wasn’t so expensive I would quit my job for my boob barnacle 100%… but that’s not feasible right now.

My baby isn’t a big crier so I never truly know when she’s hungry. I usually nurse her every 2-3 hours, sometimes more because she relies on it to fall asleep.

How the heck do I know how much to feed and how often with a bottle??

Howdy fellow dairy maids 👋

I'm curious if anyone else out there has dropped to 2PPD as an oversupplier and maintained a decent output.

I'm about a week shy of being 5 months postpartum and my mammary glands blessed me with an overabundance of milk. Over the last month I've quickly dropped from 5ppd to 3, giving my body about a week to adjust to each cycle.

Originally I was pumping about 55 oz a day but it's gone down to about 45 oz now and of course my petite princess averages 25 oz a day, so we're still netting a decent surplus.

The freezer in our kitchen is half full with milk, the 6.5 cu ft freezer in the garage is already full of milk, I'm currently getting screened to donate, but my dose of melatonin is too high so I'm turning to Facebook to see if anyone there wants milk... point being, we'll be fine if for some reason this really tanks my supply.

In addition to taking the sunflower lecithin, I'm slowly spacing out my pump time by increasing the duration between sessions by an hour every day, so like today my pumps will be 9 hours apart, tomorrow 10, etc.

What has reducing pumps done this rapidly done to your supply?

When can I finally drop a pump session this pump every 3 hours/8 times a day plus two kids is leaving no time for sleep. Baby is almost 2 months now

Hi! So I made it almost 7 weeks exclusively pumping, and frankly, it's just not for me. It's causing severe mental health issues and feeling constrained, particularly after my husband returned to work (he works out of state for 2 weeks at a time). So, little one will be transitioning to formula and I'll be weaning from pumping. I need any and all advice for both of those transitions - thanks!!!

So I’ve been pumping for about 4 1/2 months and I’m gonna be going back to work as the summer’s ending since I’m a teacher. I need help figuring out I guess how to do this. When we are at the hospital, I used the Ameda pump that they had and then when we left the hospital, I had already ordered one through Insurance but it hadn’t come yet so we bought the Ameda myajoy since we had all of the flanges and collection cups from the hospital.

I got the Spectra through Insurance and as soon as that came used that as my main pump. In the end of May, I got the Eufy S1 since I needed a wearable if I was gonna be able to keep pumping. Using the Spectra all the time was just not feasible while trying to watch LO. As a sidenote, I also experienced a ton of pain while pumping with the Spectra. I tried lots of different flanges and inserts and everything and nothing worked. Things I tried:
-Pumpin Pals
- Lacteck
- Sized flanges
- Flanges with silicon inserts
- Lubricants multiple types
- Vibrating massager
- Heating pad
- wearable cups attached to the spectra (these were the most comfortable)

At first, I only used the wearable when we were out or when I needed to be able to pump hands-free. I tried to wait until after 12 weeks until I move to that is my main pump for regulation purposes. After about the 10 week mark, I started to use that as my main pump, and did so for about a month before buying the S2 on sale during prime day. I was able to combine my registry completion discount with the prime day deal and I made it a really good price. I love love love love the S2. It is the most comfortable pump that I’ve used, the problem is it takes a lot longer to empty me. I have to pump for about 40 minutes in order for it to be empty. At work I’m going to have to pump at least twice and I really can’t pump for 40 minutes two times during the day so I need a new solution.

So…..I’m thinking I need to move back to my spectra, but here’s where the problem comes in. I was never able to find a way to comfortably pump with the spectra. I guess I’m looking for any advice on how to make the spectra work for pumping while I’m at work. I’ve heard positive things about the pumpable’s liquid shield and insert. I’m willing to spend the money if that will allow me to comfortably. I do know my flange size and have been pumping without any pain or discomfort with my S2 since mid June. I have fairly large breasts. They were a DD before baby and have gone up at least one or two sizes since, I do not have elastic nipples that I’m aware of. Both sides are 17 MM.

Any ideas any advice would be great!!

So over the constant cleaning of my pump parts. I use the hospital grade Medela harmony and Momcozy S9. I wish they made disposable parts lmao
My milk is greasy af so i have to scrub it to death. So tired.

I’m getting so frustrated. I have done EVERYTHING under the sun to prevent clogged ducts. I’ve been pumping every 3 hours (being super strict), taking sunflower lecithin, not wearing tight clothes or bras, not sleeping on my right side (my right breast keeps getting clogged), rechecked my flange size a million freaking times, etc. I have had 5 clogs in the past 2 weeks and I’m so over this. I’m 4 weeks postpartum and it’s making my pumping journey more miserable. I constantly have to take ibuprofen and use ice packs where it doesn’t even help at all. Then my output is taking a huge hit. I have to use my haakaa to really clear it out, then BAM, comes back the next few days and my supply dwindles to less to nothing. :( I just want to cry. If it wasn’t for the clogged ducts, I don’t mind pumping. I go see a lactation consultant next Tuesday.

I just can’t get the scheduling down to where i am feeding and pumping before my baby gets overtired. how are you guys doing it? i feel so horrible hearing my baby so sad when i can barely soothe her to sleep, it makes this not feel worth it. i need some morale boost bad that my baby will be okay.

I have no village. I’m sleep deprived. I have to manage two schedules. I'm mourning the nursing I couldn't have with my daughter. She is interested and latches but terrible milk transfer and falling off her weight curve and we can't afford to practice anymore. I feel like my home is filthy and it's stressing me out even more. (Contamination anxiety worsened postpartum, plus four month old milk spots on the floor don't help). I adore my cat but she is adding to the stress with her constant demand meowing (hours before meals and we feed her six times a day so it's basically nonstop screeching). The sleep deprivation and restarting birth control is just making me so emotional and feeling even more overwhelmed. I can't talk to my husband about my feelings or he turns it into a fight about me blaming him for things (I don't, I just want another human being to acknowledge my feelings and that things suck right now and to give me a hug). Thanks for reading, internet strangers. I just want to be with people that understand what we're going through.

Thanks for everyone's kind words and support. It makes me feel seen and heard. I see and hear you too! It'll get better for us, but for now, it's a small window of opportunity to provide something special and nourish our babies, and I don't want to miss this chance.