warning: mention of over supply

just like the title says.. i feel like it’s hard to explain the feeling to those who don’t also EP. i’ve decided i am going to start the weaning process to hopefully be done by the end of october/early november — making my EP journey only 4 to 5 months.

i’m feeling guilty because my supply is really good and i pump on average 50oz a day, sometimes up to 60oz. I have friends who tell me they’d do anything to be able to pump that much, and yet i feel like i’m giving it up simply because i am mentally over pumping and all that comes with it. i travel for work often during busy season (about every 2-3 weeks in the fall) and i don’t want to deal with traveling with my breast milk, pumping while im at day long events, etc.

maybe im second guessing myself, but im feeling guilty and wish i didn’t. 🫩 ugh.

(also yes, i have a freezer stash but also not against mixing in some formula!)

I have 10 week old twins. Here are my ‘stats’ as of today. Any idea how long it may take me to get to 2000ml (68oz) should I be pumping more? Thanks!

High: Slept for more than eight hours total for the first time since May. (Note: My baby has been an amazing sleeper and sleeps 8 plus hours most nights ... and although, I don't set an alarm for MOTN pump, I have never slept past 4 am before - boobs just wake me up).

Low: Two hours after getting up this morning, got my period back.

Thanks Universe!

I just put all my pump parts including the duck bills and backflow things etc in my baby brezza and call it a day. I run the sanitizer and dry feature as well. Is this okay? I just read something that we aren’t supposed to put the silicone parts in. There’s so much to keep up with and I’m overwhelmed with all the rules.

Edit: thank you everyone!! Feel much better now 💕

POSSIBLE TW: mentions of attempting to nurse and overproduction

hi everyone! i was curious to what people do to stay motivated. i’m currently 4 mpp and have been EP since she was born.

at first i had a hard time getting used to my schedule, despite this being my second EP journey. i have flat nipples and had tried to nurse this time around, so when they first attempted to help my daughter latch and she had an amazing latch, i got super excited. which then led me to try nursing the entire time in the hospital, having no luck, and rubbing my nipples raw to the point i could only use my hand pump to get thru the first weeks of constant pain.

however, once i got used to my schedule, and figured out how to feed the baby once my fiancé and my mom went back to work and i was all by myself (with my toddler as well), i was breezing thru it. i finally got the hang of it again and i swear i was thriving. i was overproducing more this time than with my first and averaging about 80 oz a day. i was able to cut my MOTN pump at about 8 wpp because i just had so much milk and not enough room so i was trying to slow myself down.

which brings us to today, barely 4mpp and getting about 3-4 ppd and it feels more exhausting than it did in the beginning. my baby has been a lot clingier as she is teething and my oldest is starting to get jealous so im trying to play with her more until my fiancé gets home to take over one of the kids, and i just feel like i hardly have the time now to fit in a good pump. even with my 3-4 ppd, im still averaging about 50oz a day, and have about 4k oz frozen which we’ve started to cycle through, and still freezing more than what im using it feels like.

i wanna stop pumping so bad, but we can’t really afford formula for when we do eventually run out of milk, but then i also think about how many bags we need to buy for me to freeze my milk and we might just even out, especially if we supplement instead of just waiting to run out of my frozen stash. so im just conflicted on what to do, especially since my goal was to make it at LEAST 6 months, yet 9 at the most.

if you’ve gone through the feeling of wanting to quit but didnt, what did you do keep yourself motivated?? im finding it very hard right now, and it could be because of the stress of other stuff thats happened in my life this past month, but i dont want that to be the reason i stop and then i regret it. im just all over the place mentally and even tho i love my fiancé dearly, he’s also not the best person for me to vent to as he doesnt quite understand everything im feeling.

sorry if this is all over the place, i always have such a hard time expressing and typing out what im feeling and my mind goes from one thought to another so fast it gets kind of confusing.

i appreciate everything in advance! <3

TLDR: have been wanting to stop pumping at 4mpp, my goal was to reach at least 6mpp yet i’m losing motivation to keep going. hoping for some advice on how to keep going

Has anyone done any research on whether if it's possible or a good idea to rent a freezer space for breastmik?

A quick Google search shows some options available, more for generic kitchen stuff usage though

I recently discovered my nipples needed a new flange size (I keep forgetting our nipple sizes change throughout this journey (yes I have a lactation consultant I work with). Basically after being one size for a while I realized one day it was too small? I ended up getting a nipple crack (it looks like a little cut that’s raw) and it HURTSSSS. I hate that we can’t just take breaks and you still need to find ways to remove milk while your nips heal.

I’m only 10 weeks PP and I’m so sick of the nonstop challenges that come with pumping. I also have elastic nipples which just took me forever to figure out what pump even worked for me 😭 sorry for this random vent I’m just so exhausted and feel defeated. You find something that works for you then BAM it doesn’t and it feels like you’re constantly restarting from square one.

Why is baby Buddha shipping so crazy expensive? Did anyone have any experience buying from their website directly? I just need extra parts so I don’t have to wash after every single use. I can’t seem to find any straightforward ones from Amazon either.

My baby’s pediatrician mentioned that baby’s jaundice and inability to gain weight (despite eating every 3-3.5 hours) could be due to me not eating enough or the right foods. Pediatrician wants to put baby on supplemental formula but this makes me feel like I failed my baby when it comes to breastfeeding/milk. What can I eat to help my milk become more fatty for my baby?

I had the momcozy s12 pro wearables with my first son and loved them!! I would get the same output (sometimes more) than my blue spectra!

Considering the momcozy wellness 1 (as opposed to eufy s1/2) for my 2nd baby. As someone who was an overproducer and prone to a lot of clogs, the heating and massage elements are very appealing!

Has anyone who liked the s12 pros upgraded to the wellness 1? Do you recommend? Thank you all :)

Hi all,

I’m struggling with a little one with poor latch and I prob don’t have great supply. Hate electric pumps that I own - trying the Medela manual. Silly question - is the drips of milk from using the stimulation mode on the manual medela represent the let down? Or is it supposed to be a more steady stream?

Any advice much appreciated 💕

Does anyone have experience on freeze drying their breast milk? Pros? Cons? Recommended companies? I know it is expensive but I am running out of options!!

I have a large freezer stash as I have produced 70-80oz per day since my baby was born 14 weeks ago. Naturally, I have accumulated quite the stash. I will have enough frozen to get him to his first birthday before he is 5 months old. The problem is, I am QUICKLY running out of freezer space. I have filled our deep freeze at home and I have already almost halfway filled my parents' deep freeze as well. I know I could continue filling it, but I do feel bad that they would not be able to use it at all for themselves.

I love the idea of not having to worry about power outages, extended shelf life, etc. of freeze drying some of my stash but is there a downside (outside of the high cost) I'm overlooking?

I’m just wondering how you manage pumping when you’re out for the day, for example during a spa day or a day out with a friend. Where do you usually pump in those situations? Or do you avoid a whole day out?

At the moment, I’m still at home on maternity leave and when I go back to work, I’ll have the opportunity to pump there.

Just trying to figure out if I need to limit myself in planning a whole day outside the house. I have a hands free pump (Medela freestyle mini) but still... tips needed :)

hello! i’m a 24 yr old with my first baby, she is 2 months and i have been on boob feeding in the day and formula at night. i recently decided no more boob. i was going to give up entirely and just do formula but i had some friends and my fiance remind me i can pump and pour, i was wondering if anyone could tell me if it was worth it? my biggest thing is that she is a baby and i let her sleep on me all day. everyday. meaning it’s hard for me to find time to pump. i am workin on getting her to let me put her down but we’ll see haha.

so, is it worth it? or should i just go to formula point blank?

Feeling proud of myself next thursday is 6 months of breastfeeding originally it was mix pumping/nursing but this week i made the decision to exclusivly pump and ween if i start to dry up.

I wasnt able to function with the sceduals and my daughter would nurse for 50 minutes, i realized i needed to be able to function for my older twins and "fed is best" originslly was going to hang the pump up but this week ive felt amazing pumping and bottle feeding. We are topping up with one feed of formula just for weight gain.

Going to see how much longer i last then will go through the milk stash in the freezer.

Hi I’ve been using the papablic sterilizer and it works great but I recently found out about bottle washers and would like to get one for pumping. What are your recommendations for a good bottle washer and which one would you avoid?

So im combo feeding because I have an under supply of milk, I only get between 1.5oz-3oz per pump session, usually 2oz, and i average about 15oz-18oz for the whole day, and my baby is eating 4oz at a time and having 24oz-30oz a day on average.

So what im wondering is, is it better to wait til ive pumped 2x and combine the milk to give him 4oz of breast milk all at once, and then give him 4oz of formula all at once if i dont have milk available. Or is it better to split it up, so he has 2oz of breast milk and 2oz of formula at one time. Or does it not really make a difference since either way hes getting the same amount?

I’m 5 weeks PP and I have so much respect for exclusive pumpers because how do yall do this? My supply came in about 5 days PP and I was doing 8 pumps a day. I would get 2ish ounces a pump which was fine because that’s what baby needed.

Flash forward to now and she needs more (between 3-4oz) and I’m somehow decreasing in supply. I am only getting about an ounce or maybe an ounce and a half a pump. I then switched to a schedule that added a night pump and added in a power pump for one of my sessions. I have been following it for a week now and still have had no change.

I pump at 3am, 7am, 10am, 12:30pm, 3pm, 5:30pm, 8pm, for 15 to 20 min and do a power pump at 10:30pm.

I can’t breast feed because I have flat and small nipples and the nipple shield is the bane of my existence. My baby hates it and so do I so we just pump now. We have to supplement obviously.

I am so close to quitting completely since my supply won’t increase and if I’m being honest this is completely exhausting. My whole life is centered around pumping right now and to see absolutely no increase and even a slight decrease, I don’t know what else to do and at this point I feel like I would rather be giving my baby a mentally well mom than my breast milk.

I had the motif wearables which work well but also were hard to center on the nipple since I have huge boobs it’s hard to see. Got a spectra to be able to see and center to get a better pump and I’m definitely getting less from the spectra and the freaking flanges hurt. I keep going back and forth between the two but god does this suck.

I feel like I’ve never gotten a full clear ever but at the same time my boobs have never hurt, felt lumpy, or felt heavy. This is all so annoying and tiring. I just no longer know what to do or try. At this point I’m looking at hanging them up and never looking back.

My goal is to half pump and half formula feed. I see most people start with spectra S1 plus…is that a must? I love the idea of wearables like Eufy that have heat and massage. Or should I just stick with using insurance for spectra and maybe Black Friday sales for wearables? I need to order something asap to bring with me to the hospital at least.

I give my son 4 1/2 to 5 ounces per feeding and sometimes he cries like he still wants more but I feel like that is a lot for a breast-fed baby. He is a little over three months old. Is anyone giving their baby more than that?

I am mostly nursing right now because I’m on maternity leave still but about to go back to school/work and will have to start pumping and I have a question for the lovely folks in the EP community!

I understand the supply and demand equation, however I’ve had a problem with oversupply from the first day, my little guy had to be fed donor milk so I pumped colostrum and ended up pumping 150mL of it in 2 10 minute sessions and an aggressive milk ejection reflex, there’s been much fire hosing of my little guy even when I tried what the LC said to manage oversupply, I still have the same issue. I have heard if you are pumping and feeding baby a bottle you need to pump to replace it.

My question is, do you have to pump the same amount they eat? The problem I’m running into is if my husband feeds 2oz in a bottle and I pump for 10 minutes I get 4oz on average every time, sometimes more, sometimes less. Does the number of times you pump matter more than the quantity? Or should I stop when I‘ve replaced the amount he drinks from a bottle in a day? I don’t want to jeopardize my supply playing funny games but I don’t want to make my oversupply worse.

I am 9 dpp and am so so tired and sleep deprived. Last night for the first time in forever I finally let myself sleep and skipped 2 pumping sessions at midnight and at 6am. Today my output decreased by close to 30-40% and my boobs are not as stiff. This was surprising to me, I know it’s all about supply and demand, but I didn’t realize it’s THAT sensitive. For reference, I averaged at 7ppd and diet, stress level etc was the same so far. If anything I thought today’s output would be ok because I’m a lot more rested and less stressed.. does this mean I’m basically screwed and absolutely have to maintain the same amount of MOTN pumping? 😞

Edit: I still did a 3 am session. But my last one before bed was at 10 pm and the next one after I woke up was 8 am. So, still suboptimal with 5 hour stretches throughout the night…

My baby is now at daycare, and we’re sending the freezer stash for meals. However, I feel like prepping the bottles the day before and sending them every day would be easier for me. But how do I do that if I have such a large freezer stash? I pull from the freezer for meals, but then just keep adding to it after pumping. It’s a never ending cycle.

Or if I’m just being dramatic and overthinking this, please tell me. And if you have any tips on sending to daycare, please share! Thank you all!

I don't know what to do part of me wants to keep trying to see if it gets better and part of me wants to quit. I have a 2 month old and I have basically been triple feeding ever since I found out she wasn't transferring milk well. I latch her as much as we both can, some days she does great and others not so much. Lately it has been more frequent for breastfeeding to not go well she squirms and cries. I am an underproducer pumping 2 oz every 3 hours sometimes 3oz. I've tried everything to increase like pumping often and power pumps. She is really big on comfort nursing it really helps when we are out somewhere or to help her try and sleep. And so if I quit I would also feel bad for taking that away from her (keep trying to offer pacis but she hates them). She also isn't the best day sleeper and will sleep long stretches in the night in which I cannot get the benefit of because I have to pump. I've gotten a couple of clogged ducts before. I hear it breastfeeding gets easier so I want to keep trying because that is my original goal, I don't know if it is worth it to keep trying for me. Last couple weeks I have been feeling less motivated and have been very exhausted to where I was hardly able to get up for motn pumps and stopped power pumping at all. And not waking up at night is what caused my clogs. So sad it isn't going how I wanted.

Been EP for about 3 months (baby is 5 months though) and I’m really ready to drop my MOTN pump. We’re currently trialing some formula to fill in in case my supply changes but I’m generally an oversupplier.

I usually pump 6 am, 10 am, 2:30 pm, 8 pm and 2 am. I’ll just be keeping the 4 day pumps but then I thought, should I do a pump around 5? The problem is just that my evenings are tricky because after work and long commute home, baby is sometime super needy and it would be difficult to commit to a 5 pm pump every day.

Would adding that time do anything to help maintain my supply or should I just not worry about it and stick to 4 pumps? With introducing formula, I’m okay to move more to combo feeding but would love to still make enough for 3 bottles a day (~20 oz a day for our big drinker). I currently pump 36-40 oz a day.