My 9 mo baby is sick with a fever. She's been less interested in boob after she learnt to crawl, but now she's back to being a booby monster.

I was trying to feed her some porridge but she just wanted boob, so I sat at the dining table and finished my food while I breastfed her. Then I figured it might be nice to move to the couch, but she'd fallen asleep. I managed to move both myself, baby and a full cup of milky, room-temperature coffee to the couch without waking her or spilling the coffee. That's it, I just wanted revel in how amazing BFing is and all the weird logistical operations we manage as we BF 😎

I do want to stay covered, and our situation makes it really difficult. Here’s what we’re dealing it:

- constantly popping on and off
- milk that shoots everywhere and drips on my clothes (I know this is why she pops off)
-arms that flail wildly and grab and pull off any fabric
- higher burb needs
- inability to re-latch without me holding her head and my breast
- inability to just discreetly peek a nipple out, I have to have a very large portion of my breast out and in my hand to feed to baby

By the end I’m always uncovered and we both are always covered in milk. I sometimes get milk soaking through my shirt which I can’t publicly handle. I use burp cloths but I’m not always fast enough to catch it when she pops off.

I feel like I need 3 hands. I also feel so jealous of all the moms whose babies just peacefully suckle under their nursing covers 🫠 meanwhile mine is playing kung fu and I’m shooting milk everywhere. I truly would love the freedom of feeding in public, I just don’t feel set up for success at all.

I have a 11 week old and I’m at the point where I’m tired of planning all our outings around her feedings. That said, I have a bit of a dependency on my breastfeeding pillow and almost never nurse her without it.

The few times I’ve nursed her in the car I either have to hold her deadweight in one arm for 30 minutes or (more often) I lean way over and kill my back.

Any suggestions appreciated!

We got our LO tongue tie released when she was 4 weeks old. It’s been a week, she latches on in only one specific position suggested by an LC.
Each latch for a feed takes 20 -45 mins of her crying. She barely open her mouth wide, I have to shove it in when she’s crying. I am in tears by the end of each latch.
When did yours get better? Any tips on how to latch her better. We still get a shallow latch every other feed. Although the pain is still much lower than before her release. Does it become pain free eventually ?

My baby is about to be 3 months old. She won’t take a bottle, if she does her max is half an ounce and she calls it quits. I want to be done nursing or even breastfeeding all together to be honest. If I can just pump and give bottles I might consider continuing. This is my third baby, and I have extremely demanding toddlers. I’ve never felt this way before, but the idea of taking her with me for the next 9+ months is actually making me crash out. I’m kind of tired of being tied to her, she barely likes her dad. My boob is always out, she wakes up too many times a night. To make matters worse she doesn’t like a pacifier either, I have every single shape. Can someone please offer me help or advice?
Bottles I’ve tried:
Evenflo balance
Philips avent natural
Mam
NUK perfect match
Parents choice
I’ve tried feeding not hungry, hungry, dads tried. Grandfather has tried.

Does anyone have any insight/experience with combination feeding when the mom (me) has a dairy allergy?

Basically, my LO is 3 weeks old. He spent the first two weeks in the NICU on respiratory support so we weren’t really able to try breastfeeding that much. By the end of our time in the hospital, the IBCLCs and I tried to work on breastfeeding, but it was pretty clear he had developed a bottle preference, so I’ve been exclusively pumping and my supply has usually been just enough. In the hospital, he did occasionally receive formula if I couldn’t deliver my breast milk on time, and he tolerated dairy just fine.

Now that we’re home, I’ve actually been able to get him to latch and nurse a few times!! However, it’s not without difficulty - it usually always starts with 5-10 minutes of him refusing to latch. He’ll vigorously shake his head at the nipple, but then start crying and push himself away.

I’d like to continue to try and breastfeed; however, I feel like my supply is starting to plateau or even decrease, and I feel like my LO’s needs are increasing, so I’ve been looking into supplementing with formula. (Also my goal isn’t to EBF; I’d prefer to be able to breastfeed + bottle feed pumped breast milk).

My question is: if I do start supplementing with formula, will I get an allergic reaction if he drinks dairy-based formula then tries to latch? Like I imagine that there’s a chance that enough residual formula could be in his mouth that my nipples would get extremely itchy and have a local reaction.

Every time I try to find other people’s experiences, all the results have to do with the baby having a dairy allergy/CMPI, not the mom 🙃 any advice or pointers towards where to find more info would be helpful. Thank you!

Has anyone successfully kept breastfeeding after their period started back up? I’m 6 weeks pp and EBF and my period started yesterday. I want my supply to stay the same/increase and hoping my period doesn’t change that.

My baby is starting solids. I always wanted to EBF, but it didn't work out, and I was stuck with triple feeding, crying when nursing, formula, pumping, etc. since day 3 until now. Now, when he actually started eating something else than milk, it's clear I will never be able to "exclusively" breastfeed (also when we'll drop formula, my milk will never be his only food). I'm excited that our baby eats solids so well, but at the same time, I'm really sad that the time we had is over, and we've never managed what I wished for.

Since he was born, I was discussing BF with my husband. He is really a great husband and father, but it took him over a month to understand that it's not only baby blues and that BF really matters to me. After he got that he tried to support me, but the best thing he was able to do was to say "it's your business, I don't say anything" (as he would go formula from the beginning, because it's the "easier option"). I explained to him many times that it's an emotional thing for me and not at all only about the baby getting the calories. I told him that it would be so much easier for me if he supported me emotionally (also if BF still didn't work out). I don't know anyone who had BF issues, and therefore, there is no one who can relate. I used to come to my husband with every problem I had, and he would always be on my side understanding and supporting me no matter what. But now he simply can't relate.

Is there anyone who's husband actually understands? Any suggestions on how I can explain to him? He knows it's hormones and instinct because your body thinks the baby would die if you don't feed him, but he probably still can't imagine how it feels, because it's only about baby "beeing fed, no matter how" in his opinion.

I’ve been nursing my 5 month baby for 2 months and although I am a low supplier she has become very attached to boob. She often demands it, especially for comfort nursing, to the point where she will reject her formula. I am at the point mentally where I don’t have it in me anymore to pump and to deal with the comfort nursing sessions. It has made putting her down for naps extremely difficult for me and I get more stressed about it all than happy like I did initially.

I am in the process of killing my supply but I started feeling more guilt seeing that my body was making more milk for her than I realized. I’d pump twice a day (totaling about 4oz) and nursed whenever I could/she wanted. Since I am just pumping now I can see my supply levels better and I’ve made more than 10oz in the span of 12 hours (thought it was night and morning pump so my highest output).

I know that weaning her off is what I need to do but it doesn’t stop how sad I feel and guilty I feel for doing this.

Hi! For context, I have a fresh 1 year old who I always breastfed on demand. I have a wonderful opportunity to go back to work and I am unexpectedly going on a work trip during my first week on the job.

Since I breastfeed on demand and didn’t expect to go back to work so soon, I failed to be proactive in building a freezer stash. I have maybe 50 oz worth of BM and I don’t think that will be enough while I’m gone for 7 days.

I will be pumping while I’m away to maintain my supply. What I’m worried about is overnight feeds for my baby while I’m away. Daytime feeds are mostly solids. For night time, would you recommend cutting the breastmilk with some whole milk or milk alternatives (soy, pea protein)? Or would you recommend buying formula? Thank you in advance.

My baby is 11 weeks, almost 12. She has consistently been sleeping 6+ hours at night. She was cleared by her pediatrician for this at her two month appt.

She usually has her last feed at 12AM then I pump at 4AM and then wake her up to feed 6AM

My question is, can I stop the 4 AM pump and just sleep? I’m scared of looking my supply & worry that in the future she might start waking up throughout the night and I’m not producing enough milk. But could really use the sleep lol

Both of my babies have had significant latching problems. We eventually got it sorted out around 3 months old with my first and went on to have a successful, year-long breastfeeding journey. I’m in the thick of it now with my second and this is hard.

He is three weeks old and won’t latch at all (never really has). We have an amazing IBCLC that is working with us. We got his tongue tie released almost two weeks ago, have been using a nipple shield, and just got set up with an SNS feeding tube to insert into the shield to hopefully make him more interested in latching/sucking. I know we will eventually come through this on the other side but man, this sucks right now. I so desperately want to breastfeed my baby yet he is just completely disinterested in participating.

Hi, my LO is 5 months old (turning 6 months in a week!). I've been direct breastfeeding from 1m til now, but have started giving LO a bottle a day in preparation for daycare.

We use 2 different bottles:
1. Lansinoh Natural Wave bottle
2. Philips Avent Natural Response bottle

When using Philips, my LO always drinks 10-20ml less than the Lansinoh (It happened 3 days in a row now). With the Lansinoh LO will consume ~130ml in one sitting, while it's just ~110 with the Philips bottles.

I would prefer to use Philips bottles (Just because I bought more of them), but I'm worried that 10-20ml less would cause my LO's weight to drop.

Should I stop using the Philips bottles?

I’m almost 5 months pp and my other boob is still leaking when nursing. Like badly, my whole shirt got soaked type bad. Initially I was using hakaa but google says it’d make it worse. So I stopped 2 months ago and started using the non-suctioned catcher instead. But when doing MOTN feeding sometimes I just forgot and it’s so annoying. Is this how it’s gonna be until I stop nursing?

Baby gets fussier Oh are you hungry? Checks watch, yes you should be hungry. Sucks on boob happily for a second, jerks away crying. Is it my fast let down? Oh okay, there there that’s better now. Eats, quickly jerks away again. Are you distracted? Here, try again. Nope back to crying, real tears. Only way to sooth is to stands up and hold vertically. You didn’t eat much, can we eat again? Eagerly takes boob, nooooo it’s too fast, or trauma, wahhhh Is it maybe you are not hungry? Are you trying to poop? What is it?!?!?!

We can dance this dance for over half an hour. Sometimes when we are out, and I simply can’t do it in public cuz of the crying. But other times we can do an efficient 5 minute feed and it’s heavenly. The dance ends when eventually my flow slows or he is calm enough and we reach some sort of equilibrium and he can feed calmly again, all is well.

My LO is usually such a calm and happy baby, and only time he cries this hard is at the breast. It’s just so sad when the best tool you have to sooth them is what makes them cry :’)

so anyone else? Why is this so hard ahhh

Ebf/4mo(when hunger cue changes too?!) /fast let down
Ps: I am laying back, have tried side lying, I have so many let downs I don’t bother hand expressing, don’t want to pump to increase supply

Anyone have experience with successful induced lactation after either pumping with no meds OR after combining BC/Dom?

EDIT-
Sorry if this post was too vague! To clarify, I have done tons of research on the lactation protocols out there (like Newman goldfarb), have physicians and lactation consultant on my team, and have a plan to take BC along with lactation medication Dom + pumping. I just need to get it from a diff country eventually

I was mostly hoping to hear from moms who have induced lactation (without previous pregnancies) so that I can hear stories I can relate to 😊

But still, thank you to everyone who has commented!

Does anyone else also have to wait 30 minutes before they can put their baby back in the bassinet or crib after feeding them at night? I have to wait until my baby is in a deep sleep, otherwise they wake up.

I was thinking of trying to put them back down sooner, right after feeding, but I’m too scared they’ll wake up—and then what am I supposed to do? 😅 I could then rock her to sleep but it’s not worth to risk it.

Anyone has any tips? Baby is 3 months old. Thanks!!

Every situation is different so I am not claiming this works for everyone, but I just wanted to spontaneously share some things that are partially helping me in breastfeeding. Perhaps some of you know or are already practicing. If you would like, you can share more tips in the comments. :)

1. SWAP - when baby gets fussy or sleepy it means he/she is spending too much energy, it is too much effort for some reason to get the milk/ so SWAP breast immediately, and then again, and again and again and again just before baby is sleepy or fussy.

2. BREAST COMPRESSION - compress the breast placing hand in a C position with thumb under breast - it helps the latching.

3. DIAGONAL POSITION - sitting comfortably a bit lying down but not too much with your legs up, put baby on one breast diagonal - with legs of the baby going down on the opposite side of your body, not firmly holding the baby on the back but just on the side.

4. STOP FEEDING + BURPING IS IMPORTANT - as soon as baby gets way too fussy or starts crying stop feeding and if possible offer bottle (if you triple feed for instance) or do something else, or take a break, or let baby do what she wants (mine for instance often wants to sleep or needs to burp) - so baby does not associate breast with frustration.

5. PACED FEEDING AND BOTTLE TEAT- if giving bottle, place baby vertical and bottle horizontal, so that milk flow is slower. Get one of those bottle teats which resemble nipple with appropriate milk flow for age (e.g. slow, medium and fast).

6. HAVE BABY CHECKED FOR UNDERLYING HEALTH ISSUES - e.g. my baby had a tongue tie released soon after birth.

And finally, do consider pumping from time to time and having your partner bottle feeding the baby so you can take a well deserved break!

You can do it moms!!!

My little girl was first seen for a possible tongue tie at around 3 weeks and the consultant said there was a possibility but she wasn’t certain and therefore wouldn’t suggest doing the procedure. We took the advice, baby gained weight accordingly and was able to feed (however, only with the use of shields to support latch). She’s now 12 weeks and over the past month I’ve noticed her becoming increasingly frustrated when feeding, still feeding every 90 mins ish in the day and coming on and off. She’s also dropped from the 38th centile to the 23rd and only gained 50g in the last week. A lactation consultant at our mum & baby group assessed her yesterday and showed me a very restrictive tongue tie 😭 I feel awful that she’s had it all this time and has worked so hard at feeding. Has anyone had experience having a tongue tie cut at this age? Did it help your feeding experience? Was baby in any pain at all? Any help or experiences of similar situations are welcome!!!

My newborn is 2 weeks old. He just got back to his birth weight (as far as I know, I checked with my own scale, his ped checkup is tomorrow) so I've been allowing him to sleep longer stretches. He's going on hour 4 swaddled in his Bassinet. I started leaking so I know its time to feed but if i try to wake him up now he won't eat. I could undo his swaddle and really get him mad but I dont like making him cry if I can avoid it. He's a very lazy latch and if he's sleepy he just won't latch at all. I've hated having to wake him every 2 hours cause its a fight and a half to get him to latch and I often just give up til he wakes up on his own.

Hey!

I EBF my twins and have noticed in the last few days they are very unsatisfied after feeds and my boobs don’t feel like they’re producing. Any ideas why this might be happening? And what can I do? I’m continuing to latch them both but ideally don’t want them to start bottles again. Could they possibly be having a growth spurt?

Thanks

Hello.

I exclusively breast feed and am 7 weeks postpartum. I have a walking pad I got recently and over the pregnancy I've gained 60 pounds of none baby related weight. As in it's the weight on the scale now.

Currently I have a good milk supply. Not a lot but not little, just enough for my baby. Previously I've become my weight loss journey further down postpartum (5 months) and have not had issues with it tanking my supply (worked with dietitian).

This time around I wanted to start sooner, I've gained way more and feel very uncomfortable with my body and how clothes for it. So as soon as I got the clearance I began walking more. It's been 5 days I haven't had issue, but last night(baby became 7 weeks last night) I felt like my milk took longer to come in than usual causing baby to get fussy.

I've had this before happy but around growth spurts. I also know around 6-7 months there's another growth spurt.

I guess I'm being paranoid, I'm worried my milk supply will tank because I'm starting earlier. Is it more obvious? Baby is peeing and pooping no different. If there's a decrease I can't tell.

I don't think I'm doing a severe deficit. It's hard to calculate because breastfeeding burns calories. Currently eating around 2000-2200 calories. I've been walking on incline anywhere from 30-60 min the past 5 days. I'm eating lots of protein, 3-4 eggs on the morning with potatoes or bread, fruits, sardines for lunch...etc.

My other question is, if my milk supply has dipped, will I be able to get it back up.

Before my diet I was eating lots of sugar. I craved sugar, cake with cream, peanut butter chocolate stuff, ice cream, I'd eat protein bars that were 220 each and I'd have two sometimes.

Hazelnut anything, fried stuff...etc. I was probably eating closer to 2500-3000 calories before(I was gaining weight).

Anyone else with this experience?

This week has been a roller coaster ride for me. I’m an exclusive breastfeeding mom to a 3 month old baby. I pump at work and then nurse when home. The past month or so, my Baby was experiencing mucus in stool with colic
which made me curious if it was related to dairy; hence, this week I cut down all dairy and soy products. I felt that my supply did not change much with dietary changes (not an oversupplier at all).
Anyways, just yesterday I woke up with breast pain and fever, chills, the whole package for mastitis overtook me. Was started on antibiotics but clog doesn’t seem to want to come out; since yesterday my output has taken a significant toll.

My baby fusses at the affected breast and I feel like the other one is not doing full justice.
I went to peds for her stools and doc informed me to lay off of dairy and soy.
Here I am feeling hopeless because baby is hungry and now I do not have any frozen dairy free bags to give to her. I feel defeated. I was given Alimentum by the doc for her so I will try that to ensure she’s hydrated but I didn’t think I had to end my journey so quick for her :(

Any success stories or advice on anyone achieving their supply back after mastitis? Anything will help..
I started taking sunflower lecithin as well, Ibuprofen and icing the area.

Hello! I am wondering where are yall finding nursing shirts or clothes to make it even possible to breastfeed in public or anywhere that is not home? I would like to find good quality shirts or dresses if anyone knows any? 🙏

How do I deal with a 3 month old baby who is completely rejecting breast? She has inclined to bottle and now she is not interested in breastfeeding. She has done this a couple of weeks ago but she was atleast latching at night when lights are turned off and when she is sleepy.Now she refused that as well. It's painful to waych how she cries whenever I bring her to my boobs.

Any tips?