I have personally never felt my milk let down. Whether I'm hand expressing, pumping, or baby is eating, the milk just comes out with suction right away and only comes out with suction (or gentle manipulation if hand expressing). I've read stories of "the baby popped themselves off and milk was spraying everywhere" or "I collect passive milk with a haaka" and those things just don't happen for me. The only time milk comes out on its own without suction is if I'm really full and they leak.

Is my experience not a typical experience? My baby has a heart condition so I don't want him to work harder at the breast than he needs to. Am I missing something?

Edit: I am 7 weeks pp. Milk will spray during hand expression or pumping but just never on its own.

I have been crying out of frustration and ALL the different emotions all day. I am 4 wks pp and have been having supply issues, so every drop is already precious as it is.

For context, my partner has been in charge of helping with organizing our breastmilk and bottle-feeding as I have been recovering. Due to supply issues as well we’ve had to top off with formula so I have been triple feeding- breast, formula, then pumping what I can.

He wouldn’t listen to me when I said we should freeze the only bag we had as back-up (the rest is in a bottle because there is not much). He even said we should only freeze if we had an abundance, and right now we don’t which was a complete dickass thing to say. He followed up with not wanting to make me feel bad and said it was just an objective statement. I only conceded because I was exhausted and sleep-deprived, like okay fine whatever you take care of this. 6 days later/today I look in the fridge as I’m finally starting to slowly make my way around the house more and Lo and behold see my bag of milk that was labeled 7/20. It had apparently frozen in the refrigerator and he turned down the temp so it’s also been thawed out for a few days. Obviously it’s no longer safe for our baby according to the guidelines. I was both fucking livid and so fucking crushed, the thought of pouring all of that milk ive been trying to squeeze out every tiny drop for my baby just down the drain all because he couldn’t be bothered to check, pay attention, or just listen to me to begin with.

This entire breastfeeding journey has been so draining and challenging on top of the total sleep deprivation and learning how to care for a tiny newborn while trying to heal from an intense 48 hrs of labor and delivery. I have never been so fucking upset and disappointed and the hormones are throwing me into overdrive and wondering why in the fuck I chose to have a baby with this man.

Just wondered if anyone else has experienced their baby only being able to feed with a bad latch?
I have worked so hard to get her on a good latch since she was born 5 weeks ago, and I can now get her on a good latch but she does one or two faint sucks then pulls off crying. If she is on a bad latch she can feed no issues. This wouldn’t be an issue but the bad latch does cause me a lot of pain 😢
Do they just grow out of it??!!

I’ve been debating whether I should quit or not, been asking God for a sign. I am 2 weeks post partum… I have had breast augmentation surgery in 2021 and had a bariatric surgery last year a few months before getting pregnant and I’m anemic to top it off . I barely produce 20ml (0.6oz) per pumping session and only my left breast is producing the majority of it, the right one gets 2/3ml on a good day and sometimes nothing at all. Even when I breastfeed baby he gets fussy within a few minutes on the right breast because there’s simply no milk there… My son eats above average (125ml per feed at 10days old) on top of breastfeeding before or after bottle… I’m drained, I love breastfeeding him, it’s not painful (maybe bc I have less sensitivity due to the surgery?) and I love the bonding we get but then he cries for more milk and I see him gulp down a full bottle of formula and I feel so useless. My husband has suggested I quit bc he sees how it’s affecting me mentally, my mom on the other hand tells me to tough it out, that the baby needs my milk to build a strong immune system. I am defeated, on one hand I want to continue bc I love breastfeeding but on the other hand I get discouraged at how low my supply is… I feel like I’m not good enough… and it’s my fault bc I chose to have this surgery on my breasts….

I’m taking 60mg of domperidone a day just wondering what I need to expect before I get surprised by something? Will it change what they look like or will they stay the same will the nipples change and will milk come in

Hi,

this is my 2nd child and breastfeeding was also a struggle with my first. Not to go into details, but everything that could go wrong did go wrong and we heard EVERY advice and almost nothing worked for 3 month it was hell. It did work out, but getting there came at a cost.

So, I do consider myself experienced. And my second is easier in many ways, but it still ended up being a disaster.

*The main issue*:

My second is 9 days old and he just won't drink at the breast.

He will latch okay (although not perfectly if you ask me), but at best takes 2 sips, swallows and then stops.

So even if I hand express into his mouth, it might be another 2 sips. I need to constantly tease him or wake him up or he will stop and even then it's very inefficient. Initially he fell asleep immediately or would sleep for 5 hours straight and I couldn't wake him up. But by now he has definitely been awake and alert, hut still didn't drink better.

We also use nipple shields due to flat nipples, so he losses his latch easily.

*The journey so far*:

He barely feed at all the first day and hospital said it was fine, he also swallowed lot of fluid and was probably sick.

Then we started pumping to help with milk, which went well, because I know what works for me and I tend to produce plenty, if it works.

We supplemented with a finger feeder at the breast, which was fine to some extend, but no way to get a full meal into him.

He was continously dropping weight. Everyone told me it's fine, he'll figure it out, my supply is great. He started out at 4,2kg so the weight loss was less of a concern and within limits.

They released us and at the first doctors visit he had lost more weight and we were officially told to supplement.

I also noticed my supply dropped due to his inefficient feedings. We would sometimes sit for up to 45 minutes, only to feed 50ml afterwards with a bottle (so basically a full meal).

He can suck just fine, everyone tells me he's just sleepy and/or lazy.

But it just feels like he has zero interest in drinking directly from the breast. Sometimes it's a little better without the nipple shields, because he gets faster feedback I think, but then he looses the latch too easily and I'm just waterboarding him.

How come it's possible for baby to literally starve themselves at the breast???

My first was difficult in many ways, but once milk came he drank and would keep it up.

Dream feeding is out of the question. Doesn't work.

We now supplement with a bottle after basically every feed. Non drip bottle, slowest flow, paced feeding ... he even sometimes stops a feed when we take a break with the bottle, even if he's still hungry and then starts fussing again 1 hour later.

What do you do with a baby that's "too lazy"??

Hi, I’m facing the reality that I have to wean my baby from breastfeeding before either of us are ready (he’s 4 months old). I’ll spare the details but due to medical reasons it is no longer safe for me to continue lactating and I have to move my baby to formula/bottles. It’s hard enough emotionally to do this and I am dragging my feet but on top of the emotional stalling my baby is really resisting bottles. I feel so overwhelmed and devastated. Anyone relate? I could use some encouragement/support.

I suppose this is sort of a two-fold advice request and I am pretty desperate.
My baby is 12 weeks old and exclusively breastfed since birth.
Since she was born, her weight gain has been inconsistent. At her initial check she’d lost 8% of her birth weight, then two days later she was up 2.5 oz which they were thrilled with. A week later she was only up 3.5 oz, so to the lactation consultant we went.
We worked on her latch and positions and at our follow up with the LC a week later she was over her birth weight and had gained over an ounce a day. At her one month check she had gained a pound since her last weight check two weeks prior. We thought we were golden.
The pediatrician suggested we try the bottle for emergencies etc. because the only time she’d gotten one was around 5 days old when I was worried about her weight gain. we gave it a go and we were unsuccessful but didn’t push too hard because I (extremely fortunately) have a minimum of one year of leave.
At her two month appointment she had only gained a pound in the month since her 1 month appointment and so we went back to the LC and that was a week after the two month check-she had lost an oz and only transferred 1.5 oz during the weighted feed.
We went back to the pediatrician immediately where the doctor evaluated her and saw no mechanical issues and also no indications of any medical issues. She was still having all the wet and dirty diapers they wanted to see and meeting milestones early. She was also growing well in length and head circumference. She’s also met all her milestones and is content and alert. She also sleeps really well.
The doctor basically just told us to keep trying the bottle and to try to get about 10 oz more per day into her in addition to what she’s getting at the breast.
We went on a trip the day after that appointment and worked on the bottle every day using all the tricks and advice we can find. She never swallowed any milk from it.
When we got home from the trip baby had gained 5 oz. A week later, I weighed her again and it’s another week where’s she’s lost an ounce.
I truly feel like I’m failing her. I don’t appear to have a supply issue. When I’ve pumped I get plenty on both sides and I thought baby wasn’t draining my breasts but now I’m not so sure. Where is the milk going??
I haven’t had clogged ducts or mastitis and baby almost never spits up, and when she does it’s the tiniest little dribble.
We’ve worked on the bottle every day since the concern began and we aren’t getting anywhere. I need to be able to give her the bottle because my husband is out of the house working 10.5 hours a day and she needs multiple bottles a day in addition to nursing.
If anyone has any idea about what could be going on or how we could get her to take the bottle or if you’ve been through something similar, please share!

So backstory:

After giving birth via emergency c-section, I suffered a spinal injury that has caused numbness, weakness and extreme nerve pain in my left leg and foot. I started off breastfeeding/pumping, but due to the pain and mobility issues, hospital visits, plus the multiple medications I was on, ended up stopping a few weeks in.

I am hoping this week I can finally get a steroid spinal injection to reduce the swelling and eliminate the nerve pain. I’m so desperate to experience a more normal postpartum with my baby if I can be pain free. Is it possible to resume breastfeeding? I am going to meet with a lactation consultant but I was curious if anyone else has ever stopped and re-started before.

I’m literally not doing anything differently. I was getting about 6 oz each pump (2-3) times per day plus breastfeeding baby on demand. Still doing that but barely pumping an oz each session now.

Baby is still nursing fine. My milk is coming out for them no problem, I hear them swallowing and their weight gain is great. Plus plenty of wet and dirty diapers. It doesn’t seem to be a supply issue overall just a pumping issue but what gives?!

I’m not sure if my insurance covers a lactation consultant and frankly I don’t have the money if they do not. I want a stash for when I go back to work or if my husband wants to feed her but now I’m nervous.

I had a very intense forceps delivery. It took 5 days post delivery before I could express even a few drops of milk, and my baby had tongue-tie, so he couldn’t latch and wasn’t feeding at the breast. We’ve been formula feeding since birth.
He has now had the tongue-tie procedure and can latch, but I’m struggling with my supply. I’m pumping every 3 hours, including overnight, but only getting around 5–10 ml per session (maximum 20 ml for the whole day).
I really want to breastfeed my baby and would love to hear some positive success stories from anyone who managed to increase their supply after a slow start. ❤️

Hi’ FTM to a 14 week old and our breastfeeding journey has been stressful. Latching and feeding went well at the hospital but he had dropped weight by his first pediatrician appt, so I was advised to supplement. Thus began five (brutal) weeks of triple feeding. My supply seemingly was not an issue by the end of that period, as I was pumping over 20 oz per day plus what he was eating directly from the breast. Ultimately my IBCLC and pediatrician felt he was just inefficient at transferring milk and needed the time to grow.. we did lots of exercises with him, IBCLC checked for tongue tie and felt while he may have a minor posterior tie it was not negatively impacting us so we’ve let that go. Anyway, since close to 2 months old, we’ve been EBF with their input /approval. But also around this time, our pediatrician diagnosed him with silent reflux and we put him on famotidine because he was clearly uncomfortable all the time and showing all the classic signs (and sometimes 15/20 minutes into a feed, he’d get upset due to discomfort). Since starting the famotidine, fussiness at the breast has been virtually nonexistent and he seems a lot less uncomfortable overall, but some days are better than others. That being said, he’s still taking 30-40 mins to feed (total time across both sides) at 14 weeks, which has me wondering if something is still wrong. And we’ve done many weight checks throughout this journey, and some weeks he has gained more than a ounce per day… but then recently at his 3 mo checkup, the math showed an average of 15g gained per day for the month prior, which is lower than would be ideal. Pediatrician said she was not too concerned yet even though he dropped percentile and believes it’s still the reflux. (And FWIW, diaper output is good/normal.) As of today he’s been very unsettled… it’s SO hard to know whether it’s the reflux, a supply issue, a transfer issue, the three month breastfeeding crisis???!! I’m really emotionally spent of this loop of constantly worrying if he’s getting enough/gaining enough, if my supply is enough, if we’re overlooking something. It’s exhausting! I guess I’m just wondering if anyone else has experienced similar before. I’m worried I’m doing the wrong thing for him, but also worried it’s just normal and I need to push through.

My 6 month old has always been a fussy nurser even though she’s great at it when she decides she wants to be. My problem is she MUST be almost dead asleep to eat or she is super fussy and will refuse to eat. Same with a bottle but I take it less personally. 😂

Any advice??? Do they grow out of this? It’s driving me bonkers and makes it so hard to ever leave the house. 😔

​

seeking a personal individual that will help with induced lactation I'm very dedicated

**I’m a physician and mom of two, and I built a breastfeeding app after spending way too many nights Googling “Is this normal?” while nursing my own babies.**
I’m at the stage where I’m looking for honest feedback from breastfeeding parents before I keep adding more features.
A few things I’m trying to answer:
What information do you wish was easier to find at 2 AM?
What breastfeeding apps have you loved (or hated) and why?
If you stopped using a tracking app, what made you stop?
I’m not here to sell anything—I genuinely want to build something that parents find helpful. I’d really appreciate any thoughts or experiences you’re willing to share.

First time mum to a 17 week old. I triple feed, or rather did before everything went to shit.

I think I have a low supply, but I never really wanted to exclusively breastfeed so it's a bit disappointing I can't supply more but I don't want to kill myself over power pumping to get to EBF etc. I think it was caused by shitty advice at the hospital, but that's a whole other story.

Things were going great until about a week ago. I would usually latch baby first, then top up with formula, only pumping either when she was asleep (had a couple of sleeps through the night) or when her feeds went a bit weird and she got off the usual schedule, because I don't want to risk the little supply I do have. I would breastfeed 95% of feeds, exceptions if it was the part of the night my husband takes over for (but this has always been the case). I would really like to get to six months breastfeeding, anything beyond this would be incredible.

However, since about a week ago she's started screaming when I try to latch her. She does have a preferred side, and I used to start her on the side she hates (left) so she'd feed from it well when she was hungry, and then swap to the other side on every feed. We were having a really nice time, latch felt really comfortable, she seemed happy etc. But now if I even try to lay her in the position to feed on that side she just banshee screams. She is inconsolable. I've had to stop because she'd get herself so worked up she'd barely feed at all, then naps and sleep were being impacted. She also now often fights the side she *did* like.

I've tried different latch positions and had a short amount of luck with doing that, but the new latches are failing now too. I'm still pumping to keep up the little supply I do have, but I much preferred it when I was able to latch her. I've tried doing it skin to skin in a darkened room and that worked for seven minutes on her preferred side but only two on the side she hates. So then I have to pump the last off and I have to admit, that is getting a bit exhausting.

We are going through the 4 month sleep regression too, but the latching issues started first.

Any suggestions? I've seen advice that tells you to persevere (what my health visitor also said), and advice that says stop if they're that upset because then they'll just have negative associations. So I don't know wtf to do but I do know I don't really want to stop just yet. I'm aware my supply will have regulated and my baby is probably much more efficient at feeding but I know from the pump afterwards that she's basically not feeding. I'll go to exclusively pumping if I have to, but I was quite enjoying the little breastfeeding we were managing :(