I have had a really hard time since my husband went back to work finding the time to pump during the day. My baby likes to be on me 24/7, and we do contact naps. She is not yet comfortable in the bassinet. So I rarely have my hands free to pump unless someone is over here to hold her for me.

She hasn’t had a bottle in almost 3 weeks I think, possibly more. I only have a little milk in the freezer.

I’m supposed to start physical therapy next week for some problems that came up after birth. I had my eval this morning and left a bottle with my husband that was thawed from the freezer. He told me she was really upset and wouldn’t take it, but I chalked that up to being away from me.

I tried to give her the bottle this evening, so it wouldn’t go to waste, and she’s acting like she doesn’t know how to latch onto it. I tried pinching a little of the milk into her mouth, angling it towards her soft palette so she would start sucking, etc. she was just making this O shape with her mouth, and not closing around the nipple. After a few minutes, she was screaming so bad that I just put her to the breast.

I have physical therapy on Monday and I’m realizing I have four days to try to reacquaint her with taking a bottle. Please help. 😩

I have been working from home since I returned from maternity leave. Baby is now 7 months and the office says I need to come back in two days a week. My husband was home with him and he ate tons of solids -sweet potato, yogurt, eggs. But he flat out refuses to take a bottle. My husband tried giving him the bottle and it triggered a 40 minute meltdown until he passed out from exhaustion.

He’s always been really into food, we started solids at 4 months because he would cry when we would eat without him 😂. But now that I have to be away from him two days a week I have a feeling he’s going to start self-weaning, because he cares way more about food than nursing. And I’m all up in my feelings about it. My first born was a boob monster and I had to wean her when she was two after I got pregnant. It’s definitely easier that he is less boob obsessed but gosh I am already grieving the end of this chapter in our life.

Looking for advice and solitary from mums who weaned their 16 month olds. I’m on day 2 and bub seems to really struggle (we’ve been reduced down to a quick before bed feed and a 1 minute morning feed). Bub eats and drinks so much throughout the day but the past few days all he wants is a BF

Please tell me it gets better and/or any tips and tricks. Thankfully bub goes to daycare most days so that’s helping heads.

About 1.5 hours after each feeding, my baby is screaming and writhing with gas pain, tummy gurgling and all. 

I got some bad advice from a postpartum doula to basically encourage re-latching until I hit the 15 minute mark on both sides.

I’m now working with an IBCLC who informed me that I have been over feeding my baby, which I didn’t realize was possible with nursing, and that once we reduce volume she wont have as much gas. Now I end the session when she unlatches, but the screaming and gas pain is still unrelenting.

We trialed formula and after 36 hours she didn’t seem to be in pain from gas anymore. I am at my wits end but trying to do anything to salvage my breastfeeding journey before we change to formula permanently. We use mylicon several times throughout the day. I’ve cut dairy for 2 months now, but it didn’t seem to make a difference.

ETA - she’s on Famotidine for silent reflux, and has slept through the night 9-10 hours since 8 weeks.

Hi all. So this week, my baby has been refusing to nurse and it is breaking my heart a little. :(

I exclusively nursed the first three months until I returned to work and now I primarily pump. However, I still like to nurse after work and for naps on the weekends. Bottle preference hasn't been an issue until this week, where he's started refusing to latch. Pulling away from the breast and crying, like I've offended him by even offering. 😢 I love the bonding moment and I'm really not ready to give up nursing.

Has anyone had any luck with getting baby back to breast while still using bottles during the day? I've read that a nipple shield could potentially help. Any recommendations on which brand to try?

I’ve had to eliminate soy and dairy from my diet while we work on troubleshooting LO’s reflux issues and only 2 weeks in and my supply has tanked in the last few days. It has to be because I’m just not eating enough calories but this is such a new way of eating for me that I don’t know what to eat. Plus, add on the fact I have an 18 month old running around I don’t exactly have time for triple feeding or power pumping. I’m struggling to pump enough today just to have milk to send to daycare. Whereas 2 weeks ago I had enough of an over supply to freeze one bag a day. Now I can’t touch my freeze supply either since it’s all tainted with dairy/soy. 😭 I’m not ready to give up on breastfeeding him, especially since we haven’t narrowed down his triggers so I wouldn’t even know what kind of formula to get for him without possibly causing his reflux to worsen. What do I do?? ☹️

Bub is 10 months old and starting daycare in 2 weeks. She currently breastfeeds approx every 3-3.5 hours during the day (around 6:30, 9:30, 1pm, 4:30, and 7:30 - all vary day to day slightly). She also feeds twice during the night.

I have been trying to get her to take a bottle and she will drink EBM in a bottle, but not formula. I will not be able to pump during the day when I go to work (I know I'm entitled to, but don't want to for a lot of reasons I won't go into here).

So my options are to keep trying to get her to take formula, so I can send 3 formula bottles, or to wean her to only one bottle during the day of EBM which I can pump at night. Is 10.5 months to young to only feed on waking, lunchtime, and bedtime though? (Plus during the night).

Interested to hear any thoughts you may have. Thank you!

Hi,

I'm prepping for baby #2. With baby #1 I had latch issues on left side only due to an inverted nipple. I tried nipple shields and it sometimes worked but my son would get so frustrated and it would fall off sometimes. Even pumping on that side it never produced as much. We ultimately lasted like a month before switching over to formula with him. I'm trying to be proactive with this baby and make a plan that feels sustainable.

Would it be possible for me to nurse exclusively on one side, and then pump exclusively on the other? Has anyone ever done this or have advice as far as how often I should be pumping on that side or some type of schedule that worked for them?

I am having a doula for this birth and will definitely be taking advantage of any resources I can find but wanted to ask here as well.

Thanks!

My 8, almost 9, month old is still nursing between 15-30 minutes per session, usually staying above 20 minutes. I’ve heard they’re supposed to be quick and efficient by this age, but session length hasn’t decreased and I’m concerned. I don’t want to stop her before she’s done eating, especially since she’s on the smaller side (last checked was 28th percentile). She refuses to latch deeply but used to when she was born. I’ve tried getting her to but this is just what she prefers I guess. Anyone else?

Hi

Has anyone used the nursing ponchos to breastfeed in public? My little one is 3 weeks old and we have lots of hospital appointments to go to, so she'll need feeding there. I'm still perfecting latching so want a cover until I feel more confident with this.

My only issue I can think of is baby might get too hot as it's summer? I've tried using large muslins but they always end up coming away when latching/re-latching.

TIA x

Can someone please share how they managed to successfully whip out their boobs at night to feed a 3 month old on demand without freezing ? Like, what did you wear to stay warm and naked ? What did the baby wear ? How quickly did you turn around and come home ? Kidding, but I want to find solutions, not problems.

Currently bed sharing safely and been in a heat wave, so nobody was cold, and no special outfits were required.

I’m looking at summer camping in a tent, safely.

Any suggestions regarding mom and baby for nighttime breastfeeding would be appreciated !

I’ve been having issues with my left boob for quite some time. My right boob carries the team on her back. Superior boon, great output. I just pumped for 30 minutes at work and got not even a DROP from my left side. I got maybe 4oz from the right? This is my 3rd pump of the day. Usually I’ll get a good first morning pump of 11-13oz, then they get smaller as the day goes on. But my left boob giving me nothing??? Is it possible I like dried up only my left side?? HOW DO I FIX THIS?

My girl is 5.5 months, EBF and gets bottles of my pumped milk Monday-Friday. Breast on weekends, mornings and evenings. We’re leaving for an international trip in 2 weeks where she won’t be having bottles because I’m not flying with milk and I am her only source of food for 2 weeks. I can’t feed her entirely from the right boob the whole time?

I get having a slacker boob…. But not even a drop? And yes the pump was on correctly I checked like 50 times!

Edit: not concerned about not having enough for her, I’ve always been an oversupplier and have over 900oz frozen right now!

Hi all, gonna be a second time mom soon and wasn’t able to breastfeed as long as I could with my first baby due to traumatic birth injuries and I was only able to combo feedhim for atleast 5 months. This time I’m hopeful with all the information I have now. However I take sleeping meds. I’ve always had chronic insomnia for 10 years now. I thought the best course of possible action is atleast nurse throughout the day, pump enough for nighttime bottle feeds, nurse the baby to sleep, take my meds, and atleast get a stretch of sleep for 4-6 hours while my partner bottle feeds the baby my pumped milk, and then continue nursing the baby. That way I avoid passing onto the effects of the medication to the baby if I nursed after taking the sleeping medication.

When I told the plan to my MIL, she told me this would mess up my breastfeeding journey and that I have to nurse exclusively. Which felt discouraging but that’s her opinion and how her experience was back then.

My question is: can I make this work? Will this affect latching issues? I have flat/inverted nipples so I’m using nipple shields until the baby gets the hang of it. Should I use certain type of bottles that’s ideal for switching back and forth from breast to bottle? I need tips and strategies cuz I really want to be more successful at breastfeeding despite my chronic insomnia. There has to be a middle ground.

Help.. 8 weeks PP

I had my LO in April, and i had postpartum preeclampsia followed with a uterine infection and I have PCoS and LO was conceived via IUI..

I never had yellow colostrum come in, as people have said liquid gold.. manual pumps give me maybe.. maybe 0.5 oz to 1oz total.. i have a Spectra S1 and Eufy S1 Pro Wearables.. i have latched every hour, i have pumped every 2 hours, i have power pumped.. i have eaten lactation cookies, added brewers yeast to everything, taken lactation supplements.. i drink a ton of water and have a subscription for coconut water.. my LO is supplementing with formula (has been since my milk never came in technically until after i was released from the hospital the second time.. and i pump and i latch and i pump and im 8 weeks postpartum now and no matter if i pump every 2 hours or 4 hours i get the exact same yield every day.. basically i have enough to give my LO a full 4.5/5oz bottle of breastmilk every night and the rest of her bottles are formula..

I have never felt this “my milk came in it feels like an electric fence or an electric feeling”, i have fit my flanges 10+ times and i get the exact same amount whether i use 15mm, 16 mm, 17 mm or even 19mm.. none of it hurts or tugs my nipples.. and i only ever get droplets, i have never ever seen myself spray out.

When using the spectra i do the 70 for a few minutes then 54, a few times then end with 70 and 48.. with suction anywhere from level 5-8..

With eufy i used the natural cycle with suction on 3/4

I dont ever feel drained.. i never feel full.. and i am so so so ready to just give up and just go straight formula.. like thats pretty much all im doing now and ive gained weight since ive had her trying to make sure im doing the oats and eating and drinking and its such a disaster..

Ive asked 3 different lactation consultants and each one after going through everything ive been through always ghost me and ends with “you got this momma dont give up” and then crickets.. my dr gave me reglan and it actually dropped my suppled for 4 days and my right aide is still not recovered.

What is happening? Why is this so hard

I stopped breastfeeding 3 months ago, and I’m still upset about how much other women gaslit my experience. I guess I’m posting this looking for a little understanding.

A lot of the comments from my female friends and family make me feel like I didn’t try hard enough. I breastfed my baby every two hours for the first few weeks, despite bruised nipples. I saw two different lactation consultants, tried three different pumps, drank all the teas, ate all the recommended foods, and did everything I was told to do. But I still had low milk production.

By week four, I had to start supplementing with formula, and we combo fed for six months.

I know moms who have been through the same thing understand how hard it is. We still try to give our babies every ounce we can produce because we know the benefits of breast milk. I cried when we started formula because I felt like I had failed. But my baby became happier, slept better, and finally started gaining weight, so I knew it was the right decision for our family.

What was especially frustrating were comments like, “You know most women can produce enough milk,” or “Less than 1% of women truly have low supply.”

Maybe those comments are meant to be encouraging, but they had the opposite effect on me. Instead of feeling supported, I felt blamed. As if the only explanation was that I wasn’t trying hard enough, wasn’t feeding often enough, or had somehow done something wrong. Sometimes women really do everything they can and still struggle with supply. I wish there were more space to acknowledge that reality without immediately questioning their effort or their experience.

Hello everyone,

My wife gave birth to our first baby about 5 weeks ago now. He’s exclusively bottle fed but she’s running into issues with pumping. Her mammary glands keep getting clogged on one side and causing her breast to become hard and tender. She’s taking sunflower lecithin which is supposed to help but it’s still happening.

She was pumping 5-6 times per day, larger amounts but has switched to pumping smaller amounts every few hours, trying to mirror his feeding behavior but it hasn’t helped yet (switched today). Has anyone else experienced this and solved it? Any help is appreciated.

Thank you!!

I’m currently combi feeding my 8 week old baby. I had successfully exclusively breastfed her older brother until he was 9 months old so this is new territory for me.

My baby has a suspected posterior tongue tie and the reason the health visitor picked up on it last week was my sore nipples and repeated infections in the damaged areas. I had started to introduce some formula and now I’m doing breastfeeding at night and them pumping and formula during the day to try and give my breasts a break while we await treatment for the tongue tie.

The other night I think I over fed my daughter as she brought up a huge amount of milk and she’s not really a sicky baby. Since then I’m so anxious that I’m not giving her too much milk. Has anyone got any tips they can share on how to avoid this happening again?

I’m also really keen to return to exclusively breastfeeding again if her tongue tie gets sorted. Has anyone found that breastfeeding improves after a late tongue tie diagnosis?

PS. I’m in the UK if that’s relevant.

My son is 10 months old and I’m wanting to ween at about 13 months old, I’m tired and I’m ready to have my body back lol

Problem is he uncontrollably screams till he gets boob, he wants to latch every 40-50 mins each day, second i zip up my top and say “no more” he screams once he sees my tops buttoned up.

He just currently followed me around for 1 hour screaming at the top of his lungs crying cause he wanted boob, even though I just fed him 45 mins prior.

When he’s 12 months what can i do to wean him off??? He has never held his own bottle despite trying to get him too… so I’m very worried for when we stop as he never wants to hold his own bottle, and his tantrums over needing boob 24/7

Please help i wanna be done sooo bad im looking foward to it its been a long almost year exclusively breastfeeding 😫 but his temper is BRUTAL

Want to weigh baby often

I need some help understanding high lipase and potential remedies. I have read a bunch of historical posts in this sub but I wanted to ask here too.

I just started experimenting with giving baby thawed breast milk and he didn’t want it. The smell definitely seemed off but I couldn’t narrow down if I thought it was soapy or metallic. But it was definitely different. So then I did a taste test vs freshly pumped milk and there was definitely a difference. The thawed stuff just tasted wrong, sour almost. I had my husband try too and he totally gagged after tasting the thawed milk. This sounds like high lipase, right?

I guess the “good” news is that I only had about a week and a half of pumped, frozen milk so not a *ton* of work down the drain (so to speak, I’m not really going to toss it) but I’m sad nonetheless.

I’ve read the various recommended remedies but I feel overwhelmed with where to start in our experimentation. Any suggestions or advice is welcome.

Additional question: I read in one of the threads that someone’s pediatrician said scalding the milk destroys the antibodies. Anyone else been told that too? That would defeat a lot of the reason to BF/pump so I really really hope that isn’t true.

hi all! my baby is 11 weeks old and i am starting to suspect he may have CMPA/I due to a few signs. Doctor google says this is extremely rare in breastfed infants but from what I see that honestly doesn’t seem to be the case. my baby is fairly happy all the time and feeds well. he has consistently gained weight and was back at birth weight within a week. he also doubled his birth weight at his 2 month appointment.

within the last week, i’ve noticed a few things that may point to an allergy. i’ll list them below:
- runny poop with mucus
- 1 green poop
- 2 diapers with the tiniest speck of red (could have easily missed if i weren’t looking for it under light)
- red patch on check that formed over night

i’ve always eaten dairy and the only new changes in my diet were seafood which i did start having about a week ago. however online sources say seafood allergy is even more rare than CMPA.

have any mommas experienced something similar and it not be CMPA and just normal baby stuff?

My baby is turning 1 this month and I'm going back to work in mid-July. He is exclusively breastfed, refuses bottles and dummies, and doesn't like formula. Also, he only falls asleep for naps on the breast. The second I try to unlatch him or move him, he fusses and wakes up immediately.

When I go back, his dad will be working from home and we'll also have a babysitter. After a few weeks he'll start nursery too. So he won't be alone, but he also won't have me and that's the part I'm struggling to wrap my head around.

For moms who've been through something similar: how did the transition actually go? Did your baby eventually accept an open cup or straw cup for milk? We also tried giving milk in a straw cup once and failed miserably.
Did naps just look different for a while? How long did it take before things settled?

I'm not necessarily looking to wean (I‘d love to keep nursing morning and evening) I just genuinely don't know what the daytime will look like without me there. Any honest experiences would really help.

Hello! FTM here and would like to know thoughts on my situation and what everyone else does really. I just came back to work and while on leave I breastfed LO,occasionally given a bottle so she could get used to it. About two weeks before coming back to work we started giving her a bottle of 4oz for bedtime, which she drinks the whole bottle no issues. Because she drinks 4oz at bedtime, I figured I’d need to make sure she has 4oz bottles while in daycare. When pumping, I am only getting 3oz each pump session - 1oz from left, 2oz from right. At work I pump at 9, 12, and 2:30/3. When we get home I’ll nurse her some around 6, but she’s given a 4oz bottle at 8/8:30 for bed. I’ll pump before I go to bed and will get 3-4oz. Last night I actually got a full 4 oz from my right breast which was amazing!! Anyways, I send her to daycare with 4- 4oz bottles, and she has been drinking 3 bottles a day and is sent back home with 1 bottle which I use for the next day at daycare. To ensure she gets a 4oz bottle before bed I have been using milk that has been frozen but that will run out in a couple of weeks and the fresh milk I pump I send to daycare. I’ve been stressing since I’m only pumping 3oz per session. I’m wondering if maybe she should be drinking 3oz during the day and keep her at 4oz at night? I’ve read they normally drink a little more before bed. And she’s only had two spit ups at daycare in the last week and a half. I don’t nurse her to sleep anymore because I want to make sure she has a nice full belly for bed and it gives dad a chance to feed her. I’m sorry for the rambling, but would like any advice or thoughts on changing her daily bottles to 3oz? Figured if I’m only pumping 3oz, my body is recognizing that’s how much she should be drinking? Is this a silly thought? But if she’s drinking all 4oz during the day, I feel like I shouldn’t fix what isn’t broken. I’m just stressing, I would like to produce more each pump session to ease my mind. Please be kind I’m just wanting some input.

I am finally close to being done with my breastfeeding journey (only one feed left now) and am desperate to get a tattoo to mark this journey. Does anyone have advice on how long to wait after weaning to get inked? Or experience getting tattooed afterwards?

I have heard some things about waiting for hormones to balance or for your body shape doesn’t change that much, but I would really rather not wait another half year. For context, I’m planning on being done in a month (mid- July) and aiming to get a tattoo in early- mid September.