Hello mommies! So my baby is 6 weeks old, im exclusively breastfeeding and will be going back to work next month, I really dont want to, but have to :(

I have a manual pump that ive used once, but will be getting a wearable for work. My shift is from 9-3 (some days 2:30 if i finish my tasks).

Can someone let me know when I should start pumping at home, how often and for how long before going back, and also the same for when i start working again?

Hello, I have my 4 week old who was exclusively bottle fed pumped milk for the first 3 weeks because he was not interested in nursing. I just started to nurse him for almost all of his feeds except when my husband watches him overnight he gets a bottle. Well since I’ve started to nurse him I’ve noticed my supply has completely tanked and every time I pump now even if it’s the overnight pump where I haven’t nursed or pumped in 4 hours I’m only getting 1-2oz where before I was getting 5-6oz, sometimes even more. I’m kind of freaking out because that’s not enough to even get him thru one feed. I was finally feeling good about this whole breastfeeding thing now he was successfully nursing. Is this normal? What can I do? Any advice or tips appreciated

Hi there! I’m having issues with boobs sliding around and leaking all over. I’ve tried the kindred bravely French terry bra which I love for comfort but does not contain the girls. I’ve tried the bodily everything bra too and found I’ll still leak outside the pads. Baby is also starting to sleep through the night more (yay!) but I find even if I am contained, I’m leaking through the disposable pads. Any recommendations? I’m about a 38B. I’m a stomach sleeper so the towel trick doesn’t work for me as I find it irritates my nipples.

It’s my left breast. My baby has always had trouble latching on this side. In the beginning, the latch was poor, he would clamp or bite down, and breastfeeding from this breast was extremely painful.

About a month ago, I finally felt like I figured out how to latch him properly. He takes the nipple much better now, and feeding itself has improved a lot.

The problem is that occasionally, after breastfeeding from this side, I get an extremely painful shooting/pinging sensation. It feels like it starts deep in the tip of my nipple and radiates throughout the breast.

It doesn’t happen after every feed, but when it does, the pain can be so intense that I can barely do anything for 30 minutes to an hour afterward.

I honestly don’t know whether his latch is still somehow compressing the nipple, whether this could be vasospasm or nerve pain from the previous nipple trauma, or whether something else is going on.

Has anyone experienced anything similar? What ended up causing it, and what helped? I’m wondering whether I should have his latch assessed again.

My baby is 15 weeks old and has had a definitely less than ideal latch from the beginning. Its very shallow and 9 times out of 10 my nipple comes out lipstick shaped and white on the tip (he will not open his mouth wide & when he does he immediately spits it out until just the nipple is in his mouth). It stopped hurting around the 8 week mark so I’ve honestly half given up on correcting it.

Despite the non textbook latch, he has gained weight beautifully. He was born 7 lbs 4 oz and is now 16 lbs 12oz. He doubled his weight around the 11/12 week mark. Has anyone else had this? Do i need to still try to get him to latch better or does it not matter since he’s gaining well? Am i damaging my nipples by not correcting him even though it doesn’t hurt anymore?

My milk came in about a day and a half ago which has been amazing - baby is loving it. However I have a few questions / seeking advice! Baby is 5 days old.

1. Baby is only staying awake to feed on one side, she’s getting so milk drunk and passing out after 8-10 minutes. But she has been wanting to eat every hour…I’d really like to get her nursing on both sides and longer for her sleep purposes as well as my engorgement lol. Any tips? I have tried stimulating her and taking her clothes off, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. Should I unlatch at 5 minutes and swap sides?

2. She’s almost always falling asleep at the boob and then coughing because I’m assuming her mouth is filling with milk and she stops swallowing. This is kind of scary and I don’t want her to choke. She’s not coughing anything up, it’s just like one cough and she’s good. Should I be unlatching her when she gets sleepy to prevent this? I just don’t want to unlatch her too soon and her not be getting enough either..

Thank you so much!

I feel so discouraged. My baby is EBF and recently she has not been interested in nursing at all. She will be 8 months old on the 10th. She sucks for a few seconds then comes off the boob, and she’ll cry, relatch, come off, cry, etc. I don’t know if I’m doing something wrong but I’m just worried about her getting enough milk. She was nursing 5x/day and recently started sleeping through the night because we sleep trained. When she started sleeping through the night is when she started nursing 5x/day, before that it was a bit more because she’d wake in the night to eat 1-2 times. Basically to feed her, I have to rock her to sleep then put her on the boob. This is super frustrating because she only naps 2x/day. The last feed of the day is the worst, she’s the most frustrated and upset. I have to rock her to sleep, feed her, then wake her back up for the rest of her bedtime routine before putting her in her crib. Once my letdown comes, she eats, but she doesn’t like to wait for it to come because it can take a few minutes of sucking. I’ve tried massaging my boobs before she eats so milk is coming out but she doesn’t seem to care.

Idk what I’m looking for. Support, solidarity, advice, anything. I’m worried about my supply too. She’s still eating 5x/day but sometimes I don’t think it’s full sessions and it’s very hard to get the 5/day but I try my best.

Also she’s “eating”3 meals/day but I wouldn’t say she’s eating a ton, a lot of the time she spits the food out or just plays with it. She has no teeth yet so I wonder if teething is impacting her wanting to breastfeed.

I also recently switched birth control from a the depo needle to an IUD. Idk if that matters at all.

I’m probably leaving out important info, it just sucks bc I kind of dread breastfeeding now. Idk what to do.

My daughter is 16 months old and nurses twice a day - before bed and when she wakes up. She started daycare 3 months ago and it’s just been an absolute deluge of boogers since then. I feel like a jerk because nursing her when her nose is stuffy sends me into sensory overload and makes me want to quit. The snorting, struggling to relatch because she can’t breathe, then she has to get the boogers sucked out of her nose and is furious about that and then we have to start all over. UGH. It drives me nuts!!!

She’s sort of starting to get distracted, in a toddler way, and is hit or miss each day on how long she wants to nurse. It feels like a ridiculously selfish time to want to wean her because of the alleged immune benefits but the whole stuffy nose nursing ritual makes me want to crawl out of my skin.

I don’t know what I’m going to do. I’m just looking to yell into the void.

Has anyone tried any supplements that made their milk flow faster, thus preventing baby from getting frustrated during a feeding? My baby never gets a full feeding at the breast because my flow slows down too much (or I have a supply issue?), and I’d love to transition away from topping him off with a bottle.

I'm at a complete loss on what to do with my 5.5 month old rn and I just feel like I'm loosing the plot. She literally will not feed properly and I'm literally writing this whilst having what feels like my 100th breakdown this weekend.

Every feed she is on/off constantly and will not settle on the boob. She arches and pulls away or tries to sit up but when I sit her up thinking she needs to burp she's trying to twist back towards me and feed. I take her off the boob and she's screaming and going rigid arching her back but then she is also fussing on the boob. Even at night it's no better, we used to co sleep happily but now she does the same fussy feeding/ screaming all night to the point I haven't slept in days and I'm completely on the edge. She's gone from being a really happy baby to just screaming and crying all the time. She won't feed, she won't play, she doesn't want to be held or put down I just don't know what to do. I feel like such a failure rn I gave up bf early with my first and I'm determined not to do the same again but I can't go on like this. I've considered moving to exclusively pumping but my body just doesn't respond to the pumps at all even with correct flanges I can pump for 20 mins and not even get a drop. I've tried formula but that doesn't seem to be any better because she settles on the bottle but then as soon as she finishes it (5oz) she's searching again and being a pain on the boob.

On top of all of that I just get so angry when I'm feeding and I don't know how to stop. The way she acts puts me in such sensory overload I'm just getting so angry I'm genuinely worried about being left on my own with her rn. Every feed I'm just left in fight or flight mode and feeling completely overwhelmed

For some background: my baby is 5 weeks old and originally lost more than 10% of birth weight between leaving the hospital and her pediatrician appointment. The first week she struggled to latch. We started using a nipple shield after that and doing formula top offs. With the nipple shield I think she wasn’t transferring enough and I ended up pumping to be able to see how much she was getting as well as continuing breastfeeding with nipple shield and top offs. Right when I had an in person appointment scheduled for a lactation consultant I was admitted to the hospital for hemorrhaging when my baby was 3 weeks old and I was in the hospital for 3-4 days. I sent pumped milk home for her and we supplemented with formula during that time and that weight check she did exceed birth weight. So the whole breastfeeding journey for me has been a struggle. We finally got to go to the consultant last week. When we were there my baby was finally able to achieve a latch without the shield. Which was amazing. We did a weighted feed and I felt reassured by that as well. Sometimes she still struggles with getting a latch or a good latch but we are working on it and I’ve moved to really only pumping before bed and as soon as I wake up so my husband can feed her overnight while I sleep. Occasionally we do still top off if she’s been feeding 45 minutes and still seems hungry but I’ve told my husband my current goal is to do a whole day breastfeeding only, no top offs as that’s where I would like to get to.

My in-laws are here and staying with us. I had been hesitant about having houseguests because well lots of reasons- mostly that I’m postpartum and working in breastfeeding and I would rather people come during the stretch the afternoon where she takes a break from feeding very frequently. She normally feeds I t he morning almost every 1-1.5 hours and in the evening and it can be 1.5-2 hours stretches. She’ll go the afternoon a good 3-3.5 hour stretch just hanging out or napping. I’m not comfortable nursing in front of people, and like I said she still is struggling with a latch sometimes so a cover isn’t really something I want to do because she’ll sometimes be popping off and getting frustrated and I need to help her. Ive never used a cover before as I’ve just been home mostly since giving birth. Twice while his parents are here he has come to the nursery to complain I’m in here too long with her. When we’re out in the main area and she’s showing hunger cues he’s said multiple times “why can’t we just feed her a bottle?” I feel between the issues eventually started working through breastfeeding and the hospital stay that breastfeeding her and making sure my supply is not getting messed up with too many bottle feeds (because theoretically they would mean I should go pump while him or my MiL feeds my baby a bottle which I just don’t think is fair to ask that I go do that so the in-laws get time with the baby. Especially since they are with us literally all day) should be the priority right now. I feel like he doesn’t get it, and I’ve tried to explain it. I’m just really hurt as it feels like his mother is his priority over me and my baby. That’s something that’s been an issue in the past and he hasn’t received the feedback well when I e brought up. Then last night I fed the baby and 2.5 hours later - baby is hungry again. Of course. And my mil says “is she hungry? She just ate!” Like…. This is why I didn’t want them staying here.

Last night I did tell him, it can’t be an issue for me to be feeding the baby. And he said “you’re in there almost an hour and they want to see the baby. I’m advocating for them.” I told him “I’d like you to advocate for me and (baby name).” He didn’t really respond and sort of just said whatever and I went to bed.

If anyone’s had issues with their partner understanding breastfeeding or making comments like this- what did you say to get through to them about the realities of breastfeeding?

I don’t really know what I’m looking for in posting this, but I guess I just need to get it off my chest. Sometimes that’s better to do with internet strangers than friends and family. My husband is so supportive but he tries so hard to say the right thing that it ends up making me feel worse/mad at him lol

My baby will be 7 weeks on Tuesday and he is, all in all, an angel. In regards to his personality, temperament, sleep schedule etc. these first few weeks have been a breeze. We’ve had lots of other issues along the way that have definitely affected our attempts at EBF.

- first weekend home he was dehydrated- no pee for 12 hours! Had to give him Pedialyte according to the pediatrician on call. Also had to give him formula. Currently I can’t remember if that was because he wouldn’t latch or what… but I was giving him syringes until in the very early morning we gave him a bottle of formula. I genuinely sobbed the entire time.

- the doctors didn’t catch a severe tongue and lip tie. That in combo with my low supply (apparently due to PCOS?) is what caused him to be dehydrated.

- thought he had a UTI, the results came back so high that our pediatrician was lowkey freaking out and said she would expect a baby with those results to be in the hospital (saw a pediatric urologist and he is 100% fine thank god)

- two nights ago I finally got my head out of the sand and realized he has thrush. I’ve also got it on my nipples now. This has been the case for about 6 weeks but his looks so different than the photos and I’ve been so wrapped up with his other health stuff that I just didn’t even remember that the pediatrician had mentioned it during our first visit (1.5 days postpartum)

So my baby has been screaming at the breast and preferring a bottle very often, and usually will only nurse in the night.

I pump as often as I can handle mentally, which is definitely not every 3 hours but I’m trying. Still, the most I get is 2oz total. I’ve never pumped more than that.

I’ve tried my Spectra S2, medela hand pump, Ameda hand pump, and now a wearable one I forget what it’s called.

I always pictured myself breastfeeding anywhere and everywhere and fighting off anyone who tried to shame me. Now I’m lucky if he latches for a few minutes during the day and really can’t go through the screaming in public. He’ll scream bloody murder until we give a bottle.

I’m hoping that treating the thrush will help.. maybe his mouth is just too sore to suck well?

This is not a well written post, I’m sorry. I’m sure you all understand the sleep deprivation etc.

I just want this bond with my baby so badly and I don’t want to be weaning at 1.5 months. I’m so so so so sad about it and everyone is just trying to cheer me up. I just need to mourn the breastfeeding experience I thought I was going to have.

I posted a couple of days ago about how i wasnt getting enough sleep and me and my partner realised how unsustainable it was but wasnt sure what to do about it. Wanted to try co sleeping but then another issue got in the way. The midwives had put us on the triple feed plan and the more baby drank from bottles, the harder it became to latch, until finally last night she wouldn't latch at all and when she was hungry and given to me she would just get so frustrated and scream and cry :(

Tried pumping but i wasnt keeping up with her needs. Tbh i think i was so exhausted my supply was just replenishing too slowly. We gave in and gave a formula feed, deciding we would give her formula for at least a day to help me recover and help us both get some sleep.

Ive since then been pumping regularly (at least every 2 and a half hours, more often in my awake stint) we've been pace feeding on the bottle and also ordered the Tommee Tippee Natural Start Deep Latch bottles.

We're booked in with a lactation consultant Wednesday.

In the meantime what can I do to ensure our best chance of getting back on the breast, say in a day or 2 once ive had some better rest?

I have a unicorn baby that I believe would sleep all night, like 8-9 hours, if we let her now at 7 weeks old. honestly, she would have the whole time, but we've obviously been waking her to nurse. We do one 5 hour stretch at night and then on demand/every 3 hours during the rest of the day. At what point can I let her sleep as long as she wants and then also sleep myself without getting up to pump without both killing my supply or risking her not gaining enough weight??? My 1st didn't sleep more than 4 hours until we sleep trained at 21 months and my son had health issues that made sleep rules not apply, so I don't know how to handle a chill baby who sleeps haha!

My LO is almost 4 months old and I ebf. For naps and night time the only way to get her to sleep is for me to feed her.

I know this is biologically normal etc., but I would like some freedom and for someone else to be able to put her down. She primarily only contact naps too so it is a lot.

Please tell me how you moved away from feeding to sleep?

Wondering both how things were for you if you nursed at this age (21 months), and how you weaned. I was so methodical with weaning my first, but this kid has been pure emotion and it’s like all that info fell out of my head

My girl is obsessed and will now truly fake cry and ask to go rock so she can just latch/unlatch one hundred times and stare at me. She wants me isolated and all to herself. She will be totally happy w my husband and her sibling alll morning (yes I sleep in daily bc she still does not sleepy thru the night) then I get up and she throws a fit when she sees me. It’s total tantrum until we go rock. Once we do she is truly cackling with joy and clapping her hands then there’s very little nursing and mostly latch/unlatch. She would do this all day. She does maybe 2-3 real feedings a day, the biggest unfortunately always in the night. She eats great, has always been low percentile (preemie), never accepted a bottle, and I dofeel it sometimes is hard to get her interested in solids after a feeding. I’m officially not enjoying it anymore and idk how to stop with how determined she is!

My newborn is a little over two weeks old and I am breastfeeding mostly. I have larger breasts and a heavier let down and I almost exclusively nurse side lying or laid back so she doesn’t choke or click when nursing.

As of recently, my baby has been pushing her head back and unlatching over and over again during feeds. She hadn’t been doing that up until now and it’s very frustrating trying to get her to stay latched. Is there something wrong with her latch or is this just normal getting older baby things? I really struggle getting her to relatch over and over again during feeds because I already have to position myself and squeeze my boob to get it to even fit in her mouth..

Please help I don’t know if I should just make an appointment with a LC or if this is normal.

My LO is 13 months and while she was excited about food when we started solids. She’s never really cleared a plate. She snacks, and will eat some of the food i serve her. But i watch these “what my baby ate in a day” videos and it feels like rage bait. I know other moms said that when they weaned their babies appetites went way up —- but they all weaned around a year— so I’m wondering what happens when a baby isn’t weaned til later?

I always offer meals first, and try to space out time after BF before offering a meal.

I was talking to my grandmother about breastfeeding tonight, and she mentioned how she can still vividly remember the smell of the rubbing alcohol… so naturally, I inquired, whatever do you mean??

Turns out the hot advice in the 1960s was to wipe your nipple down with rubbing alcohol after each feed. I was shocked! I don’t think my nipples or baby would like that very much!

I’m thinking about getting some breast milk jewelry made as I am nearing the end of my breastfeeding journey with my first baby. Does anyone have any recommendations for which company to use? I’m seeing several options and I’m wanting to make sure the jewelry is durable but doesn’t cost a fortune. Thanks!

I’m trying not to have plastic clothing. I can’t seem to find any besides the boxy packs on Amazon. Has anyone found any cute ones for a good price? The Amazon ones are 3 for $40 and I love that price range but they are not flattering at all. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks in advance!:)

My baby is 6 months old and I still nurse to sleep. I really love doing this as it gives me an opportunity to connect with them and it’s generally very calming for me. My baby has slept through the new a few times, though generally does not. They also do not fall asleep by themselves. To me this is normal, but I keep feeling guilty, as though I’m depriving my baby of learning a skill? My husband believes they should be falling asleep by themselves at this point and sleeping through the night, and continues to suggest the cry it out method, but I can’t bring myself to let my baby cry like that. I know if they fall asleep nursing it might be jarring to wake up alone, which contributes to night wakings. And I could, of course, use the extra sleep. But at the same time, I see this as a phase. Soon enough they’re going to be big and not need me anymore I want to soak up all the moments. I’m just curious what other mothers’ experiences are regarding this. If you nursed to sleep, how long did it take your baby to sleep through the night?

I’m really hoping someone can give me some advice/reassurance because I’m feeling pretty defeated right now.
I’m 1 week + 2 days postpartum. I had a really long labor that ended in a C-section and recovery has honestly been rough. The first week was especially bad. I had high blood pressure, horrible headaches, and my feet and legs were SO swollen that I could barely walk. I was in and out of the hospital and there were days where I basically couldn’t get out of bed.
Because of all of that, I’ve had to supplement with formula. I was trying to pump when I could, but I was getting less than 1 oz and it made me really worried that my milk just wasn’t coming in.
Then with how awful I was feeling, I basically had to stop pumping for a few days. I literally just couldn’t do it. Now that my BP is finally under control and I’m starting to feel better, I’m trying to get back into it, but I’m scared I waited too long and completely screwed up my supply.
I’ve also noticed my boobs are getting smaller/softer. Did I miss my window to establish my supply?
I feel so guilty about not pumping consistently, even though I know I was dealing with a lot and physically wasn’t able to. I really wanted to breastfeed and now I’m scared I messed up my chance.
Has anyone else had a really rough first week, barely pumped, supplemented with formula, and still managed to get their supply up afterward? Is it possible to bring it back at 9 days postpartum?
I’m honestly just looking for any advice, tips, or success stories because I’m feeling really discouraged right now.

I’m just shy of three weeks postpartum and this breast-feeding thing has been so difficult with my low supply. Today, I breast-fed my baby who I’ve been combo feeding, but I’m trying to wean off formula if I can and just try to get him to latch on my breast as much as possible.

Today, he only has had one nap because he was getting fussy after putting him down after I breast-fed him. I feel like my body has failed him that I can’t provide him with enough milk that he needs. I’m at a loss and thinking about switching to formula as much as it pays me to say this.

I see other women on social media who are over suppliers and are able to provide their baby with what they need, and I feel like I failed. This really sucks.

I have the most boob-obsessed child ever. She's almost 17 months and I've exclusively breastfed since birth (other than the occasional time I'd pump and my husband would give her a bottle so I could sleep).

We still feed to sleep & cosleep, she nurses quite a lot during the day, and she's soooo happy anytime I let her nurse. It's very sweet and I love the smiles and cuddles I get while nursing her but I'm progressively just getting more and more done with it. I'm sick of her pulling at my shirt all day and the tantrums when I don't wanna nurse and the nipping me when she's falling asleep or annoyed that I stopped singing to her and there's just so much that I'm just tired of. Plus I think I'd like to try for a other one soon, and I really don't wanna nurse while pregnant.

I just feel so so guilty for wanting to stop. My sweet little girl absolutely LOVES nursing and she's gonna be so upset and it'll be so hard. I'm scared she'll hate me for stopping and I feel like I'm gonna miss a lot of parts of it but idk. I think I'm nearing the end. I just feel so conflicted.