If my baby has a bad night where I don’t get more than 3-4 hours of sleep consecutively, my breasts are soft and smaller. If I do get enough sleep, they’re fuller and larger. At first I thought my supply was being affected but with doing research and based on her feedings, that’s not the case. I just find it interesting but I get a little nervous about my supply dipping every time even though I know it may not be. I am 16 weeks PP.

Has anyone else had this experience?

My son has a season pass to a local theme park. Usually it's close to an all day thing. I'm struggling to feed my 3m old there though. She doesn't ask to eat at all. Usually after 4 hours my boobs hurt so ill go sit down to try snd make her eat. She will take a few sucks here and there but just wants to look around and I end up with my nipple out spraying her face while shes looking around. I can't deal with covers. And there's no nursing moms rooms, just a family sized bathroom with no chair.(like come on ppl) A few times I've fed her standing up in the family sized bathroom cause she's less distracted there but it kills my shoulders. Any tips to get her to eat better?

My 2 month old has never been able to latch, in the hospital they gave me a nipple shield and i’ve found it easier to just pump. for the first 1.5 i pumped every 2 hours for 30 minutes and just didn’t make enough for him. through out the journey my breast have felt sore clogged and burning. i feel i now can tell what certain feelings are, (tingles when leaking/let down / ingorged or clogged duct hard and throbbing) but my breast often full or empty will burn and itch and not even my nipples but my actual breast. i pump when i feel full no rhyme or rhythm to it for my mental health i’ve noticed doing this i make the same amount of milk as every two hours.

so my question is it normal to burn?

Hey! I’m very new to this sub. I’m a 20yr old ftm with my 3 week old son!! I feel like my boobs never feel emptied. I pump and nurse throughout the day and night, but I never get the full relief of emptying everything. For example, I’ve been up 6 hours today and all I feel like I’ve done is nurse my baby and pump, but I still have more in the chamber.

Is this normal? Is it a case of oversupply? Am I not pumping correctly? Please give me some advice before I drag myself to a lactation consultant!

Hello!

I have 13 week old girl :) she eats every 2 hours like clockwork. Sometimes sooner especially as the day gets later and my supply is less in the evening. How often should a 3 month old be eating? I thought her feeds would spread to every three hours by now but she’s asking every two. Normal? Or does this indicate a supply issue?

Has anyone ever had a galactocele? I just got diagnosed with one via ultrasound after feeling a lump in my left breast. It’s a milk duct basically that won’t drain. The radiologist recommended aspiration, and I haven’t talked to my OB yet, but I’m freaking out. If I get it aspirated I can’t BF on that breast for 48 hours. So I’m concerned about my supply and engorgement. Have you ever had one? Did it go away by itself or did you do something to shrink it? I know they can resolve on their own but I’ve had mine for almost two weeks.

Hi everyone! I'm three days postpartum (!!) and have had colostrum / milk come in. I'd like to combi feed, mainly breastfeeding/ expressing during the day and formula at night because it'd be helpful for my husband to pitch in. Does anyone have a good schedule for this that they'd recommend? Thanks in advance!

I don't know if this is just a newborn thing, because my older child had such bad reflux and CMPA. Now I have a newborn, and after just about every feed, there's 20-40 minutes of crying, back arching, struggling to burp, spitting up, sometimes passing gas, etc. I'm not eating any dairy and haven't since she was born, just as a precaution. I know soy allergy is a thing too, but this doesn't exactly seem like that? I don't know. Do y'all's newborns need extensive burping and soothing after every feed?

She's so different from my first nursling that I don't know what to think or what is normal.

So my son is 15 month old and exclusively breastfeeds and I’m just now getting me period again..I think..? Is it normal for it to be super light at first? And for it to make you feel super dizzy?

My LO is 2.5 months EBF and we’re mentally preparing for childcare when I go back to work in a week which means pumping and bottles obviously. She’s fed on demand right now. How the hell do you figure out the bottle size to make!? I have no idea how much she takes right now per feed. Sometimes she chugs and it’s a 25 min session but sometimes she wants a snack and it’s five minutes. I just hate the thought of preparing a full bottle for her to only drink a bit and wasting precious milk.

My daughter is over 13 months, mostly breastfed for a majority of that. Now she mostly nurses for comfort. Drinks water and some regular milk the rest of the time. Her 3rd tooth must about to pop out, because she spent most of yesterday screaming, napping, or attached to my boobs. One nipple was suddenly hurting last night, I thought she bit me. I woke up to a bleb. I made it this long without one, I thought I might get through it without.

I thought clogged ducts were awful, this is truly terrible.

So this morning after baby (just over 3 months) and I got up for his second feed around 6a, I took him back to bed with me (he sleeps on his own at night, after I’ve had a good stretch of sleep he naps next to me - I will not be changing my ways, thank u) and instead of napping, it would seem he spent at least an hour latched on. He doesn’t appear to be hungry now despite it being almost two and a half hours since he ate last… Assuming he was latching and eating for the last hour, is there a chance this will boost supply at all?

Any tips on how to encourage a deeper latch while using a nipple shield? I’m trying to use one while some blisters heal, and it seems to be encouraging LO to kind of purse her lips and only take in the nipple and not the areola.

My combo fed 6 month old is the slowest eater and I’m curious to hear others’ experiences because I’m wondering if we should ask about getting ties corrected. She is capable of finishing 3 oz from a pigeon bottle in about 8 minutes but it usually takes 15-20 of slow but steady eating. I often nurse her overnight (usually a 3-4 oz feed by bottle) which takes her a minimum of 30 minutes. Right now we start about half of feeds on the boob for ~15 minutes to get her through a letdown on each side and then I pop her on a bottle because I rarely have the 30-40 minutes it would take for her to fully nurse.

Any other 6 month olds taking this long to eat? She’s getting probably 70% her food from bottles (and about 70% breast milk) because she’s just so slow on the breast. But she loves the boob and wants to start feeds there! I’m pumping 5x a day to maintain supply because she isn’t getting all the milk available when she nurses for 15 minutes.

I’m thinking about moving out soon but want to know what mattresses would help me. I sometimes sleep and wake up in the middle of the night or can’t fall asleep. Right now the mattress I sleep on is not that comfortable but I’m used to it.I heard having a comfortable mattress helps alot so was thinking of buying one. Any recommendations or insights would be immensely helpful. Thank you in advance

Hi there! I'm a FTM of a gorgeous 4.5 month old boy, and am having trouble pumping. He's EBF, but I started trying to build a freezer stash pretty early on, pumping only occasionally. I've always hated it, and I've never gotten great yield. The only way I could get more than an oz was to tandem pump with him latched on the other side, where I'd get 3-4oz.

Well, I go back to work soon, and I'm starting to panic over this pumping situation. I work overnight 12 hour shifts, and luckily I'm just starting back per diem to ease into the process. I hadn't pumped in a while, but started trying to pump a few times this week, and I can hardly get half an ounce. Even with him latched on the other side, I get maybe 3/4ths of an ounce.

If you see my post history, I've been struggling with frequent night feedings, and concern from the pediatrician that my boy isn't getting enough milk due to a drop off in his weight percentiles. Needless to say, not being able to pump worth a damn certainly isn't easing my mind about this at all. The pediatrician wanted me to exclusively pump, and while I wasn't planning to do that right away, I definitely can't do that now. I am in touch with a lactation consultant, and plan to meet with her next week, but didn't know if anyone here has had a similar issue that wasn't related to low supply?? I use a Spectra 2 pump.

Things I have tried:

1.) Recently got new flanges. I was using a 24 when I really needed a 15mm. Oops. Really thought that would help! 2.) Increased water and food intake: I'm not stellar about keeping up with either, but I'm working on it. 3.) Breast massage 4.) Looking at baby, or pictures of baby while pumping. 5.)Deep breathing and trying not to stress about it. 6.)Haaka on other side while pumping or nursing. 7.) Pumping at different times of the day.

It's starting to get in my head, and I doubt that's helping things. I appreciate any and all input!

Has anyone ever had a vi peel while breastfeeding? I did not know it was contraindicated and I have so I am freaking out.

I’m not going crazy right? I got my period back 3 months ago and I’m on my third one while pp right now, and I’ve noticed a dip in my supply the first few days of my period.

Did this happen to you guys too? Is this common? Or am I making it up in my head?

Like the title says…baby is 9 weeks today and sometimes will latch on so quick and eat and other times (seems like most of the time these days) will latch for only a few mins and be done, meanwhile boobs are still so full. For instance, like this morning after he’s sleepy for 5+ hours… It’s frustrating because I know he’s still hungry it seems like. So I try to feed him and he gets hysterical at my boob. I feel like at this point he hates my boobs 70% of the time. It freaking sucks.

Hey yall! FTM here with a 3 month old and in need of some encouragement, advice or just personal stories of if you've been through the same thing. I've struggled with my supply and for about two months now I've done everything I can think of - the lactation snacks/drinks, supplements, drinking water and body armor like crazy, power pumping every day, getting new and correctly sized pump parts, massaging and hand expressing, pumping every 2-3 hours consistently minus one break over night but I still do an overnight pump, the whole thing, used an SNS for some time so he could breastfeed and formula feed at the samw time. I'm even doing brewers yeast for a week now which is awful but I'm willing to do anything. I met with a lactation consultant twice who confirmed baby has no tongue tie and latches well so I was obsessed with increasing my supply so I could exclusively breast feed - It's so important to me. With pumping every two hours and feeding him every 3 hours, we just switched to bottle feeding and I was exclusively pumping. With all that said, two months later, I still barely make 2 oz total when I pump and as much as I hate to accept it, we just decided to combo feed because I'm just not making enough. I'm heartbroken. I tried to comfort myself by saying that he can still nurse and we'll top him off with a bottle but we tried it yesterday and today and he's pissed. At noon, he took one boob fine and nursed for over 10 minutes, no fuss but then refused the other boob. Then at 3 and 6 he just refused to latch but immediately took to his bottle...this morning he took one boob fine for over 10 minutes but, again, refused the other. I'm devastated. I feel like I worked so hard to end up with nothing and it's just heartbreaking. I'm hoping he'll adapt the more we introduce the breast again so that I can at least nurse a bit and I'm hoping maybe we just have to push through but I'm so scared of this being his reaction for forever... Has anyone experienced something similar? Do they eventually take the boob again? Thanks in advance 💛

Hi! Hoping someone can help educate me. Does ovulation actually play a part in causing / growing endometriosis? Or just causing pain?

Asking because I’m 4.5 months postpartum and just got a positive ovulation test (had some symptoms that caused me to take a test). I haven’t bled yet. I’m exclusively breastfeeding and was praying my cycle would stay away for as long as possible, which my surgeon said would help with symptoms in the long run. I’ve had virtually no endo symptoms until now and am so anxious they’re going to come rushing back.

TIA for any info on this topic! ❤️

I recently went through a bad case of Mastitis, and my baby Is also in daycare. I'm mostly pumping and I'm getting barely anything, even when he does latch it doesn't help me make any more. Any suggestions?

My baby is EBF (in addition to solids now), she’s almost 8 months old. I planned originally to get to 6 months, but now I’m going to BF up until a year and then slowly wean one feed at a time.

I LOVE feeding and comforting her, it’s so so sweet. I love how it calms her down, I love the cuddles, I love knowing I’m offering important nutrients and filling her belly.

It feels equal parts devastating to think about weaning, & also exciting to not have anyone relying on my body for food. Does anyone else feel so conflicted??

Hi! My twins are just shy of seven weeks old (two weeks adjusted). I have been doing my best to breastfeed on demand, however I’m having to supplement some with formula (one bottle before bed, two bottles to top off through the night and occasionally a bottle through the day). I really wanted to exclusively breastfeed, however I don’t think my supply is enough for them both to be satisfied and continue to grow at the rate they need to be. Here are my reasons why:

1. Twin A ALWAYS wants the boob and I give it to him whenever, however he sometimes gets frustrated on it and screams and cries uncontrollably after so long. He can nurse for an hour and then be screaming crying until I give him a bottle and only then will he settle.
2. I try to only top off with formula before bed and through the night because although they will nurse for 30 minutes, burp, be changed, and rocked, they still will NOT settle down enough to sleep. They will fall asleep on me nursing sometimes but as soon as they hit the crib or bassinet, it’s cry time. Usually I’ll give them a bottle to get them back to sleep. This makes me think they are still hungry? Sometimes once a day if they have been on me for literally hours and are still fussing, my partner will give them a bottle so that I can get a break for myself.
3. When I pump, I only get 90-110mls (approximately 2-4oz) in the morning and 40-75mls (1-2.5oz) in the night. This isn’t enough to cover one feed, let alone both of them.
4. I don’t leak, squirt, or have milk coming out of my breasts before, after, or in between feeds.
5. I’ve tried the hakaa milk collector pump on one breast while nursing on the other and nothing comes out.
6. It was a c-section birth and took six days for any colostrum to come in and then slowly a couple days after my milk came in.
7. Babies were in the NICU for two full weeks so opportunities to bond skin on skin and have babies on breast were limited, thus relying heavily on pumping every 3-4hours.

Also worth noting: I drink a ton of water and coconut water, take fenugreek and blessed thistle supplements, eat a balanced diet and more than enough calories, stress is minimal and sleep is as good as can be with twins lol. I’ve seen a lactation consultant and she basically told me to get rid of the nipple shields (two weeks without with twin B but twin A is still holding on) and to massage breasts while feeding (which I do). I get that breastfeeding is about supply and demand, but there must be cases where the demand simply exceeds the supply? Like at what point are they latched and sucking but no milk is actually coming out? I have read a ton about increasing supply and lots of posts on r/parentsofmultiples and this subreddit to learn more but I seem to be stuck. Is my supply just done growing? Will I always have to supplement?They just seem hungry most of the time despite breastfeeding for 5-6hours per day (half the time is tandem and half is solo).

I also want to note that this has been causing a major strain on my relationship as dad thinks they are still hungry and pushes for more bottles. He sees me stuck on the couch, exhausted, defeated, back always hurting, trying to calm / feed two fussy babies and it kills him. I’ve tried to explain that every bottle they get is an opportunity lost for them to nurse and thus build my supply, but lately I’m starting to think he’s right and that I can’t give them enough and they are hungry, hence the screaming / crying when not latched.

I must say, for something that is so natural, this is definitely the hardest part of being a mom of twins :(. Breastfeeding is so important to me. Feeling like I can’t give them enough has really been weighing on my mental health and the more I try, the worse I feel. Any input is greatly appreciated, thank you.

My little one is 11 months old. And I am still nursing her, but not as often as she’s having more solids. I definitely would like my period back to try for a second since I’m an older mom.

Lately I’ve notice a lot of fertile cervical mucus for the past month, so I thought maybe my period was on its way, but still no period.

I’m wondering if this could however be a sign my body is getting ready to ovulate. Was this the case for you?

Hi everyone, I’ve been trying desperately to heal my cracked nipple without much success (cream, silver cups etc…). I have a tube of flaminal forte at home that I had to use on the baby (he had an ulcer) and I’m wondering if I could use it to speed up the healing process of my nipple and remove it before breastfeeding. Do you think it would be safe for the baby if I use it and clean my nipple before breastfeeding? Did anyone tried this before with a flaminal gel ?

I am 7 days pp. We had a great latch the first few days and now we’re struggling to latch and with weight gain. I’m now triple feeding to get us back on track. I think we may be struggling with latching due to engorgement because she seems to do better when I’m less full feeling. However I don’t feel like I meet the “criteria” for being engorged. My breasts feels really hard, lumpy, and warm in certain spots closer to the chest wall. I don’t have all around tightness or shininess to the skin. The area around my nipples feels fine and flexible.

Could I possibly have a bunch of clogged ducts? I’m doing ice and ibuprofen but any other suggestions? It’s not going away after 2 days and starting to get worried about developing mastitis if it is clogged ducts.

I also read you’re not supposed to pump if you’re engorged, but I have to because she’s barely latching at all at this point. What do I do?!

Hi, FTM here to an 18 day old bub and just trying to figure out this whole breastfeeding journey.

So, my bub loves the boob and I feed on demand. We do 1-2 bottles of breastmilk an evening, so I can sleep for a couple of hours and recharge myself and the supply. The bottles are usually 2 Oz each, that I've collected in the haakaa or I've expressed if bub gives me some time during the day.

I'm worried she's not getting enough as she can delatch from the boob and swing her head back and fourth or even start crying, like there's nothing coming out. My boobs usually feel soft at this point and it's usually after she's had a big feed and I haven't had time to refill.

She's also been slow to gain weight and is still shy of her birth weight by 30gs. She's doing loooooads of dirty/wet nappies.

Should I be worried and is it time to see an LC?

I also bought formula just in case, but haven't used it yet.

My baby is 6 week as of today and for the past few days I’ve seen the amount of feedings and the time of them reduce a lot.

Starting from Sunday : 12 feeds for a total of 1h14 minutes To Wednesday : 8 feeds for a total of 41 minutes And today : 8 feeds 35 minutes

The amount of wet diapers are regular so no sign of dehydration, but she does sleep considerably more during nights : up to 5h in a row

Is there a cause for concern ?

My baby has started daycare, which means I have to pump throughout the day. But I find that pumping only really works if I'm very "hands on" - doing compressions/squeezing the entire time. If I'm not actively squeezing, I barely get anything (maybe 1 ounce vs 5 or 6 if I'm doing compressions!)

Any tips or solutions? I feel relatively confident my flange size is correct, but maybe silicone inserts could help?