u/mseetee

Hello mamas!

I originally journaled a 31 Day Relactation Journey and many moms wanted to see my entire journey.

My goal was to inspire moms out there that it is possible! But everyone on Reddit abandoned ship so we didn't know how they did, but don't worry... I did not! I eventually was able to exclusively breastfeed (via pumping)

MY HIGHEST AMOUNT WAS 836 mls (Day 168)

I suggest you start here on my previous post! <<< It's more of a diary, but this one is straight up data. With a few notes when I made significant changes to my habits. It also shows how i did it. P.S. it wasn't fun.

Good luck to all of you out there! It was a wild but satisfying ride! Ask me any questions below!

____

A few notes before you read:

• I was dried up for 5-6 weeks (no milk, but when you squeezed each nipple, a bead of milk would appear)
• Already had 2 x periods before I started, and my period came back around ~Day 200
• Was working out daily
• Used a breast pump (Lasinoh)
• Pumped 8 times a day. Including 3AM everyday.
• I started to "slow my supply" around Day 200. So you'll notice it starts to decrease then.
• When i would drink alcohol at first, I pumped and dumped and did not record! Why, not sure. But near the end I would record the amounts then dump it.
• BUT if you do have extra breastmilk that you're dumping, I started to freeze it and use it in baths! It's so good for baby skin. Liquid gold!

____

Day 1

• Amount: Single bead via hand expression (Nothing from pump)
• Key Habit Changes: Started electric pumping every 3 hours for 20 minutes (slept from 1am to 8am). Practiced hand expressing to get single beads of milk.

Day 2

• Amount: Single bead via hand expression (Nothing from pump)

Day 3

• Amount: Single bead via hand expression (Nothing from pump)
• Key Habit Changes: Introduced short skin-to-skin sessions (2–3 minutes). Decided to add nighttime pump sessions.

Day 4

• Amount: 1-2 drips (Second milk gland opened)
• Key Habit Changes: Formally started night pumping twice per night.

Day 5

• Amount: 1-2 drips
• Key Habit Changes: Researched benefits of skin-to-skin and baby saliva; increased skin-to-skin to 20 minutes daily (10 mins day / 10 mins night) via naked dancing to jazz music.

Day 6

• Amount: 1-2 drips
• Key Habit Changes: Began active latch attempts/putting breast in baby’s mouth to build routine.

Day 7

• Amount: 1 drip per breast per session

Day 8

• Amount: 1 drip per breast (One side slowing down)

Day 9

• Amount: 1 drip per breast
• Key Habit Changes: Missed alarms due to extreme fatigue, reducing night pumps from 2 down to 1.

Day 10 (Sept 23)

• Amount: 1 drip per breast
• Key Habit Changes: Doctor visit. Changed strategy to focus heavily on hydration and received a recommendation for a medical-grade pump.

Day 11 (Sept 24)

• Amount: 1 drip per breast
• Key Habit Changes: Ordered medical-grade pump. Fell asleep with pumps on during night sessions.

Day 12 (Sept 25)

• Amount: First single drip into the pump cup

Day 13 (Sept 26)

• Amount: 0.1 ml (3-4 drips coming through)

Day 14

• Amount: 0.6 ml (Leaked 7 drips from active side before pumping)
• Key Habit Changes: Medical-grade pump arrived. Shifted from casual collection to active syringe harvesting and feeding.

Day 15

• Amount: 0.9 ml (Inactive breast dripping 4-5 drops into cup)
• Key Habit Changes: Mixed usage of standard and medical-grade pumps.

Day 16

• Amount: 1.2 ml

Day 17

• Amount: 1.6 ml

Day 18

• Amount: 1.4 ml (Estimated ~3.0 ml potential)

Day 19

• Amount: 4.4 ml

Day 20

• Amount: 5.1 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Increased select pump sessions to 30 minutes when possible. Began drinking a full water bottle during every single pump session for hydration.

Day 21

• Amount: 8.1 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Began testing and switching between different flange sizes to figure out variance in milk flow.

Day 22

• Amount: 14.6 ml

Day 23

• Amount: 22.4 ml

Day 24

• Amount: 28.9 ml

Day 25

• Amount: 36.15 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Hit 1 oz daily milestone goal. Added a manual pump at the end of the final night session to stimulate extra milk flow.

Day 26

• Amount: 43.5 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Paired a manual pump session before throwing on the automatic medical-grade pump and hand expressing.

Day 27

• Amount: 59.2 ml
• Side Note: Out for a friend's birthday tonight; drinking alcohol.

Day 28

• Amount: 39.8 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Pumped and dumped standard sessions.
• Side Note: Skipping breastfeeding today to wait for breastmilk alcohol test strips to arrive in the mail.

Day 29

• Amount: 86.1 ml

Day 30

• Amount: 45.9 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Resumed feeding excess milk after confirming zero alcohol presence via test strips.

Day 31

• Amount: 96.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Deliberately increased water consumption further to compensate for zero free time and skipped pumps.

Day 32

• Amount: 97.2 ml

Day 33

• Amount: 125.5 ml

Day 34

• Amount: 130.9 ml

Day 35

• Amount: 157.2 ml

Day 36

• Amount: 170.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Changed feeding strategy: started dividing breast milk into smaller feeds (60–90 ml portions) instead of one large feed to accommodate baby's eating difficulties.

Day 37

• Amount: 120.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Maintained splitting feeds into smaller 90 ml increments to match baby's new self-regulated 4-hour intervals.

Day 38

• Amount: 202.0 ml

Day 39

• Amount: 207.0 ml

Day 40

• Amount: 164.3 ml

Day 41

• Amount: 125.6 ml

Day 42

• Amount: 133.5 ml

Day 43

• Amount: 152.5 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Pump-and-dump required for a portion of the day.
• Side Note: Drinking alcohol today.

Day 44

• Amount: 146.5 ml

Day 45

• Amount: 134.0 ml

Day 46

• Amount: 228.5 ml

Day 47

• Amount: 314.8 ml

Day 48

• Amount: 151.0 ml

Day 49

• Amount: 191.4 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Pump-and-dump executed for night window.
• Side Note: Went drinking the night before.

Day 50

• Amount: 596.0 ml

Day 51

• Amount: 373.0 ml

Day 52

• Amount: 324.0 ml

Day 53

• Amount: 302.5 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Added a Fenugreek capsule into the nighttime supplement routine.

Day 54

• Amount: 399.0 ml

Day 55

• Amount: 444.0 ml

Day 56

• Amount: 528.0 ml

Day 57

• Amount: 595.0 ml

Day 58

• Amount: 568.0 ml

Day 59

• Amount: 436.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Restructured tracking: shifted the 7am pump into the daytime log and skipped the midnight pump window.

Day 60

• Amount: 428.0 ml

Day 61

• Amount: 523.0 ml

Day 62

• Amount: 397.0 ml

Day 63

• Amount: 466.0 ml
• Side Note: Out most of the day and was drinking alcohol.

Day 64

• Amount: 410.0 ml

Day 65

• Amount: 528.0 ml

Day 66

• Amount: 663.0 ml

Day 67

• Amount: 430.0 ml

Day 68

• Amount: 650.0 ml

Day 69

• Amount: 421.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Changed schedule framework entirely to test a new pumping method sourced from ChatGPT.

Day 70

• Amount: 353.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Pumped and dumped a portion of the daily supply.
• Side Note: Had to pump and dump due to alcohol.

Day 71

• Amount: 510.0 ml

Day 72

• Amount: 544.0 ml

Day 73

• Amount: 646.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: First log breaking the 500 ml milestone.

Day 74

• Amount: 494.0 ml

Day 75

• Amount: 732.0 ml

Day 76

• Amount: 435.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Restricted schedule tracking due to alcohol gaps.
• Side Note: Was drinking alcohol after the 9:30pm pump.

Day 78

• Amount: 712.0 ml

Day 79

• Amount: 509.0 ml

Day 80

• Amount: 585.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Introduced Nutritional Yeast into daily dietary intake.

Day 81

• Amount: 635.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Skipped the mid-morning pump block deliberately to prioritize sleep recovery.

Day 82

• Amount: 712.0 ml

Day 83

• Amount: 512.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Transitioned to an optimized sleep-focused pumping schedule framework recommended by ChatGPT.

Day 84

• Amount: 742.0 ml

Day 85

• Amount: 455.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Disrupted normal timing schedule; adjusted next pump to 9:30am.
• Side Note: Went drinking, affecting the layout of the schedule.

Day 86

• Amount: 615.0 ml

Day 87

• Amount: 585.0 ml

Day 88

• Amount: 560.0 ml

Day 89

• Amount: 565.0 ml

Day 90

• Amount: 535.0 ml

Day 91

• Amount: 526.0 ml

Day 92

• Amount: 375.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Skipped overnight pump completely.
• Side Note: Night pump skipped due to drinking.

Day 93

• Amount: 545.0 ml

Day 94

• Amount: 555.0 ml

Day 95

• Amount: 610.0 ml

Day 96

• Amount: 641.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Performed a single extended full pump run in the evening to account for larger time gaps.

Day 97

• Amount: 613.0 ml

Day 98

• Amount: 538.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Slept through morning alarm; forgot to pump again late night until 6am the following morning.
• Side Note: Went drinking and forgot to pump.

Day 99

• Amount: 200.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Dumped massive morning 210 ml run; schedule disrupted.
• Side Note: Screwed up schedule and dumped morning milk due to the night out drinking.

Day 100

• Amount: 345.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Implemented a multi-pump clustering routine (20 min pump, 10 min break, 10 min pump, 10 min break, 10 min pump) and high frequency pumping to restimulate and rejuvenate the supply.

Day 101

• Amount: 443.0 ml

Day 102

• Amount: 640.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Added a brief 10-minute micro-pump to the end of the evening schedule.

Day 103

• Amount: 586.0 ml

Day 104

• Amount: 545.0 ml

Day 105

• Amount: 565.0 ml

Day 106

• Amount: 662.0 ml

Day 107

• Amount: 560.0 ml

Day 108

• Amount: 551.0 ml

Day 109

• Amount: 620.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Implemented a dedicated full pump session at 6:30pm.

Day 110

• Amount: 570.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Shifted to a full-length pump execution during the 9:30pm and 5pm blocks.

Day 111

• Amount: 648.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Incorporated short, rapid maintenance pumps during the late afternoon blocks.

Day 112

• Amount: 690.0 ml

Day 113

• Amount: 727.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Slept in significantly due to being very sick; compressed daytime sessions.

Day 114

• Amount: 460.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Executed a short 5-minute express micro-pump at 2:15pm.

Day 115

• Amount: 548.0 ml

Day 116

• Amount: 619.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Voluntarily skipped the late 9:30pm pump block to go straight to bed for recovery.

Day 117

• Amount: 618.0 ml

Day 118

• Amount: 565.0 ml

Day 119

• Amount: 490.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Tossed out a 120 ml overnight run.
• Side Note: 120 ml overnight run tossed due to alcohol. Went out and skipped until 10:30pm.

Day 120

• Amount: 529.0 ml

Day 121

• Amount: 501.0 ml

Day 122

• Amount: 544.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Implemented a new structural change to daily pumping mechanics in the mid-afternoon.

Day 123

• Amount: 689.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Changed emptying technique: began working to empty breasts completely of every single drop, adding an extra 10 minutes to the back end of pump sessions.

Day 124

• Amount: 539.0 ml

Day 125

• Amount: 645.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Maintained a strict 15-minute time cap on the early evening session due to constraints.

Day 126

• Amount: 670.0 ml

Day 127

• Amount: 720.0 ml

Day 128

• Amount: 672.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Intentionally skipped the 9pm pump window.
• Side Note: Skipped pump window to have a beer.

Day 129

• Amount: 560.0 ml

Day 130

• Amount: 620.0 ml

Day 131

• Amount: 632.0 ml

Day 132

• Amount: 585.0 ml

Day 133

• Amount: 600.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Skipped the late night session window.
• Side Note: Skipped window to have a beer. Was drinking for the remainder of the night.

Day 134

• Amount: 645.0 ml

Day 135

• Amount: 615.0 ml

Day 136

• Amount: 651.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Split the afternoon session into two rapid 10-minute extraction blocks.

Day 137

• Amount: 620.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Dumped a 60 ml block.
• Side Note: Drank alcohol; dumped the 11:30pm 60 ml pump.

Day 138

• Amount: 652.0 ml

Day 139

• Amount: 650.0 ml

Day 140

• Amount: 718.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Transitioned the 5:30pm slot into an explicit full-length pump block.
• Side Note: Was drinking alcohol today.

Day 141

• Amount: 540.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Used a short 5-minute micro-pump routine at 7:30pm.

Day 142

• Amount: 685.0 ml

Day 143

• Amount: 680.0 ml

Day 144

• Amount: 835.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: All-time record log breaking the 800 ml milestone.

Day 145

• Amount: 698.0 ml

Day 146

• Amount: 688.0 ml

Day 147

• Amount: 800.0 ml

Day 148

• Amount: 555.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Executed a full-duration unemptied pump at 10pm to balance skipped windows.

Day 149

• Amount: 655.0 ml

Day 150

• Amount: 535.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Locally documented a physical breast infection; output baseline drops.

Day 151

• Amount: 535.0 ml

Day 152

• Amount: 635.0 ml

Day 153

• Amount: 648.0 ml

Day 154

• Amount: 595.0 ml

Day 155

• Amount: 600.0 ml

Day 156

• Amount: 675.0 ml

Day 157

• Amount: 617.0 ml

Day 158

• Amount: 665.0 ml

Day 159

• Amount: 695.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Shortened the early night run down to a rapid 3-minute check pump.

Day 160

• Amount: 648.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Placed a strict 10-minute duration cap on the morning 11am session.

Day 161

• Amount: 652.0 ml

Day 162

• Amount: 585.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Restricted midday pump to 10 minutes; combined later output into a single major afternoon double-block run.

Day 163

• Amount: 767.0 ml

Day 164

• Amount: 760.0 ml

Day 165

• Amount: 715.0 ml

Day 166

• Amount: 703.0 ml

Day 167

• Amount: 732.0 ml

Day 168

• Amount: 836.0 ml

Day 169

• Amount: 694.0 ml

Day 170

• Amount: 697.0 ml

Day 171

• Amount: 715.0 ml

Day 172

• Amount: 605.0 ml

Day 173

• Amount: 715.0 ml

Day 174

• Amount: 682.0 ml

Day 175

• Amount: 776.0 ml

Day 176

• Amount: 775.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Adjusted logging schedules to track against Daylight Savings time shifts.

Day 177

• Amount: 765.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Ran a restricted 5-minute morning micro-pump, followed by shorter 15 and 10-minute afternoon extractions.

Day 178

• Amount: 820.0 ml

Day 179

• Amount: 739.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Left pump early due to driving constraints without fully emptying breasts.

Day 180

• Amount: 752.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Extended final session to 8 minutes instead of the standard 5-minute cap.

Day 190

• Amount: 660.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Pump piece ripped. Ran a compromised mechanical tracking schedule due to broken hardware.

Day 191

• Amount: 710.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Received and installed the replacement valve hardware; resumed full extraction workflow by late afternoon.

Day 192

• Amount: 683.0 ml

Day 193

• Amount: 597.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Re-implemented a tailored ChatGPT sleep schedule structure to protect rest windows.

Day 194

• Amount: 800.0 ml

Day 195

• Amount: 698.0 ml

Day 196

• Amount: 525.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Dumped final 150 ml evening pump session.
• Side Note: Dumped final 150 ml run due to alcohol consumption.

Day 197 (MARCH 20)

• Amount: 650.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Formally initiated step-down weaning protocol to stop supply. Caps placed on pump run times (dropped 3pm session down to 10 mins).

Day 198

• Amount: 740.0 ml
• Side Note: Was out for a birthday for the remainder of the day.

Day 199

• Amount: 390.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Dropped late afternoon pump run down to a hard 10-minute time cap.

Day 200

• Amount: 541.0 ml

Day 201

• Amount: 583.0 ml

Day 202

• Amount: 690.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Used a short 10-minute catch up pump at 7:30pm.

Day 203

• Amount: 576.0 ml

Day 204

• Amount: 448.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Successfully scaled total down to 4 distinct pumping intervals over the 24-hour cycle.

Day 205

• Amount: 631.0 ml

Day 206

• Amount: 570.0 ml

Day 207

• Amount: 595.0 ml

Day 208

• Amount: 535.0 ml

Day 209

• Amount: 669.0 ml

Day 210

• Amount: 520.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Dropped daily schedule down to 4 pump sessions total.

Day 211

• Amount: 522.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Dropped daily schedule down to 3 pump sessions total.

Day 212

• Amount: 660.0 ml

Day 213

• Amount: 545.0 ml

Day 214

• Amount: 533.0 ml

Day 215

• Amount: 555.0 ml

Day 216

• Amount: 520.0 ml

Day 217

• Amount: 507.0 ml

Day 218

• Amount: 508.0 ml

Day 219

• Amount: 510.0 ml

Day 220

• Amount: 500.0 ml

Day 221

• Amount: 470.0 ml

Day 222

• Amount: 530.0 ml

Day 223

• Amount: 425.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Aggressively dropped schedule back down to a fixed 3 sessions per day.

Day 224

• Amount: 368.0 ml

Day 225

• Amount: 460.0 ml

Day 226

• Amount: 465.0 ml

Day 227

• Amount: 457.0 ml

Day 228

• Amount: 390.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Dropped daily frequency down to 3 pump sessions.

Day 229

• Amount: 430.0 ml

Day 230

• Amount: 455.0 ml

Day 231

• Amount: 405.0 ml

Day 232

• Amount: 355.0 ml
• Side Note: Went out this evening.

Day 233

• Amount: 345.0 ml
• Side Note: Was drinking alcohol the remainder of the night.

Day 234

• Amount: 315.0 ml

Day 235

• Amount: 318.0 ml

Day 236

• Amount: 315.0 ml

Day 237

• Amount: 329.0 ml

Day 238

• Amount: 300.0 ml

Day 239

• Amount: 285.0 ml

Day 240

• Amount: 310.0 ml

Day 241

• Amount: 265.0 ml

Day 242

• Amount: 155.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Implemented brief 6-minute timing caps to rapidly downscale remaining milk production.

Day 243

• Amount: 220.0 ml
• Key Habit Changes: Commenced Microneedling routine alongside final baseline 3-pump schedule.

Day 244

• Amount: 190.0 ml

Day 245

• Amount: 285.0 ml

Day 246

• Amount: 230.0 ml

Day 247

• Amount: 265.0 ml