r/ExclusivelyPumping

For my moms out there who have already dropped their MOTN pump, looking for some feedback:

1. When is your last pump of the day and when is your first pump of the day?

2. What do you feel like is your max number of hours you can go without pumping overnight without tanking your supply or making you uncomfortable?

Sincerely,
8 month PP mom

Hello, I am getting very confused with the milk intake my baby is supposed to take. My boy was born at 24 weeks and is now 4 months adjusted. Because of this, I have been exclusively pumping like crazy for 8 months now 😭😭, about 900ml on good days (30oz). He currently eats between 800-960ml per day (27-32oz).

I am getting confused and second guessing everything because of the following reasons:

1. at NICU, for the 4 months he was in, he was getting strictly 150-200ml per kg of expressed milk.

2. NHS website says to feed them 150-200ml per kg.

3. My baby seems not too hungry even if he eats only 800ml per day (but he is 6.5kg), so that is 123ml per kg.

4. I started reading on Google that the milk volume doesn't increase much between 1 month and 6 months.

So is this true, in your experience? Did your baby start to plateau on their volume needed as they grew, did they eat the same-ish volumes at 2 months vs 4 months vs 6 months?? I keep finding conflicting info and some people saying this is a myth, so hoping to read people's experience. I am finding myself forcing him to wake up and feed now in order to meet that 150ml per kg guideline, and he has jumper from 2nd to 9th and now to 20th centile over the past couple months.

I’m 6 weeks postpartum and really struggling with my milk supply. I’m hoping to hear from anyone who has been in a similar situation, especially people whose supply eventually increased after this point. Or those who never did…..

I’ve been eating oats, using brewer’s yeast, drinking coconut water, taking my vitamins, making sure I have the proper flange size, and pumping 7–9 times a day. I also nurse my baby about once or twice a day. Also alternate between different pumps. Between wearables and electric (Not looking for pump suggestions)

Despite all of that, I’m averaging only about 12 oz of breast milk per day.

When I nurse, my baby is not satisfied afterward. We nurse as a snack at this point, She isn’t really a cluster-feeder and prefers to have a full feeds. This is based on her cues, she generally goes about 2.5–3.5 hours between feeds. (The 3 days we cluster fed we both hated it and as soon as she got a full bottle she was a different baby)

I’m feeling pretty discouraged because I feel like I’m putting so much effort into this and my body just isn’t responding the way I hoped it would.

For those who had a low supply around 6 weeks postpartum….

Did your supply eventually increase significantly?

Is there actually hope for increasing supply at this point, or should I adjust my expectations?

I’m completely okay with supplementing formula if that’s what my baby needs — I just don’t want to give up on increasing my supply if there’s still a realistic possibility.

…. Also note I did speak to a lactation consultant, who wasn’t much help all her suggestions besides coconut water had already been implemented beforehand .  

This is it. That's the post. Drink water. A lot. Buy Gatorade. Buy coconut water. This made me go from 3 ounces in my best pump to 4-5 at least 2 times daily. My baby boy drinks 21 daily and I am almost getting free from formula. 9 weeks postpartum, just keep going mamas!

I exclusively pump for my 5 mo old baby. Unfortunately, I frequently get clogged ducts. I have been taking Advil for my clogged ducts, in addition to icing my breasts and taking sunflower lecithin and probiotics. But I have started to develop stomach pain due to taking Advil so frequently. So, I stopped taking Advil. What are anti-inflammatory drugs that are easier on the stomach? Has anyone used Celebrex instead?

Is pumping about 2.5 oz per session at 6 weeks postpartum good or should I be producing more? I pump while I am at work or if my baby is sleeping and my breasts feel engorged. I am able to pump about 3 times at work (every 3 hours). When I’m with my baby, I breastfeed. My baby gets both breastmilk and formula. He will usually eat 2 oz of formula every two hours and my mom who is watching him alternates between giving him breastmilk and formula while I’m at work.

I went back to work 3 weeks postpartum since I didn’t get paid maternity leave and my boss kept asking me to do work related things while I was out so I figured I would just go back and get paid. Could that have an effect on how much I’m able to produce?

I am eating cookies and drinking a drink mix that are supposed to help with lactation but usually I can only get 2.5 oz in total each pump session.

Any tips on how I can produce more?

Hey there! Just-enougher here!

We've been doing a combination of breast-feeding, pumping, and formula. Baby loves to breast-feed, but never eats enough, so it's mostly for comfort. We're mostly bottle feeding with breastmilk and supplementing with formula when needed. At one point we were doing maybe a 1/4 or 1/3 formula alongside expressed milk. Then I started having a crisis about how I wasn't producing enough and have been working really hard to increase my supply to exclusively pump and breast-feed. THAT SAID ---

I'm pumping every 3-5hrs and getting anywhere from 2 - 6 oz per session depending on the time. Mostly I'm getting around 3oz give or take. Lately I've been so inundated with content from over producers. Though I know this isn't typical for everyone, it's feeling discouraging as someone who barely makes enough and sometimes falls short :(

So help me get an idea of the broader population out there. How much are y'all pumping per session? Per day?

Other than a morning pump or 2, i normally am pumping just about enough for my baby. He eats 80 to 100 ml per feed and i normally am producing 100. He is 6 weeks and still is eating every 3 hours and likely will be for awhile. from my understanding he will need to be able to eat more in one sitting before dropping a night feed. But my milk output is barely climbing at this point. Im fine with mixing formula in. Im just curious if other just enoughers at 6 weeks were able to meet their babies needs once they started eating more in one sitting.

I'm doing my best to change my mindset and stop spending money on unitaskers. At work we have a lactation room where other pumping moms leave their pumps/bags on a shelf and leave their milk and milk-contact parts in a special fridge dedicated just to breastmilk. There are lot of cute pump-purses in the fridge tempting me. But I know for a fact that I don't need one.

I'm rocking a spectra in a backpack packed with snacks, baby wipes, and a book. In the fridge I'm the one with a mason jar for breastmilk in a gallon ziploc bag of spectra parts.

What do you do, only with what you already have, to make pumping as nice/as comfortable as possible?

hi! im a ftm to a 7 weeker (1 week in the NICU, FGR, he’s still under 9 lbs).

when we came home from the hospital, we labeled EVERYTHING we put into the fridge after pumping. now, however, since week 4ish I usually produce enough for a whole bottle on each side, so I devised a system where I didn’t label and just arranged 3 bottles in a row, put the newest pumped milk in the back, and instructed my husband to always pull from the front. i did test it a few weeks ago and the back bottle was used within 6-9 hours.

(if there is extra milk from a pump that gets put into a different shape bottle and usually gets bagged up and frozen within a day.)

HOWEVER husband recently told me he doesn’t always pull from the front (sometimes amounts vary slightly and he sometimes chose based on that, as afternoons he eats more that nights etc.). I am now in a panic that there could have been a bottle in there LO got fed over the last weeks that somehow got shuffled around long enough to exceed the 4 day safe window and was bad. I think this is super unlikely but still worried (we did dump the bottles currently in the fridge for bath milk to be safe). He’s has had GI upset since he was born (they told us reflux in the NICU, we now are investigating intolerances) so I’m worried we just would not even know!

anything to make this anxious mom feel better? and, is this method ok if we stick to it or should i be labeling 15+ bottles every day? (we label all freezer bags.)

(husband is excellent, takes great care of baby, we just weren’t thinking likely due to sleep deprivation.) thank you!!

I’m 4m pp and dreading the thought of going back to work. I was spectra and Elvie stride 2 so far and sized down from 19 (at hospital) to 13 ( my last LC measurement). The smallest my Elvie has is 15 and I started to get inflammation and clogged duct when I used it. Right now I’m managing with spectra and 13 mm insert. But I want to invest in a good pump to use at work

1. Any wearable pump that comes with 13 mm inserts or small nipple friendly? I am having nightmares about clogged duct again.

2. Anyone in similar condition made Elvie stride 2 work? Any accessories ?

Thanks in advance

Wondering if this happened to anyone else? I have been really consistent with 5ppd since 5mpp sticking to the same schedule. Randomly.. my left boob started to underperform. I have almost always gotten 3 to 3.5oz per day pump from both boobs but left boob started to drop to 2-2.5oz. Then the morning pump I’m getting 2oz less than usual from that boob too! It’s been a few days now. I don’t feel any clogs or anything and right boob is normal.

Any thoughts on what it is? I’ve swapped parts so that shouldn’t be it. Using spectra.

Hi Everyone!
I’m on baby #5 and this is my first time exclusively pumping. My baby developed a bottle preference after having tons of formula for low blood sugar after birth.

I have a 10 yr old medala pump-in-style and a new pump-in-style duo. I have been sized for flanges and use pumpin pals because I have EDS and elastic nipple tissue. However, I am NEVER empty. I always have to manually compress the breast to get empty and it’s hurting. I also have Momcozy M9, but that doesn’t empty me either. My new pump-in-style is even worse at emptying me than the one I purchased in 2016.

So my question is, is it worth it to spend the money on a spectra S1? I’m really hoping to keep my supply up, but I know that being not fully empty sometimes is hindering me keeping supply up. I’m hoping I can get better emptying from a spectra?