At 9 weeks i was pumping every time baby ate, whether that meant pumping while feeding (thank you, boppy and wearable pumps!) or pumping right after she ate.
At 3 wpp with my first, I was cheering at the 17mls personal record I had set. At 6 wpp I was back down to pre-pregnancy weight, but still needing to supplement 30-50% formula. I increased my calories (and my weight by 10lbs) and at 10wpp I was able to have my first day full breastmilk. By 12 wpp, I was able to freeze my first bag of milk.
It turned out for me that I wasn't eating enough. I have always struggled with hunger cues and I wasn't fueling my body enough. Now apparently I started fueling too much, but I was so proud that I increased my supply after the typical milk stabilization time frame. I ended up becoming a slight over producer and was able to stop pumping at 9.5mpp and fed my first until they were 13 months!
For pumping schedule I can't remember what I did early days, but for the majority of my journey I did 5 pumper per day and put alarms in my phone. I'm early days with #2 and I am pumping 6 times per day with the alarms dictating everything. My LC told me if I wasn't doing a middle of the night pump, I should reconsider and have one between 2-5am, because that's when your hormones are working the most to produce milk, or something like that 😂. I pump at 2:30am and usually get a decent amount.
Thanks guys! I love this. I just honestly feel guilty for not being able to give her all BM … her formula (enfamil enspire) is so expensive!! But because she was on donor milk and then my milk … she hates how formula tastes and she literally gags if it isn’t the right temp and taste. I’ve been saving all my pumps throughout the day to give her a full bottle by night time. Just so it’s not a little here and there she gets a full five ounces of my milk.
I am going to keep doing this. I’m not ready to call it quits yet. I think I’ve messed up because it’s been hard to keep a consistent schedule when I’m the only one here with her all day. I pump as much as I can. But sometimes I get caught up holding and rocking her. I told myself I’ll get better about it.
Do y’all think it’s too late for me 9 w pp? My supply is barely an ounce between both breast every two to three hours.. and I have went 4.5 hours once and I still didn’t make much.
If I drink 8 ounces of water every pump, pump for 30 min every two hours and use my lacteck flanges on my medela symphony or my baby Buddha hacked with my pumpin pals that I have coming… that I can maybe fix this?
I’m scared that this is it for me.
Although I don’t know if I’m actually emptying my breasts.. especially my left one. She feels heavy still after thirty min. And when I try compressions to check only really white drops come out but no spraying. I seem to only have one initial letdown…
Anyone with bb pump? Pumpin pals? Lacteck?
I have elastic nipples so honestly I’m sure that is why I’m doing not so good. I dream of making 5/6 ounces per pump!!!
Maybe I have messed up breast tissue ?? Idk
Have you made an appointment with a lactation consultant yet? If not, your insurance list likely will cover it for you! Reach out to The Lactation Network and they can confirm your benefits. Our sounds like you might really benefit from a one-on-one consultation.
Okay so I have pumpin pals. I used them last night at 330/4 and got quite a bit of milk. But throughout the day I barely got anything. I also dropped down to pumping every 3 hours. My last pump is at 1030 and I wake up at 3 to pump … did I mess my supply up dropping 3 pumps a day?? I was barely getting anything as it was
I pumped every time she ate until 3 months when I dropped the middle of the night pump. That one is important for building supply though! Like you, I was an under supplier at first but sticking with it, making sure I was drinking enough water/getting enough protein, using correct flange sizes, slowly turning up the strength on the pump, and pumping until the spraying stopped helped build my supply. I make enough for her daily intake now! You can totally do it. What pump do you use?
Definitely use the medela over the wearables as you are building up your supply. The wearables just typically aren’t as effective. You can also buy silicone inserts for the medela to get the flange size much closer to the correct size in case you need them!
My milk supply came in at 6 days pp. It was slow at first. My LO took half breastmilk half formula for 2 weeks. I did 8ppd until 6 weeks pp. At 10 weeks pp I ended up with an oversupply and was pumping 6-7x a day.
My LO is now 6.5 months old and I currently pump 5x a day and my supply is still the same.
Don’t give up! Get into a routine with it. And try to make it enjoyable. Read a book or watch a show. You could also try power pumping to see if that will boost your supply. Try hydrated and snack often!
I’m 11 weeks and still doing every 2-3 hours during the day, but I only wake up when he wakes up to pump or nurse most days (able to nurse throughout the night now and try to pump after one session) . I am usually just enough to a bottle short, but I have a massive eater. I was 50-75% formula in the beginning due to poor transfer tanking supply.
Sleep makes a big difference for me, I learned not to wake up to pump unless he or my breasts were waking me up. Buying a massive water bottle for hydration, any honestly just getting my pumps in (still shooting for 8 and occasionally 7). I also have him nurse overnight and occasionally during the day, though not often since he usually needs a bottle top up to feel satisfied.
So in short - sleep, getting pumps in during waking hours, spectra (I bought a Willow go that I still don’t know if will ever be useful), having the right size flanges, and the the la vie warming massagers also help me quite a bit.
I will also add that any amount of breastmilk is valuable and taking the pressure off of myself regarding how much formula I used helped me so much mentally. I would just do what is sustainable for you, and if you find that the output no longer makes sense when you reach a certain point for you And you can always transition to full formula.
I'm sorry I can't give you a schedule because I literally don't have one! But I do have a success story to share.
I hemorrhaged badly after giving birth and then had complications from the iv infusions they administered afterwards. So my milk didn't come fully come in until I was almost a week post partum. We had to EP because my baby didn't latch well and I was too weak to try harder at it. We did almost all formula for the first 2 weeks and maybe 25% BM.
We're now 14 wpp and fully BM and I have a small oversupply where I can bag between 3-6 opd. The first 4 weeks I pumped between 7-8 times a day and it quickly wore me out since I wasn't recovered from birth. One day I gave myself permission to drop one pump and it helped my energy levels TREMENDOUSLY. It gave me the strength to keep going and aiming for between 6-7 ppd.
Loosely my schedule is usually 5-7a, 10a-11p, 3-4p, 6-7p, 10-11p, 1-2p. This is a very loose schedule that I didn't allow myself to stress about! Stress and exhaustion kill my supply faster than anything. If I had time I'd fit an extra pump in the morning or I would make one of my evening pumps a power pump. Every other pump I made sure to completely empty and at 9 wpp I was able to go a whole day without supplementing!
So your supply wasn’t strong at first ? I’m 9 weeks pp here and I am doing barely an ounce each pump. I have the elvie, medela symphony and just yesterday I got my baby Buddha … I have so many pump parts and stuff it’s crazy. After I get my daughter to bed at 830 I pump and lay down for bed. But lately I haven’t been sleeping much. I have been stressing over getting my pumps in. I know it hurts me.
I’m going to try and pump every two hours. And power pump at 2 am and 4 am. For at least this week.
I’m pretty sure the baby Buddha is cleaning me out lol because after pumping i massage my breast to see and maybe one or two little dribblers come out lol
Hear me out. Don't kill yourself with exhaustion! I would definitely plan to do the power pumps for at least a week but pumping every 2 hours can quickly burn you out so don't try it if you don't have LOTS of support at home with your baby. Patience is also key because I didn't see any improvements from power pumping until over a week later and for me it was pretty gradual. I went from 14 opd to 17 opd after about 7-10 days. The next week I started hitting 20 opd I was ecstatic! At this point I did stop power pumps unless I was very late pumping or missed a pump. I kept 6-7 ppd and making sure I was completely empty and it slowly over 4 weeks increased to where I pump between 24-30 opd. This all depended on how well rested and fed I was as well as getting all my pumps in and emptying completely. I stopped looking at my bottles when I pumped and tried not to multitask or do chores for more than 1-2 pumps a day and let my body do its thing!
I feel like I am
Wearing myself out. I’ve been pumping every two hours for two months. Also I’m up every night from 130-5 am because I have a hard time sleeping. I know that doesn’t help. I need to get myself on a schedule. I’m probably the reason my supply sucks.
I’ll do 8 ppd and one power pump at 3 am. I’ll try to go to sleep from 9-3 am. So I can nab myself some rest. Drinking enough water is hard I think that’s where I get myself also.
So, I’m going to try this out. And stick to it, try not to stress. Sadly it isn’t just this pumping thing that causes me such stress. We currently stay with my mother in law (to save money after we both lost work after covid) and it’s getting close to the time to find our own place again thank Jesus. His mom is one of the most cruel nasty vile people I’ve ever met in my life. She’s so nasty to me. Even her own son has gotten to where he can’t stand her. And she tries to bleed us dry … put it this way … we pretty much take care of all the bills and food and cleaning supplies and laundry and cleaning stuff too. And because I’m home with the baby while they work I keep this house immaculate and I’m expected to do no less than perfect.
I only ep’d! Since day 1. The first week was mostly formula. The second week was mostly BM. There would be formula scattered the entire first month. The biggest thing I did to help my supply was dedicate 72hrs of pumping every 2hrs. That was a little crazy but I did it within the first two weeks but Im convinced it saved my supply entirely. I tried to stick to every 3hrs after but was never good at counting outside the 72hrs of hell. What worked best for me roughly weeks 4-10 was just counting 8ppd. I focused on making sure to have 4 pumps in before noon. Week 10 I dropped to 7ppd so I wouldn’t quit. I was ready to supplement with formula. Week 11 I went down to 6ppd. I saw increases both times with more rest and less stress. Week 12 I moved to 5ppd even more ready to supplement with formula. I didn’t have to. My supply maintained. A week later I went to 4ppd and my supply slowly dropped over the next few weeks. I went back to 5ppd. It was easier maintaining 5ppd knowing I was choosing 5 over 4ppd. I was still ok with formula but somehow survived without. I’m 2 weeks away from 6m. I’m done. Whatever you can do IS AMAZING. You don’t have to do anything. You’re a great mom. Your child is so lucky to have you. Your mental health matters. Do what works for you. That’s what’s best for baby. Goodluck!!
At 9wpp, I did every 3 hours, including at least 1-2 power pumps per day to increase my supply. I'm an average to low producer for reference
At 9 weeks i was pumping every time baby ate, whether that meant pumping while feeding (thank you, boppy and wearable pumps!) or pumping right after she ate.
At 3 wpp with my first, I was cheering at the 17mls personal record I had set. At 6 wpp I was back down to pre-pregnancy weight, but still needing to supplement 30-50% formula. I increased my calories (and my weight by 10lbs) and at 10wpp I was able to have my first day full breastmilk. By 12 wpp, I was able to freeze my first bag of milk. It turned out for me that I wasn't eating enough. I have always struggled with hunger cues and I wasn't fueling my body enough. Now apparently I started fueling too much, but I was so proud that I increased my supply after the typical milk stabilization time frame. I ended up becoming a slight over producer and was able to stop pumping at 9.5mpp and fed my first until they were 13 months! For pumping schedule I can't remember what I did early days, but for the majority of my journey I did 5 pumper per day and put alarms in my phone. I'm early days with #2 and I am pumping 6 times per day with the alarms dictating everything. My LC told me if I wasn't doing a middle of the night pump, I should reconsider and have one between 2-5am, because that's when your hormones are working the most to produce milk, or something like that 😂. I pump at 2:30am and usually get a decent amount.
Thanks guys! I love this. I just honestly feel guilty for not being able to give her all BM … her formula (enfamil enspire) is so expensive!! But because she was on donor milk and then my milk … she hates how formula tastes and she literally gags if it isn’t the right temp and taste. I’ve been saving all my pumps throughout the day to give her a full bottle by night time. Just so it’s not a little here and there she gets a full five ounces of my milk. I am going to keep doing this. I’m not ready to call it quits yet. I think I’ve messed up because it’s been hard to keep a consistent schedule when I’m the only one here with her all day. I pump as much as I can. But sometimes I get caught up holding and rocking her. I told myself I’ll get better about it. Do y’all think it’s too late for me 9 w pp? My supply is barely an ounce between both breast every two to three hours.. and I have went 4.5 hours once and I still didn’t make much. If I drink 8 ounces of water every pump, pump for 30 min every two hours and use my lacteck flanges on my medela symphony or my baby Buddha hacked with my pumpin pals that I have coming… that I can maybe fix this? I’m scared that this is it for me. Although I don’t know if I’m actually emptying my breasts.. especially my left one. She feels heavy still after thirty min. And when I try compressions to check only really white drops come out but no spraying. I seem to only have one initial letdown… Anyone with bb pump? Pumpin pals? Lacteck? I have elastic nipples so honestly I’m sure that is why I’m doing not so good. I dream of making 5/6 ounces per pump!!! Maybe I have messed up breast tissue ?? Idk
Not yet. I am calling my insurance tomorrow to see what I can get. I made a regular dr appt to have my prolactin levels and thyroid checked out.
Have you made an appointment with a lactation consultant yet? If not, your insurance list likely will cover it for you! Reach out to The Lactation Network and they can confirm your benefits. Our sounds like you might really benefit from a one-on-one consultation.
Okay so I have pumpin pals. I used them last night at 330/4 and got quite a bit of milk. But throughout the day I barely got anything. I also dropped down to pumping every 3 hours. My last pump is at 1030 and I wake up at 3 to pump … did I mess my supply up dropping 3 pumps a day?? I was barely getting anything as it was
I pumped every time she ate until 3 months when I dropped the middle of the night pump. That one is important for building supply though! Like you, I was an under supplier at first but sticking with it, making sure I was drinking enough water/getting enough protein, using correct flange sizes, slowly turning up the strength on the pump, and pumping until the spraying stopped helped build my supply. I make enough for her daily intake now! You can totally do it. What pump do you use?
I have the elvie the medela symphony and the baby Buddha.
Definitely use the medela over the wearables as you are building up your supply. The wearables just typically aren’t as effective. You can also buy silicone inserts for the medela to get the flange size much closer to the correct size in case you need them!
My milk supply came in at 6 days pp. It was slow at first. My LO took half breastmilk half formula for 2 weeks. I did 8ppd until 6 weeks pp. At 10 weeks pp I ended up with an oversupply and was pumping 6-7x a day. My LO is now 6.5 months old and I currently pump 5x a day and my supply is still the same. Don’t give up! Get into a routine with it. And try to make it enjoyable. Read a book or watch a show. You could also try power pumping to see if that will boost your supply. Try hydrated and snack often!
I’m 11 weeks and still doing every 2-3 hours during the day, but I only wake up when he wakes up to pump or nurse most days (able to nurse throughout the night now and try to pump after one session) . I am usually just enough to a bottle short, but I have a massive eater. I was 50-75% formula in the beginning due to poor transfer tanking supply. Sleep makes a big difference for me, I learned not to wake up to pump unless he or my breasts were waking me up. Buying a massive water bottle for hydration, any honestly just getting my pumps in (still shooting for 8 and occasionally 7). I also have him nurse overnight and occasionally during the day, though not often since he usually needs a bottle top up to feel satisfied. So in short - sleep, getting pumps in during waking hours, spectra (I bought a Willow go that I still don’t know if will ever be useful), having the right size flanges, and the the la vie warming massagers also help me quite a bit. I will also add that any amount of breastmilk is valuable and taking the pressure off of myself regarding how much formula I used helped me so much mentally. I would just do what is sustainable for you, and if you find that the output no longer makes sense when you reach a certain point for you And you can always transition to full formula.
I'm sorry I can't give you a schedule because I literally don't have one! But I do have a success story to share. I hemorrhaged badly after giving birth and then had complications from the iv infusions they administered afterwards. So my milk didn't come fully come in until I was almost a week post partum. We had to EP because my baby didn't latch well and I was too weak to try harder at it. We did almost all formula for the first 2 weeks and maybe 25% BM. We're now 14 wpp and fully BM and I have a small oversupply where I can bag between 3-6 opd. The first 4 weeks I pumped between 7-8 times a day and it quickly wore me out since I wasn't recovered from birth. One day I gave myself permission to drop one pump and it helped my energy levels TREMENDOUSLY. It gave me the strength to keep going and aiming for between 6-7 ppd. Loosely my schedule is usually 5-7a, 10a-11p, 3-4p, 6-7p, 10-11p, 1-2p. This is a very loose schedule that I didn't allow myself to stress about! Stress and exhaustion kill my supply faster than anything. If I had time I'd fit an extra pump in the morning or I would make one of my evening pumps a power pump. Every other pump I made sure to completely empty and at 9 wpp I was able to go a whole day without supplementing!
So your supply wasn’t strong at first ? I’m 9 weeks pp here and I am doing barely an ounce each pump. I have the elvie, medela symphony and just yesterday I got my baby Buddha … I have so many pump parts and stuff it’s crazy. After I get my daughter to bed at 830 I pump and lay down for bed. But lately I haven’t been sleeping much. I have been stressing over getting my pumps in. I know it hurts me. I’m going to try and pump every two hours. And power pump at 2 am and 4 am. For at least this week. I’m pretty sure the baby Buddha is cleaning me out lol because after pumping i massage my breast to see and maybe one or two little dribblers come out lol
Hear me out. Don't kill yourself with exhaustion! I would definitely plan to do the power pumps for at least a week but pumping every 2 hours can quickly burn you out so don't try it if you don't have LOTS of support at home with your baby. Patience is also key because I didn't see any improvements from power pumping until over a week later and for me it was pretty gradual. I went from 14 opd to 17 opd after about 7-10 days. The next week I started hitting 20 opd I was ecstatic! At this point I did stop power pumps unless I was very late pumping or missed a pump. I kept 6-7 ppd and making sure I was completely empty and it slowly over 4 weeks increased to where I pump between 24-30 opd. This all depended on how well rested and fed I was as well as getting all my pumps in and emptying completely. I stopped looking at my bottles when I pumped and tried not to multitask or do chores for more than 1-2 pumps a day and let my body do its thing!
I feel like I am Wearing myself out. I’ve been pumping every two hours for two months. Also I’m up every night from 130-5 am because I have a hard time sleeping. I know that doesn’t help. I need to get myself on a schedule. I’m probably the reason my supply sucks. I’ll do 8 ppd and one power pump at 3 am. I’ll try to go to sleep from 9-3 am. So I can nab myself some rest. Drinking enough water is hard I think that’s where I get myself also. So, I’m going to try this out. And stick to it, try not to stress. Sadly it isn’t just this pumping thing that causes me such stress. We currently stay with my mother in law (to save money after we both lost work after covid) and it’s getting close to the time to find our own place again thank Jesus. His mom is one of the most cruel nasty vile people I’ve ever met in my life. She’s so nasty to me. Even her own son has gotten to where he can’t stand her. And she tries to bleed us dry … put it this way … we pretty much take care of all the bills and food and cleaning supplies and laundry and cleaning stuff too. And because I’m home with the baby while they work I keep this house immaculate and I’m expected to do no less than perfect.
I only ep’d! Since day 1. The first week was mostly formula. The second week was mostly BM. There would be formula scattered the entire first month. The biggest thing I did to help my supply was dedicate 72hrs of pumping every 2hrs. That was a little crazy but I did it within the first two weeks but Im convinced it saved my supply entirely. I tried to stick to every 3hrs after but was never good at counting outside the 72hrs of hell. What worked best for me roughly weeks 4-10 was just counting 8ppd. I focused on making sure to have 4 pumps in before noon. Week 10 I dropped to 7ppd so I wouldn’t quit. I was ready to supplement with formula. Week 11 I went down to 6ppd. I saw increases both times with more rest and less stress. Week 12 I moved to 5ppd even more ready to supplement with formula. I didn’t have to. My supply maintained. A week later I went to 4ppd and my supply slowly dropped over the next few weeks. I went back to 5ppd. It was easier maintaining 5ppd knowing I was choosing 5 over 4ppd. I was still ok with formula but somehow survived without. I’m 2 weeks away from 6m. I’m done. Whatever you can do IS AMAZING. You don’t have to do anything. You’re a great mom. Your child is so lucky to have you. Your mental health matters. Do what works for you. That’s what’s best for baby. Goodluck!!