Breastfeeding Supply Drops and Nobody Warns You

“Has anyone else literally never had any oxytocin release or good feelings at all when breastfeeding? This is my third and I gave up with the first two after a month because literally every time they would latch or I would have a letdown I wanted to jump out of my skin and felt a wave of extreme anxiety and anger. I’ve never ever once felt happy breastfeeding and it’s happening again. Is it something that kicks in after the newborn stage? Is it a bad latch? Seriously what the heck is wrong with m”

“Ello - have a 3MO and am EBF. From day one my milk came in very happily. And up until recently if I didn’t feed, my breasts got incredibly engorged (pumping would go v well when this happened). Now it seems, they don’t really get like that during longer breaks between feeds. Is this a dip? Or maybe just regulating? LO is definitely getting what she needs, and continues to gain weight. Can I still pump despite the lack of engorge? Have I written engorge too many times now? submitted by &#32”

“A bit worried about my supply. Baby seems to be sucking and swallowing. I also got my normal pump volume today. But my boobs almost feel like they did pre breastfeeding… submitted by /u/Salt-Jello-4165 [link] [comments]”

“First kid is 2 years old. For her, I was a significant undersupplier despite troubleshooting with 5 lactation consultants. Nursing/ triple feeding wasn’t feasible after a couple weeks. I could pump ~16 oz daily so I combo fed with formula. Now I’m pregnant with my second child. Idk how breastmilk supply will shake out this time, my doctor says my supply could be better this time if I don’t have a traumatic birth. What are y’all’s thoughts from your experience? Has anybody been an under supplier”

“FTM, nearly 4 weeks postpartum. I had a phone consultation with a lactation consultant. She told me to pump every 2-3 hours to get my supply up and to hand express. I feel like I'm getting less milk than before and hand expression irritates the hell out of me. She sent me a few webpages and apparently I was supposed to be hand expressing colostrum from 36 weeks according to these sites. And I was supposed to be hand expressing and pumping in the hospital. I don't know how, since every 15”

“I’m sitting here at 3am pumping after my baby refused breast for almost a week now & had to give a bottle. He is going to be 11 months old in a couple of weeks. We had a rough start to breastfeeding but have been going since the beginning. I went away last Saturday night so he stayed with my parents. He seemed reluctant to feed when I got back Sunday, I figured he wasn’t hungry since he is also into solids. Then he nursed to sleep that night. He nursed the following mornings and nights (I wo”

“Long post sorry in advance 😳 Hi everyone, I’m in desperate need of advice on rebuilding my supply. LO is 5 weeks today and at first we were doing great but using a nipple shield. He was exclusively breastfeeding but after having to be on double phototherapy (overhead lamp and biliblanket) we started to combo feed. I had issues with pumping and after going home after a week in the hospital got multiple clogged ducts and had issues troubleshooting my flange size so had completely raw nips which a”

“I’m a mom to an eight-month-old and would like to start thinking about weaning soon. I’ve already breastfed much longer than I thought I ever would and I’d like to get my body/time/life/sleep back before TTC again. I have an oversupply, am prone to engorgement and clogs, have had mastitis twice (early in my BF journey), and I’m nursing every 3-4 hours (including overnight which I’d really like to cut down). I feel so lost with how to even begin to wean. When I skip a feed occasionally I’m in a l”

“Ok so my journey has been all over the place lol my milk came in late bc my baby was born early so he started on bottles and formula. Once I got home from the hospital, I started producing milk and would pump every three hours while continuing to mostly feed formula until I produced more. I’m finally producing enough that we only need to do one or two formula feeds in the night (if that, but we do just to be safe). Yay! I had previously decided on exclusively pumping bc he couldn’t latch from be”

“My baby is 8 weeks old and my boobs are full and sore!! I weaned my 2.5 year old in Jan and milk with no.2 came in quickly and in abundant supply. Weirdly my boobs weren’t full at the start and I never had that newborn engorgement. Fast forward 8 weeks and suddenly my boobs are full and painfully so, especially overnight. It’s like the early days of feeding my first! I can feel the collected milk and it hurts. I know the skin stretching should feed back and inhibit production a bit but anyone kn”

“I am combo feeding while trying to get my breast milk supply up for my 8 day old newborn. We have a baby brezza and last night feeling exhausted, I ignored the cleaning warning and made 3 of his bottles after before cleaning it. Because he is so little, I’m now regretting that decision and am nervous about the possible bacteria from not cleaning. My post partum anxiety is not helping me in this situation but should I be concerned about this? Any other parents done the same? 😅 submitted by”

“Bub is 13 months and I’m feeling beyond ready to be done. My first baby was a very natural “schedule” kid, so she was so easy to wean - I just dropped one feed/week and it was over and done in about a month and a half. This little guy, however, has fed on demand and still likes to nurse at least once a night. We’ve been trying to wean since his 1st birthday but it’s just not happening and I’m going a little crazy from being screamed at/grabbed at all day long. Going away for a night or two isn’t”

“I had to supplement the day after the hospital due to 10% weight loss and rising jaundice levels for my baby girl (or at least I was told I had to). This was the same day my milk was coming in (day 3). I desperately did not want to supplement with a bottle and was trying to syringe feed baby girl while she was latched to my breast. It was ok the first 2 days but then the syringes would start slipping and spraying everywhere and on the 4th day I couldn’t handle it anymore and we started supplemen”

“My baby is almost 7 weeks old. She had to start on bottles (pumped milk) due to weight loss but I’ve been transitioning her to breastfeeding since the last week and a half. I have two questions: 1. I noticed my supply seems lower since beginning breastfeeding - breasts less full/engorged, less leaking, I still pump twice a day and the output is less. Is this typical for breastfeeding? 2. I noticed my baby still has wet and dirty diapers but the dirty ones have less poop than when she was drinkin”

“I’m so fucking annoyed. I’ve had a slight oversupply this entire time. I stopped pumping to help reduce it. I leak 2-3oz while nursing every session still so I know my supply isn’t an issue. My body refuses to have a letdown when I’m pumping. I’m sure it’s because I’m always a ball of nerves and stressed out. This was the same issue I had with my 1st and I did EVERYTHING. I had to supplement half formula bottles and half breast milk for daycare and the fact that I couldn’t empty during the day d”

“I am trying to wean as soon as I can for my mental/physical health and family needs. I’ve been slowly decreasing my pump times for the last 3 weeks and am now on day 6 of Sudafed. While my supply is decreasing, it’s taking much longer than I’d like and I’m still at 5ppd. How long did Sudafed take for you? Any other tips besides Cabo Crème and mint? submitted by /u/ERnewbieRN [link] [comments]”

“8W PP and FTM today. Went into everything with the goal of exclusively BF, long story short had to supplement with formula the first few weeks due to weight gain struggles and my milk coming in late/slow (traumatic unplanned C section after 30h of labor). Worked with a really great IBCLC to move away from needing to supplement with formula. The past couple weeks between my boon trove collector and pumping after morning feeds, I’ve been able to build up bags in the fridge that we use occasionally”

“hi everybody! I combo fed and pumped with my first for 14 months as he had a bad tongue tie. I had my second baby four weeks ago and got him to latch! I’ve always been anxious about my supply so I started pumping to to see how much he was getting as he always acted hungry basically immediately after getting off the breast. I went to an LC who was very helpful with his painful latch and she said he transferred milk efficiently but I just feel like my supply is insufficient. I pump and latch him 8”

“I nurse my newborn around 3 times a day and I pump 3-4 times a day whenever I can. She's two weeks old now and it looks like she's a big eater. She drinks 3-4oz per feeding now and I can't produce enough for her. She's also in her cluster feeding phase. We have to do paced feeding because we don't want her throwing up. I have to give her formula as a supplement because she's not settled if she's not full. I try not to be stressed about it, but it's hard. I'm w”

“I just went through mastitis about 3 days ago and my milk production has plummeted. I would make at least 2 to 3 Oz per breast every pump session. Now I'm lucky if I get 1 oz per breast. I am exclusively pumping. I pump every 2 hours. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I am going to have to start dipping into my freezer stash soon. I don't want to be done producing. submitted by /u/True-Shift [link] [comments]”

“Hello! My baby is 2.5 weeks old, we’ve been exclusively breastfeeding since birth. With nipple shields for the past week due to laziness and shallow latch. I go back to work in a couple months and I need to introduce a bottle soon. Any tips? I know I need to familiarize myself with my electric pump before bottle feeding. Right now I’m just using a passive Haakaa collector on the opposite side while he nurses. I have a spectra s1 and plan to pump after his morning feed. And when I get that down I”

“I am starting to wean from BF and babe is doing well w the bottle and formula. Right now only nursing at bedtime. Can my supply keep up with only one feed per day? Is there any hope? Anyone else do this?? Of note rn I’m pumping in the am but I would like to eventually stop this as well and just do bedtime feed. submitted by /u/Unique-Conclusion656 [link] [comments]”

“As the title says, has anyone’s baby decided to randomly stop feeding from one breast? At around 3 months of age. We’ve had a tough journey to get to where we are now with breast feeding, so him deciding to stop feeding off one boob has made me so emotional. I make just enough for him to feed with both breasts and today I’ve had to keep topping up with formula. submitted by /u/Resident_Soup564 [link] [comments]”

“My baby is almost 2 months old. She’s exclusively breastfed for most feeds, but every day there are two feeds where she isn’t satisfied after breastfeeding. One is in the afternoon, and the other is in the night after 9pm. After nursing, she’ll happily drink an additional 60 mL of formula and finishes the entire bottle. During all the other feeds, she’s content after breastfeeding and doesn’t need a top-up. I’m wondering: Is it normal for milk supply to be lower only during certain times of the”

“I alternate them as you should. I do everything youre supposed to yet the right breast is so slow and doesnt really make much milk. Or maybe the left is just a show off?? submitted by /u/just___me_ [link] [comments]”

“Feeling very hopeless and lost. My LO is 7 weeks old and I've been triple feeding since she was about 5 days old, albeit inconsistently. I'd usually only manage about 4 or 5 pumps a day. This past weekend, I decided to commit, and actually managed 8 pumps a day, but triple feeding is really taking a toll on my mental health. I'm so anxious about missing pumps due to baby being fussy and not being able to pump immediately after a feed. LO usually takes a while to fall asleep and by th”

“I can't type all this out, so long story short, I messed things up and so deeply ashamed and sad about it. My toddler was NOT ready to stop nursing, said his first sentence multiple times that he wanted to nurse, and I just... was completely disconnected from both myself and him, numb, super super burnt out emotionally and honestly with us (zero seconds of a break / time alone in MONTHS), kind of dead and just wanted an hour alone. I wasn't trying or wanting to "wean", but I ju”

“Hi, First time mom here to my 6 week old son (arrived at 36w4d). Sorry in advance if what I ask at the end is a dumb question - this is all new to me… For context, I am pumping & nursing on demand. I’m having anxiety and worry that he’s not getting enough when nursing because after he latches off, he seems content at first but then starts crying. I’m not sure if it’s discomfort or he’s hungry still. We did have a lactation consult last week to do weighted feed and he is transferring over (1.”

“My boy is EBF, and I was doing a top off bottle with like 1oz of collected milk at bedtime but he started falling asleep before taking much. I go back to work in a few more weeks so I’ve been doing a 2-4oz pump and bottle feed once a day. Of that he takes 1.5-2oz before passing out. I do it once he starts a wake window and he’s ready to feed, so he’s hungry. I haven’t done a weighted feed since he was 2 weeks old at an LC appointment, which was about my own nipple pain. This has me thinking I sh”

“Seeking some advice! My 3rd baby is 5 weeks tomorrow and we had a rough start to breastfeeding. She had a tongue tie, wasn't transferring more than like half an ounce per feed, and was very sleepy. I think also it took my milk a little while to fully come in. So, I started triple feeding on day 4 or so and have been pumping since. About a week ago she really took off with nursing and hasn't needed a daytime bottle at all and just kicked the nighttime bottle a couple days ago! Woot!! But”

“Hi! My baby is only 7 weeks old so I am massively planning ahead. I am a heavily tattooed mum who is already getting the itch for another one. Im currently working towards exclusively pumping with intermittent breastfeeding but plan to stop breastfeeding once my baby's teeth come through. I understand that you cannot get a tattoo while pregnant/breastfeeding due to infection risks but i think I have a plan... I was wondering if this plan is feasible or if there is something im missing? - wea”

“I pumped for 18 months for my twins. I was a crazy over supplier making 90 oz a day at my peak. It was a lot. It's been almost a month since I stopped pumping. I only have pumping bras and really would like to lose the uniboob look I've been rocking, but I don't know how long I should wait before I buy some regular bras. I don't want them to not fit in a month if things are still going to change. I hadn't leaked in weeks but woke up leaking a little this morning which was une”

“Hey all so I’m a FTM I also am dealing with a bit of an oversupply. I exclusively contact breastfeed but I also pump a couple time for comfort mostly. I’ve always had an issue with leaking from my right breast and when I’m feeding from the right sometimes the left leaks but in general left doesn’t leak as much. It started off with my little one is a messy eater and pops off the breast mid suck causing him to get spayed in the face. This has become a “habit” of his. Recently it’s been as soon as”

“first time mum here looking for advice I've been combo feeding since early on and was exclusively pumping 3 times a day until a few weeks ago. I decided to stop because it was becoming too much with ongoing nipple damage, and we're now fully formula feeding. My period returned at 4 months postpartum, but I'm now on CD32 with no sign of my next period. I had a negative pregnancy test last week , but we aren't preventing pregnancy, so I'm wondering whether it's just my horm”

“Looking to hear from other combo-feeding mums! I've been combo feeding since early on and was pumping until a few weeks ago. I decided to stop altogether because pumping was becoming too much with ongoing nipple damage and supply dried up once my cycle came back, and we're now fully formula feeding. My period returned at 4 months postpartum, but I'm now on CD32 with no sign of my next period my cycles pre pregnancy were 26 days long. We aren't preventing pregnancy, so naturally I”

“Hi everyone, I am pretty upset about my breast feeding journey as a third time mom and looking for advice. I am currently 4 weeks pp and exclusively pumping. Supply is good but baby is refusing to latch and if he does latch, it’s not an effective feed. Confirmed no tongue tie, however baby was taking 45- an hour to finish a bottle and now it takes him 30-45 mins, he falls asleep almost every feed. Backstory- night 2, milk came in like a wrecking ball and I got extremely engorged. Baby was fussy”

“I had twins 10 months ago and have been expressing for 10 months every 2-3 hours. I have stopped about 10 days ago and was surprised that my milk cleared up pretty quickly. I was so looking forward to stop expressing however since I've stopped I'm in the darkest depression ever. I don't enjoy anything, if they nap I dread for them to wake up. I also have a 5 year old and don't have the energy or motivation to play with her anymore.I feel so extremely down and sad all the time. Ev”

“After a very very rough start on breastfeeding we are going strong, almost 3 months in! Now, I feed to sleep but I have two major problems, milk flow is constant and my newborn has reflux. So yeh... Love to feed to sleep, my little one would take hours to settle for the night otherwise. He takes about an hour, between the two breasts and a lot of movement and burping in the mix. I try my best to "trick" him with being super fast into changing from breast to pacifier but he often just r”

“It’s been a week and a few days since I weaned my 16 month old cold turkey. My supply was already low, so I had a couple clogged ducts that have resolved, though it is still painful. The last couple days, I have been experiencing nausea, fatigue, weird taste in my mouth, big emotions, etc. has anyone experienced pregnancy like symptoms from weaning? submitted by /u/lily_pad_24 [link] [comments]”

“I am 20 days postpartum, due to my NB loosing too much weight in the first week, he is in formula. I am trying to BF, supplement with formula and pump. I cannot understand how can I BF, pump 8 to 12 times per day each. I am not panicking that my pumped volume is decreasing!!!! Please help me . Looking for stories of people that managed to improve their milk supply , and came out from formula please submitted by /u/Material-Piece-9654 [link] [comments]”

“My sweet 14 week old who has never slept for more than 2 hours at a time miraculously slept in three hour chunks last night! And sadly I was not able to enjoy it or sleep while he slept because my breasts became engorged and so painful. I tried hand expressing and using the boon trove and haakaa but I think I may have waited too long and my breasts are still engorged and painful, even after he woke to feed. I’ve taken ibuprofen and have an ice pack cooling in the freezer. Does anyone have any ti”

My little one had an episode of cluster feeding 2 days ago. I thought I get this whole breast engorgement thing behind me but bam it’s back with a vengeance; it just…

“My baby is going on 4 months now and I have been exclusively nursing & pumping, as that was my preferred method (and it still is for health benefits) but I think I am ready to throw in the towel. It hurts, I feel like a machine, and no one told me how messy it is. I have breast milk all over me, the baby, couch, steering wheel. I am exhausted and I feel like my cravings never got the chance to settle down after giving birth. I’m still ravenous. Really I’m just looking for motivation to conti”

“Reposting here. I was making little amounts at the beginning which I later found out was normal. I would give the breast first before formula. But I was not giving the breast as many times a day as I should have. I had trouble with my pump and it took a while to put it together as I was really exhausted. I had lost all the motivation to do anything related to breastfeeding and now I tried pumping again and there is literally nothing left in my breasts. I was told by my MIL (my husband was convin”

“TLDR: almost a week of progressively worse bottle preference; baby now refuses the breast entirely. Will I ever breastfeed again? My 8w baby was recently diagnosed with silent reflux / GERD / dairy intolerance after weeks of shortened feeds and fits of crying after feeds. Pediatricians weren’t receptive until he started losing weight b To get his weight up we were told to supplement my breastfeeds with pumped milk. To that point he had one bottle per day, same time each day. Then he got an extra”

“I stopped breastfeeding recently and my boobs are obviously deflating. My question is can I just pump a little here and there to keep a small supply and keep my bigger boobs? I assume there is probably a reason not to but …. what? I just don’t want to admit defeat to the deflate yet😩 submitted by /u/mommadoh [link] [comments]”

“I’ve been so fortunate to have such a lovely BF journey with my LO (1st baby) and after nearly 19 months, I think it’s time to wean. Up until 1 week ago she was having 2 feeds a day. She was having milk 1st thing in the morning and then before bed (but not being fed to sleep). She took to that quite well and has only been upset on one morning, which was very short lived. Now she is on just the 1 feed before bed. I think it’s time. Whilst I feel so sad that it’s coming to the end, I feel ready. I”

“Hiya! My bubba is 19 weeks old now, was fully breastfed until 12 weeks, and since 12 weeks gets a bottle at bedtime. Each night since 12 weeks old, I put baby to bed at 7pm, then stay up for a few hours pumping milk for the next night… I however cannot seem to ever pump more than 3oz total It doesn’t seem to matter what I do - whether I wait a few hours and do 1 pump, if I pump 10 mins on, 20 off for a couple of hours I just cannot seem to pump any more before I go to bed at 10.30pm I have done”

“I could really use some help and advice. I’ve been exclusively pumping for 8 months now. Around 5 months my LO was diagnosed with CMPA. Since then I’ve been exclusively pumping but I’ve noticed a drastic decrease in my milk lately. I recently was put on vyvanse for ADHD and when I asked my LO pediatrician if I could continue to pump and take my medication he said “it’s probably okay.” I’m really conflicted and need advice. I really want to switch to formula and have tried so many different ones.”

“TRIGGER WARNING: OVERSUPPLY Hi everyone! So I need some assistance in my breastfeeding/pumping schedule. I am a working mom; my husband is at home with our son and daughter full-time. I had my son very young and nursed him until he was 3.5. I had no idea what I was doing. Honestly, reflecting back on it, I think I seriously just got lucky. The only issues I ran into is that I got a very serious bout of mastitis from not being educated about how long I could go without pumping, and I did not have”

“This is my last baby, and I'm trying to decide whether to commit to pumping more frequently. I know the advice will be "pump more," and I'm willing to do it—but before I invest the time with two under two, I'm hoping to hear from people who've actually been in a similar situation. Breastfeeding got off to a rough start (tongue tie requiring two releases, reflux, overactive letdown, weight gain concerns that led to formula, and then my mom had a heart attack at 12 weeks”

“I’m in the process of weaning. For the last 1-2 weeks I’ve been just pumping once a day and gradually decreased to once every two days. Each pump only yields 3 oz if I do 20 mins. My last pump was on Monday (today is Friday), it’s the longest I’ve gone. My boobs feel a little hard and somewhat heavy, but it’s not uncomfortable. Should I pump or just let it all dry up? Will it just dry up if I do nothing? I’m scared of getting clogs or mastitis but if I try to pump, I know nothing of significance”

“My child is 11 months in 5 days. Lately he has been weaning by himself and my tits have noticably begun to stop producing. Its very little, and he only breastfeeds for comfort before naps and bedtime, as well as during the night as we co-sleep. It has started being uncomfortable for me as half the time he switches breast every few seconds. He has never had a bottle before, nor milk replacement. I read that you should feed cows milk before 12, but he is almost there. He eats a varied diet, what w”

“My girl is 6 weeks old today and due to me having a physical disability, I decided when I gave birth to exclusively pump because everything seemed too hard to try and breast feed. Has anyone had success with going from pumping to breastfeeding? Any tips to going from bottles to the breast? We’ve tried a few times but she gets frustrated so I just want to see if anyone has any similar experiences. TIA! submitted by /u/Big_Wedding9491 [link] [comments]”

“TLDR - pretty sure I have an oversupply and fast flow and want to try block feeding but not sure if it is recommended before supply regulates. Baby is 4 days old and my milk supply still seems to be coming in. The first two/three days went super smoothly. Baby has a great latch, was sleeping soundly for a few hours at a time and is pooping 10+ times a day. However…now that my milk is coming in, I am noticing she is super gassy and having trouble keeping up. She is crying right after/during feeds”

“14 week old. I want to be done breastfeeding because it is making me so unhappy in a lot of ways. When it’s going well, I love it. But that’s like 15% of the time. The other 85% just sucks so much. I got to a support group every week. I’ve seen a private LC multiple times. We are doing OT/myofacial therapy. She does have ties, but nobody seems convinced that they should be lasered. She will also not take a bottle without it being a huge ordeal. Pissed. Screaming. Fussy. It’s takes an hour just f”

“I am 40 weeks today. I started collecting colostrum when I got the ok at my 36 week appointment. At that same appointment I was told I was 1cm dilated and 50% effaced. Everything was going well until a few days ago.. The first week of collecting I was getting around 5ml daily over 2-3 sessions. After the first week I was getting around 10ml-15ml daily over the same 2-3 sessions. Over the past 4 days my supply seemed to have dissipated. Im lucky to get 1ml per session. Nothing has changed in my d”

“Hi! FTM here 10 days pp. I’m very early on this journey. I’m not sure but I might be low on breast milk. I lagged in the first few days with nursing, milk didn’t come in until day 5, and when it did it never came in hot and fast with engorgement or anything. I was relying on formula more but in the last few days nursing time increased a lot (every time he asks for it) and top up with formula when I feel like I have been drained and he is still hungry. So formula use is also decreasing. I wake up”

“Hello moms! First of all sorry for my English I’m a French Canadian! I’m in 4 months exclusive pumping journey! Need advise. Do we have in here some moms who went to a festival and still pumping in the same time? I’m planning to go to the Vans Wrapped Tour, but I do not know if I be able to pump or to bring my pump.. I need your experiences on that! Thanks a lot :) submitted by /u/Effective_Lab6100 [link] [comments]”