Breastfeeding Moms Worry Their Milk Supply Isn't Enough

“Our daughter was born at 34+4 and spent almost 3 weeks in the NICU. Since they tracked exactly how much she was eating, she learned to feed mainly from bottles with expressed breast milk. We practiced latching a few times in the NICU, and now that she is home we put her to the breast 1-2x/day (max 15 minute total), but we still need to bottle feed after to make sure she gets her required volume and continues gaining weight. I’ve been exclusively pumping, but our goal is to gradually increase bre”

“I’m sure this type of situation is talked about daily on here. My beautiful baby girl is now 3 month is breast fed strictly through pumping. She is weighting 11.5lb’s and has dropped into the 11th percentile for weight. Her height has sky rocketed into the 60th percentile which has the pediatrician shocked. Checked for dairy intolerance and test came back negative. She’s taking anywhere from 22-30 oz a day. Has the occasional green stool but no other symptoms of any dairy or intake issue. Any su”

“Hi all - has anyone any experience at increasing supply at or beyond this point? Had a really rough start to BF and baby has been pretty much 60% formula fed since beginning. My pump output if he hasn’t fed is around 80-90ml. We got his tongue tie released last Friday and he is finally latching! He is slow to drink and sleepy but it’s a massive improvement, however I still have to top him up with expressed milk after feeds. Is there still hope for me to increase my supply to meet his needs fully”

“On the first weight my LO had lost 14% of his weight. Because of this, I need to top up with formula. He is currently 4 weeks. I am reducing the formula offer , hoping to move to EBF. Can’t shake de paranoia of how he grabs the formula bottle after breastfeeding. Neither I can’t forget the shock of when I weight him the first time. I used the home scale , weighted myself , then weighted again holding him, and looks like he is gaining weight, but I can’t shake the fear. Next available slot to che”

“Hi all, my LO is 5 weeks old and we EBF. She primarily nurses one side at a time (anywhere from 8 min to 30ish min). Once in a while she’ll start grunting/pushing her face into the boob/arching and pulling away/popping off and relatching- I read this as maybe gas discomfort or frustration so I’ll burb her and offer the other side. My concerns are that a) when she has a shorter ~10 min feed, my breast may not be emptied (how do I tell?) and the side she’s not nursing def isn’t emptied. I don’t wa”

“My babe is now 3 weeks old tomorrow (born at 36 weeks on the dot), she was severe IUGR and came home from the NICU at 1 week old 4lbs 1oz. We were doing a mix of breast milk bottles and nursing (with a shield), until she got more stamina and better at transferring milk, we are finally there 🥹. So my question is, can I slowly drop back on pumping sessions? Right now I'm every 3-3.5 hours on top of nursing her (she's having plenty of wet and dirty diapers). I have a huge oversupply as I&#”

“Really struggling atm and looking for some advice. My baby was born at 31+6 and thankfully did really well and we started non-nutritive sucking at 33+4 and breastfeeding at 34 weeks. She did so well and we were discharged at 34+6 EBF and on fortifier shots. She did well at home - latch was getting better by the day and she was swallowing throughout feeds and draining the breast (although I have an oversupply so still pumped after feeds to empty). A few days ago she had a couple of feeds where sh”

“Hi! I am 8 weeks postpartum and breastfeeding my baby. I am kind of lost as to how much/long to pump. I had problems with oversupply and a strong letdown, to the point where the baby, when latched, choked a lot (it got better with an IBCLC). He used to feed from one breast, but now that my milk has regulated, he feeds from both. I used to pump only one breast (got 3 or 4 ounces) and feed him a bottle, but now when I pump from one breast, I may get 3 ounces or sometimes barely 2. Should I pump bo”

“I’m 4 weeks postpartum with my second baby and could really use some perspective from people who’ve been here. With my first, I had a complicated and traumatic birth with a NICU stay, and breastfeeding was a struggle from the start. I ended up combo feeding, supplementing about half of what she needed with formula. This time I had a wonderful home birth and honestly didn’t expect any breastfeeding issues. But the situation seems to be super similar. Despite pumping 8x a day, I’m still needing to”

“My baby is EBF and 8 weeks old today. My understanding is that it is really difficult to overfeed a breastfed baby as they typically self-regulate and won't take the breast if they aren't hungry. For the most part, this seems to be true for my experience! I follow my baby's cues, she eats, burps, sleeps, all good. She usually goes about 1-2.5 hrs between feeds during the day and (sometimes) longer stretches at night. However, this week my baby has woken up after only a short evening”

“Ive been struggling mentally with everything. Currently on 7 days pp. My baby is a preemie born at 35 weeks with emergency c sect, lost my job a day after and i was distraught. So for my mental health i stopped latching after 3 days pp and went ahead with pumped breastmilk and formula. I feel so guilty but I also feel relieved. so many people are asking me to continue BF and i just feel like i can’t. I hate the feeling and my baby is less fussy with bottle. :’) help submitted by /u/E”

“our baby was born at 38w1d and required a 4 day NICU stay for hypoglycemia. breastfeeding has always been a challenge with him, but initially our LC thought it was mostly a supply issue but made worse by him being so sleepy. fast forward to now: 11 weeks old, 7 lactation appointments later, and still only transferring 1-2 oz by breast. supply no longer an issue. we saw an SLP today and it seems like a combo of tongue and lip ties, weak suck, high arched palate, poor coordination, and high tensio”

“I don’t know why because it’s been 4 months now but for some reason my gut wrenches every time I think about how hard the nurse pushed for my baby to IMMEDIATELY receive supplemental feeding.. I had just fed her her first feed successfully but because she was 5 lbs 9 oz the nurse pushed us so hard to give her more right away. And they push formula as way better and that I should absolutely choose that route like basically trying to not let me make my own decision. I had a doula who was amazing a”

“Anyone able to go from 4-5% to a bit higher for their EBF baby by changing anything in their diet? Our 12 week old has always been in 4th percentile but if I can fatten her up a bit it would be nice. submitted by /u/Fun-Reporter-2603 [link] [comments]”

“I have been working with a lactation consultant for my 7 week old (4 weeks adjusted). We triple fed for first 5 weeks of life and have slowly weaned off it for the last week and a half. The consultant and I are both stumped as to why baby is not transferring. As of right now, she has a good latch, does well during oral exercises and can suck, and is in a good position. I have plenty of milk and can regularly pump 5-7oz (which she is being supplemented with bottles). There is ample swallowing and”

“Hi! FTM to a 6 week old baby boy. I had what is classified as a traumatic birth (hemorrhaged, almost needed a blood transfusion) but my son is here happy and healthy! He was a big guy, 10.23 pounds. Due to the status of my birth my milk was a little delayed coming in. He’s now 6 weeks and I feel like my supply is still slacking. We had to supplement with formula. My current routine is BF for 15 mins each side (my right always produces more than my left though) and then if he is still hungry top”

“My baby is 9 weeks old and is exclusively breastfeeding, with the occasional pumped bottle here and there. She was born at 6lbs and 14oz. Today she is 12.3lbs. So she’s basically double her weight, which I heard is supposed to happen by 6 months, not 9 weeks! I also read that the rate of weight gain in babies is correlated to obesity, which makes me nervous since obesity runs on both sides. I guess I’m wondering if other people’s babies had the same growth curve? Was the doctor concerned?”

“Looking for advice or experience please 🙏 I have a 2.5w old baby, born by elective c-section at 39w in the UK. He started off at 3.5kg and dropped below the tolerated weight loss at 5 days pp, so I have been advised to pump four times a day to top up his breast feeds (been doing this since day 6). I pump for 30 mins using my Medela hands free, and get anywhere from 20ml to 60ml a pump depending on time of day and which breast. He was diagnosed with a tongue tie at day 5 likely affecting his lat”

“My EFB has been not wanting to feed every 3 hours. He is usually really good about eating and has always been very good at breastfeeding. He was born at 8 lbs and over the almost 7 weeks (Friday) he will have gain 6 lbs. 14 lbs now. However the past 2 days he has been not wanting to feed at the 3 hr mark. He will scream upset. I’ve assumed he has mild reflux due to stuffiness, some gagging and some choking. I don’t wait for hunger cues because I try every 3 hours. Is it common for an almost 7 we”

“I had my first baby premature a week ago at 35 weeks. She did really well, we’re home now against all odds and on night 4 my milk started to come in. At this point though she was already started on donor milk and drinking way more than I could pump/ produce. At only 5lb3oz at birth, and losing weight I didn’t feel comfortable focusing on BF. I just want my baby to grow. The first day went great i ended up waking up with an engorged swollen breast, and my pump was not pulling anything out. And I”

“I am currently triple feeding and trying to move to EBF, baby is 3 weeks. My plan is to gradually reduce the volume of formula, and technically, this week I did not reduce any volume yet , because with 3 weeks I suppose to increase his volume if I was just giving formula, so I just kept same as last week. if that makes sense. We have a routine when I usually sleep 9 pm to midnight ish so I can have energy to endure the night feeds ( to be honest , if was for my Baby I would sleep trough night, b”

“Not asking for medical advice, i am going to discuss this with our pediatrician in a few days at the appointment. My twins were born at 34and6 they are now 8 weeks actual, 3 weeks adjusted. They were born 4lbs 4oz Now both 6 1/2 lbs We were told to keep fortifying my breastmilk to 24 cal likely until they are 4 months. The girls don’t like the fortified milk, they get reflux and fussy and then dont get enough sleep. Has anyone had this experience and was it necessary to keep using formula to for”

“My 4 month old weighs 11 pounds 4 ounces. He is in the first percentile and has been since his 1 month check up. We triple fed from 1-3 months and at 3 months I quit because it was just too much. My pediatrician wants me to start triple feeding again or supplement with formula. Baby is very content with breastfeeding. He’s happy, satisfied, smiley. Meeting milestones. Wakes up 2-4 times a night to eat and goes right back to sleep after. We have 4-6 wet diapers a day and he poops often. Do I real”

“I am a first time EBF mom! My baby was 43 percentile weight and 50 percentile height at his two month appointment. At his four month appointment his weight dropped from 43 to 8 percentile but his height is now 81 percentile. He is meeting his milestones, happy, and has lots of wet diapers. But the doctor said I might want to add formula to make sure he gets enough calories. I’m worried adding formula will decrease my supply and I’m wondering if it’s fine and maybe he’s just been dedicating all h”

“Has anyone else been in this circumstance? I may be a late gestationer but I don’t want a repeat of last pregnancy with a baby ending up in NICU. I’m struggling to come to term with not having my desired VBAC birth. Also curious to hear if people have had successful inductions for VBAC when cervix isn’t completely ready for birth. Some backstory: My first pregnancy I went to 43 weeks (based off early dating scan not cycles as they are irregular) before spontaneous labour. I never dilated more th”

“With my first daughter I didn’t make very much milk and she could never latch. I pumped and fed her bottles but supplemented with formula and then she was on formula exclusively by 6 months. My second daughter could latch and I produced more and nursed her exclusively through my maternity leave. When I returned to work I pumped and fed her exclusively pumped milk until about 5 months when I started supplementing with formula because I wasn’t making enough. Now at 7 months I feel my supply has di”

“My baby is almost 3 months old and is EBF. We have used a shield since being in the hospital. She is gaining weight beautifully and is always content after feeds. However, my Lactation Consultant wants me to wean her off of them because she says it can affect my supply. Does any other moms have experience in this? She does latch without the shield sometimes, but it is painful for me. I cannot tell if it’s painful because I have never breast-fed without the shield or if it is painful due to a poo”

“Looking for some reassurance from other breastfeeding mamas! ❤️ My daughter was born at 36w4d. She was bottle-fed breast milk for her first couple of weeks because she wasn’t latching. I have DMER, so pumping was easier, but I introduced a nipple shield yesterday and she’s been latching great. My goal is to breastfeed during the day and give bottles at night, while only pumping morning and night. Before starting to latch her, I was pumping around 6-9 oz during my first morning pump, 3-5 oz durin”

“My sister has a baby who’s struggling with weight gain, and she’s now seen two pediatricians who recommended completely different feeding plans. The first one wants her to pump for 10–15 minutes before every feed, then nurse, then give the pumped milk back through an SNS, and finally offer formula if needed. He said pumping first makes the baby get the fattier hindmilk while nursing. The second pediatrician said not to do that. Instead, he wants her to give formula through an SNS before breastfe”

“Context: My LO is one month old and has had poor weight gain. I started breastfeeding in the hospital and my milk came in on day 2. Her latch was great, but she never consistently suckled. She was also incredibly sleepy and didn’t wake every 2-3 hours. We got her ties lasered at one week old and thought it would fix it, and while she has improved, she still never seemed satisfied (it didn’t seem like normal cluster feeding). My mental health tanked and for about a week during 2nd and 3rd week of”

“Hi, I’m trying to get a grasp on this situation especially as so much of what I’m reading suggests low supply is rare. Baby was born 7 days ago. induction due to being 41 weeks. Vaginal delivery. Nursed during golden hour and she latched great. Nursed every 2-3 hours while in-patient. LCs said latch was great. I was producing colostrum and could hand express small amounts. Baby cluster fed the first few nights and was always hungry and always on the breast. At discharge she was down 9% and I was”

“My baby is almost 4 months old. 2.5 weeks we had to leave our house for a week after our neighbors house burnt down, at the same time I had a supply dip and baby was fussy so was supplementing with formula but I didn’t have access to a pump to help get it back up. When we got home she would get fussy when on the breast and I got so overstimulated with it and decided to stop. She’s been bottle fed for about a week now, I do latch her occasionally, like in the morning when I think I’ll have more m”

“URGENTLY need advice from anyone who’s dealt with something similar, feeling really hopeless. My son was born 50th %ile at 7 lbs 7 oz, has steadily dropped percentiles his whole life, and is now about 11th at 14 lbs 10 oz at 5 months. His head has always been around 60-70th %ile and height around 90th. He was EBF until a month ago when our ped cleared us for purées. We saw an LC a few weeks ago who revealed that he takes in 1.5-2 oz a feed when he should be taking 4-5 — his caloric needs have fa”

“My son just turned 13 months. And I just found out that I’m due in march! So so excited. His breastfeeding journey did not go as planned to say the least. I had the most perfect home birth ever- literally. Until he refused to latch. We ended up having to give him frozen colostrum that night. The next morning we took him to the chiropractor- he was only turning his head to the right and was super tense on the left. (Throughout this time I relentlessly tried to get him to latch). I squeezed colost”

“We are at 6 weeks! So I understand this is a particularly fussy/clingy phase, but I’m absolutely crumbling. For context, she lost too much weight in the hospital. She gained it back in the first 2 weeks, and we were triple feeding for the first 3, which nearly broke me 😅 Now at 6 weeks, I’m nursing her when I get up in the morning and am particularly full and pumping the rest. Sometimes if I can time it right, I’m able to pump before she’s hungry or while I’m feeding her with a hands-free pump”

“Hi everyone! So I have a 5 week old girl. She was born slightly premie (36+4) but took to latching right away! During her time in the NICU, under the lights for high bilirubin levels, I exclusively pumped. After leaving the hospital, she mostly stayed with the bottle, but I reintroduced my breast here and there, and she took it. Great, no issues and as the weeks progressed, I slowly took away the bottles (except night feeds so my husband can feed her), and the morning feed so I can pump and get”

“I thought I was doing everything right. She’s latching perfectly. Lots of wet and dirty nappies. Feeding on demand regularly. I have a strong letdown so she does sometimes splutter at the boob and gets gassy from the gulping but that’s the only issue. I have an appointment on the 5th August for another weight check for her but I just feel like I’m failing. I could cry. submitted by /u/Comfortable-Pear-973 [link] [comments]”

“I am at a loss of what to do next. Baby girl was born via c-section and weighed at around the 50th percentile. My milk came in within 72 hours and by day 4 she started regaining her weight, and was back to her birth weight by around day 10. However, from her weigh in at day 6 to her 3 week appointment she had dropped from the 50th percentile to the 31st. By 6 weeks, she was at the 21st percentile and at 2 months the 19th. At her 2 months appointment, the doctor was not concerned as she had stabi”

“My ebf 8 weeks is starting to sleep 4-5 hour stretches. My mum asked if i want a good night sleep she could take her off me for one night. How detrimental is this to my milk supply? I will wake up a couple times o/n to pump. Baby takes bm bottlee just fine. Should I wait till 12 weeks to consider sleepovers? This is my second bf baby so my milk supply has been amazing from the start submitted by /u/CellOk4884 [link] [comments]”

“My 9 week old daughter was born 7 lbs 1.4 oz, and at her 2 month check in on Friday was 9 lbs 9 oz. That puts her in the 10th percentile for weight when she had previously been 28th around birth. Even though she sleeps great, has lots of wet diapers (pee and poo) and nurses 7x in 24 hours and until she is full every time, I guess somehow we were underfeeding her. I feel awful and pediatrician would like her to gain a little more weight (as would we!) Right now baby's feeding schedule is: 7A,”

“My baby is 6 weeks old and I have been pumping since day 2 due to a very sleepy baby and too much weight loss. She had a lip tie release 2 weeks ago and she has been latching a lot better but not perfect. She still unpatches throughout the feed and falls asleep. So I will relatch her and wake her up until she won’t anymore. I want to transition to nursing for most of her feeds. I started today trying to just feed on demand from the breast and only top up with a bottle if she is still hungry afte”

“Having some issues with baby’s weight gain so looking for advice? Here’s the stats: born at 2.7 kg, went down to 2.65 (within normal range), and was back up to 2.7 at exactly 2 weeks so midwife was very happy. We just had our 6 week appointment and she was measuring at 3.4 kg. The normal range of weight gain is 20-30 grams per day and she was gaining 21g/day but she ended up dropping a percentile which concerned the midwife. Our plan was to have me pump and feed her with extra milk when she gets”

“Baby is 6months today. I was almost exclusively pumping so far cuz baby didnot latch. I tried once more to get him to latch a week ago and he instantly did it. Supply has not been a concern for me so far, but he has not pooped in 2 days. He is wetting diapers just the same. We started solids but had a bumpy ride so he barely eats solids if any. He is still exclusively on breast milk. I have a peds appt for tom morning but before i spiral just want to ask here submitted by /u/Informal”

“My baby was born spontaneously on July 24th at 37 weeks. He weighed 6lbs 4 oz at birth and when we discharged yesterday he weighed 5lbs 12oz. Birth was a little fast so he swallowed a ton of amniotic fluid and wasn’t interested at all in eating for the first day in the hospital as he was spitting up tons of fluid. Lactation came and saw us in the hospital which was helpful but I still cannot get him to latch. It’s very shallow and painful and he’s so sleepy. My milk hasn’t quite come in yet so I”

“Baby is 6 weeks old today (born 4 weeks early). Breastfed on demand, nurses for 30 minutes, acts like he's done, but 5 minutes acts like he's hungry again, but won't stay latched. I usually give him a bottle and he will eat anywhere between 1-2 ounces. I've been dairy free for one week (trying to resolve other symptoms), burp at least twice during feeds, and I've upped my calories and healthy fat intake to try and boost my supply. I usually pump after feeds as well and do get”

“I am 3 days pp and just got home from the hospital yesterday. I had a c section. I have been ebf and no pumping this whole time. I have been making plenty of colostrum and see that my milk is already coming in. My baby seems to be so inconsistent with times he wants to eat. One point he cluster fed all night and the next night he wanted on the boob but would fall asleep and not actually nurse. I think I’m going too far in between actually removing milk (4-5 hours) and don’t want to hinder my mil”

“My 12 week old baby has always been on the lower percentile, like 2 to 3% and has been following at her own curve. My husband and I are very small people and our first daughter has always been from 2 to 5% also. The baby does have a slight lip tie, but I don’t have any pain with breast-feeding and she’s transferring about 2.5 to 3 ounces at each feed. The dentist also said that it’s not a significant tie. I tried to feed her more but she just un latches herself and seems really content. She is p”

“Needing some encouragement today. My baby is 2 months old, exclusively breastfed. At 1 month she was 39% in weight, 2 months dropped to 26% (gained 1.5 pounds in the past month). The pediatrician thinks my supply may have dropped. She will mostly nurse on one side only and seem happy/fall asleep (if she doesn’t, I offer the other side) and sleeps 6-8 hours at night. I recently started doing a dream feed because I was worried about her weight and my supply. Her pediatrician just suggested continu”

“Hi, my baby girl was born last Tuesday morning. vaginal birth, induced. I’m a FTM. She latched in the golden hour and was nursing non-stop for the first two days -constantly giving hunger cues and I constantly fed. Lactation consultants praised the latch and said everything looks great. Day 1 she was down 5%, then 9% day 2 and 14% day 3. We’ve been supplementing with formula since day 3. Starting at .5 oz. Started out I would nurse and then finger feed formula then pump for 10 minutes. My milk s”

“Hi everyone, After an up and down start to breastfeeding, we've been in a real groove since about 7/8 weeks and EBF has become second nature, it's been so amazing. Baby had been feeding loads especially in the heatwave and happily nursing for comfort whenever needed However around a week ago baby started really struggling with my morning let down, pulling off and coughing and spluttering. I'd just been giving him breaks when this happened and usually it evened out once morning became”

“Just to preface my daughter is hitting all of her growth milestones and is in the 70th% for height and weight. She also has 8+ wet diapers a day so neither myself nor my doctor are concerned about her not getting enough milk. I also have a slight oversupply. It seems as though everyone else’s baby is feeding every 2-3 hours while mine ‘snacks’ and eats every 30 min some days and not for over 10 minutes usually. I don’t think she is feeding til completely full and satiated but she unlatches on he”

“My son spent just shy of 100 days in the NICU. He was born at 27 weeks and 2 days, and is now almost 4 months old (about 3½ weeks corrected). Thankfully, he's doing incredibly well. He wasn't even discharged on fortified feeds because he had been growing so well in the NICU. Since coming home, we've been trying to transition from exclusive pumping to breastfeeding, and I honestly have no idea if it's going well or not. The lactation consultants in the NICU always told me he &quot”

“My little girl is 4 months old and has always been ebf, she won’t even take a bottle. I absolutely love breast feeding and i love being able to feed my daughter but it’s become so hard. She is constantly grabbing my boob with her hand and pushing away with all her strength while still being latched which is very painful, she’s pulling my nipple out her mouth while still sucking it in. not to mention the pinching of her nails when she grabs. I know that most babies end up grabbing but is this nor”

“Hey guys, I had a really smooth delivery but live in a country where babies are separated from their mothers for the first 24-48 hours and bottle fed. I thought this would be okay after hearing stories of people doing the full two weeks in a postpartum care centre and breastfeeding successfully. I was very quickly humbled… I tried pumped but I did it wrong - only one side at a time for like 15 minutes total. Anyway, essentially triple feeding this whole time. I had low pump output (300ml a day,”

“My newborn is 3 days old. We came home from the hospital yesterday. I am wishing to EBF, but have found that baby is pulling away from my breast during feeds and crying, despite actively rooting for the nipple with his mouth. It’s impossible for me to know if he has had enough to eat. When he pulls away, I will try to get him back on it, and sometimes he does re-latch on, but not always. How do I know if he’s getting enough from me during those feeds? Also having issues with him not going to sle”

“My baby is one week old today. Breastfeeding had been going great. He was born tiny, 5lbs 11oz, and doctor was worried I’d have to supplement to get his birth weight back up, but at 6 days old, he had gained 8 oz in 3 days and was over his birth weight, so he clearly was getting enough from me! Last night, he started to refuse to latch. Like screaming at the boob, only suckling on the end of my nipple, or latching for a second and then letting go. This goes on for extended periods of time before”

“My daughter is 4.5 months and we were told to see a paediatrician due to her lack of efficient weight gain . She was born 5 pounds 7 oz she is currently 9 pounds 7 oz. I have been exclusively breastfeeding her which I’ve been so happy about as I couldn’t do this with my first. However, recently on her 4 month check in the doctor was not so pleased with her weight gain. She has been in the third percentile for her weight and has gained but not based on her curve, she’s dropping to a lower percent”

“Hi everyone. My daughter was born at 30 weeks 1 day on May 21. She spent 6 weeks in the NICU being tube fed for the first 3 weeks where I pumped only to bring milk in for her. My supply was low but has since went up a bit. I then started to breastfeed her when I was able too but since being home I’ve been majority pumping because she didn’t stay awake on the breast and wasn’t transferring well plus we have to use a nipple shield. We are coming up to her being at her “due date” and I want to star”

“This post is from India. My baby is 2.5 months old. I was not able to breastfeed initially since milk didn’t come in so we started with formula. I kinda blame the hospital for not guiding me enough and thinking breastfeeding is natural. I started pumping to increase my milk supply and gave him whatever came out. At around day 40 he started to latch and we started to breastfeed but it was not that effective to exclusively breastfeed so we relied on formula and combo fed. Last few days the formula”