Breastfeeding Moms Worry Their Milk Supply Isn't Enough

“Baby was latching great in the hospital and at our 3 day follow up appointment. The nurse was actually so impressed as she transferred 60ml when the average for 3 days old is 30! Since then she has gotten increasingly lazy at the breast and her weight has fallen quite a lot. My doctor suggested supplementing w formula and pumping to up my supply. Since offering her a bottle she really won’t latch at all! I EBF my first born for 14 months and it was the best experience so my heart aches thinking”

“My baby was born at just under 37 weeks and was born a very sleepy baby. I had gdm while pregnant so because of this they needed her to drink milk asap to make sure her blood sugars didn't drop. They put her on the bottle straight away as she wasn't waking up for feeds or she would latch but not suck. She was also kept in the hospital for a week and I never had the chance to properly try feeding her or pumping. I did try expressing my milk with some help from a midwife but had no luck. I”

“Hi! First time mom and EBF my newborn! Things have been going well, we had a lactation consult this week and baby was given gold stars lol. She is transferring milk very well, over birth weight, and many wet and dirty diapers per day. Obviously this is my first time going through all of this so just looking for solidarity/advice on what’s normal. We were feeding every 2-3 hours or sooner if she was hungry. She was pretty much on a 3 hour schedule, she would wake us up mins before our night alarm”

“Hi all, I am a first time mom to a 2.5 week old. We had a rough start with an unplanned C-section, hemorrhage, and my milk not coming in until a week after she was born. I had to get a blood transfusion and skip several feedings at the beginning. My husband and I also take shifts so that I can get a chunk of sleep, but I try to wake up and pump. I am seeing a lactation expert and triple feeding, but just feeling really down and discouraged. We do a mix of formula and breastfeeding (either direct”

“FTM and had a Cesarean section, struggled with milk supple initially so gave the baby formula, in a bottle ofcourse. My baby is 18 days old and has latched just once. Anytime I get him close to the breast he starts crying and pushing it away, doesn't even close his mouth. I live in a small town where there no lactation consultant. Any advice is appreciated from someone who experienced the same thing. submitted by /u/Turbulent-Shoe-4122 [link] [comments]”

“FTM. Baby is almost 5 weeks, well above birth weight, and luckily we have had no issues with EBF yet 🤞 I set myself a target of at least 6 weeks EBF and reassess from there - happy I’ve almost made my goal! But also feel like I can continue breastfeeding past 6 weeks currently BUT I know for my mental health at some point we will need to introduce a bottle. I also have two weddings coming up, which are really important to me personally so I don’t want to miss them, where I will be away from my”

“Hey everyone, looking for advice - Our 5-week-old baby boy has had steady weight gain so far (6 lb 0.3 oz at birth, up to 7 lb 6 oz a 4 days ago), but the last couple of days have been brutal. He’s passing 10 to 15 watery, explosive stools a day (lots of sharts) which triggered an intense, fiery diaper rash that flared up right after we switched his supplement from Enfamil Gentlease powder to Enfamil Gentleease Ready-to-Feed liquid. When awake, he is constantly agitated, straining with a red fac”

“FTM here and honestly just feeling really stuck. 😭 My baby was born at 37w5d after PROM. I went into this fully intending to breastfeed, but in the hospital she basically wouldn’t latch. She was SO sleepy and just didn’t have the stamina to stay at the breast or take a meaningful amount. We were put on the classic triple feeding plan: attempt breastfeeding → pump → give a bottle of pumped milk. I started doing it because obviously I wanted to do everything I could to get her fed and establish b”

“I have an almost 4 month old (my first). I planned to EBF and did for about the first month. When he was born and we were still in the hospital, he had lost about 8% of his birthweight, and he was on my boob constantly. I didn’t know what breastfeeding a newborn was supposed to look like, and with his “close to worrisome” weight loss, I voiced my concern to my nurse that night. Looking back, I was absolute mental case and they should have probably intervened with that or raised some flags, but t”

“I’m having my third baby in April next year. My first I only BF until 6 months and I had to supplement about 4 months in due to being an under supplier. With my second, she and I both got COVID and were hospitalized and I lost my supply at 7 weeks. Up to that point I actually had a pretty solid supply, she was happy with what I was producing with barely any supplementing. I’m scared to BF again. I’m not even sure I want to because I had really severe PPA/PPD with my second and I had to go on a s”

“I posted a few days ago asking if it was too late for me to breastfeed because my baby was in the nicu and I wasnt able to breastfeed the first few days and I was barely pumping an ounce. Well I almost gave up, I told myself I was gonna try one more time as I was getting so sore I didn't want to keep doing it if I was barely getting an ounce. So I tried to get her to latch again before pumping because the lactation consultant I spoke to told me to always try to breastfeed before pumping and”

“Hi all, long story short I had my second Bub 9 days ago by planned c section. I was really happy that she was latching and seemed to be transferring colostrum and I was able to actually collect multiple cups full on day 2-3 (my first daughter received next to none and even even the lactation consultants tried to express, I would get one or two drops max). I was so excited because I thought this feeding journey might be different to my first! Then the exact same severe engorgement that happened w”

“Hi, my baby boy is 5 weeks old, EBF, FTM. Breastfeeding has mostly gone well from the start. He was 7lbs3oz at birth and as of last week had reached 11lbs, so he's been eating plenty. Plus lots of wet diapers. Over the last 2 weeks, he'll latch, eat for a good 10 minutes and then start crying and screaming. I'll soothe, he'll burp, go back on, he'll latch for maybe 20-30 seconds and start screaming again. And on and on we go. Once 1 episode of crying/screaming starts, it cont”

“My LO is 8 weeks and has been primarily EBF since she was born, though we give her formula usually once a day. Recently I have been struggling with my mental health (I’m seeing a psychiatrist and doing a lot better!) but during the 2 weeks that I was pretty down, I was having a really hard time eating food. I tried to force feed myself but I have definitely lost weight and am just starting to get my appetite back. Baby has been eating normally but my boobs feel really soft and light all the time”

“to make a very long story short my son was born at 29 weeks and in the nicu for 73 days, during that time my milk wasnt really coming in, maybe an ounce or two at the most when pumping so they put him on formula and has been since. now that hes been home my whole pumping routine has gone out the window and i sometimes went 12 or more hours not pumping and now a week into him being home my milk is mostly gone. is there anything i can do to bring it back up? submitted by /u/caitlin0813”

“I have a 4.5mo baby that I have almost exclusively breastfed. He has taken a bottle of formula a few times when he was a month old when I’d leave him with my mom or husband when I’d have doctor’s appointments. For the last 2-3 months I have only breastfed him without giving him any type of bottles (formula or breastmilk). I don’t pump, I only feed on demand. The last time I left him with my mom and she tried feeding him formula he refused it. We’re thinking this is because he doesn’t like the ta”

“FTM with a 12 day old boy, born at 38+1. He was a tiny baby, only 2820g. He lost 7% of his birth weight and we are coming back from there, slowly but surely. I was planning on breastfeeding especially at the beginning, until it’s well established. I don’t have much experience with babies so all i was doing was cuddling with him a lot and putting him on my breast, and if he wanted to suck/feed/comfort on my breasts, I let him. It was a wonderful few days… because shortly after he started to gain”

“My LO is just about 4 weeks old, he was born premature at 36 weeks. He was born with hypoglycaemia, so donor milk in a bottle was introduced right away. My milk didn't come in for 4-5 days, and so he was on donor milk during his NICU stay as well. We were never able to establish a latch, which was really disappointing for me. I eventually accepted that I would be exclusively pumping. I still offered the breast before each feed, never with any luck. Well, today he latched several times (let g”

“My 4 weeks old is ebf. I’d love to pump as well so I can start building some milk stock and my husband can feed the baby too especially at night - I really want to do shifts and have at least a few hours of uninterrupted sleep. But I simply don’t understand when to pump! Each time baby uses both taps and if I try to pump after feed there are literally just a few drops (10 ml maybe). When I try to pump in the mid of the night, baby needs some comfort so I have to take of the cups in a couple of m”

“So my little girl was born at 35+6. Now at 36+5 she has a GREAT latch as per the location specialists but after doing a weighted feed found out she’s not transferring nearly enough. I pump around 5-6 oz a session so milk supply is not the issues, she’s just not strong enough. They recommend I feed her half her recommended amount after nursing from a bottle, but how do you know when she’s strong enough to get all of it at once directly from me? Has anyone gone through this? submitted by &#3”

“My baby is 19 days old today. She was exclusively breastfed until Monday. Yesterday I got a weighted feed done at the hospital she’s only transferred 1.1oz which is what I expected. They told me to start offering her 2oz of formula instead of the 1oz I had been offering her. I pumped a couple times when she was first born but I only got .5oz-1oz. So I stopped now I’m only getting .25-.6oz combing both breast. What can I do? I just want to be able to feed my baby. Formula poops smell awful. And i”

“This is my second baby. My first was formula-fed, so breastfeeding is completely new to me. My newborn is 19 days old today. I started supplementing with 1 oz of formula Monday around 11 PM because I was concerned about her weight. On Tuesday, I took her to the ER because I felt like something wasn’t right and I didn’t feel like her pediatrician was listening to my concerns. She was born at 8 lb 12 oz and was down to 8 lb 1 oz when she was weighed. The ER told me to continue breastfeeding and of”

“💔My baby was born at 39 weeks through cesarean. At first I didn't produce milk, even when I pumped it was something about a tablespoon. He was put on formula but I was still adviced to keep trying. He was fed formula milk with a spoon after which I started getting a little milk and yet he refused breast. He was rhen fed breastmilk through the spoon which was getting difficult so I got a feeding bottle and he started drinking expressed milk and formula soemtimes through the bottle. I have be”

“FTM - my little one is 3.5 weeks old. He’s had a lot of trouble latching, so I am pumping and combining with formula when needed. This is really different than how I imagined the journey going. We are working with lactation consultants, had his tongue and lip ties released, all sorts of stuff. I just need a little pick me up! Some validation that’s it’s ok that I’m not EBF. submitted by /u/Basic_Seattle [link] [comments]”

submitted by /u/Missymerv [link] [comments]

“Typing this from my hospital bed at 3am because my perfect baby girl learned a new trick where she screams if she isn’t on my boob. I was induced Monday night at 40+6 after three failed membrane sweeps. I had been dilated to 4cm on my own for a week or so, but this was my first pregnancy. Baby was super cozy in there and labor wasn’t about to happen on its own. We got the call to come in at 6pm and started a pitocin drip at around 8pm. My contractions were super weak and weren’t changing my cerv”

“My son is 3 weeks old and I wanted to ebf. Unfortunately I had preeclampsia, hemorrhage, blood transfusion and my milk took a week to come in. He had low blood sugar issues so they gave formula in hospital and I have been having to give formula too. When the milk finally came in, I became so engorged that he wouldn't latch. I pumped and I was able to produce 3oz with my left breast but only an ounce with my right. When I put him on the breast, he loses interest after 5 minutes every time. II”

“Hi all I have been exclusively breastfeeding my 18 week baby who was born 3.01 kg. We took him to my family doctor today. She said that he is not growing as expected and suggested 60-90 ml as top up after every feed. He is now 5.61 kg and fell from 25th centile at birth to 3rd centile as per her review. I have exclusively fed my first born IUGR baby even though she was 5th centile from birth to 2 years of age. She told me I dont have enough milk based on her 2-3 minutes review. I’m heartbroken t”

“My baby started latching for a few minutes at 6 weeks. Is this considered good progress? She usually latches about once a day. When I was practicing more often and trying to put my breast in her mouth, she wouldn’t really try and would stress out. After taking her a small break and letting her root and initiate it herself, she’s been doing much better. Sometimes she latches really well, and other times not as much. Today, she triggered a really strong letdown, and I saw her eyes widen. She unfor”

“Am I panicking about the early end of my breastfeeding journey? We went in for my baby girls 2 month pediatrician appt and she dropped major percentiles in her weight gain. She went from 55th percentile in weight (9lb 7oz) to 20th percentile (10lb 4oz) in a month. She only gained 13oz in a month when she should have doubled that based on healthy 1oz a day. Between 1-2 month check in, I had been primarily breastfeeding with 2-3 bottles in the AM and PM and if I had to leave for an appointment. It”

“I am 9 days PP with my newborn and dying for my milk to come in. We are working on latching with him which is challenging. But in the meantime I am pumping 8-9 times a day to encourage my supply to come in. I’ve added my daily progression below - anyone have a similarly long progression for milk to come in fully? Day 1-4 - no milk production from pumping (using flange sizing inserts) Day 5 - 5 mL from one pump sesh Day 6 - 37 mL mainly coming from a couple pumps (one with lactation consultant) D”

“My baby is 12 days old , I had an emergency c section and my birth plan went out the window . He was in the NICU’s for a week so we been home together 5 days . While I was in the hospital , I tried to go breastfeed and pump with the help of lactation specialist , I was making little to 1ml I had to give it to him in a syringe . Now that I’m home , the most I can make in a day is 1oz , after 4 pumps and combing it . I’ve done all the tips everyone told me , lactation cookies , drinks you name it”

“Baby is 2.5 weeks. We have been triple feeding since day 3-4 essentially as he wasn’t wetting diapers properly, and we got sent to the ER. Before then I was nursing on demand, and supplementing with a syringe with about 10-15mls and that wasn’t enough. Once we left ER, I bumped him to 30-35mls and he started wetting diapers properly. He wasn’t actually dehydrated, the NICU said some babies just hold their pee (he was wetting once a day but SOAKING the diaper) and they weren’t concerned. Now we’r”

“Not sure what I’m hoping for in posting this but: My 11 week old is now on the 25th weight percentile. She was born at 38 weeks on the 87th percentile. She was pretty swollen at birth and I had a lot of IV fluids. Had a considerable amount of breastfeeding issues including supply and tongue tie so we were initially combo feeding but moved to EBF at 5 weeks. She regained her birth weight at 9 days. However my baby is now at the 25th percentile at 11 weeks. I have read a lot of percentile drop pos”

“My daughter is 6 days old, and was born 5 weeks before her due date. She was born 5lb 8oz but is too small to breastfeed, so I’ve been pumping and bottle feeding her. Thankfully my supply has been enough to routinely hit the recommended ml she needs. Our lactation consultant at the hospital told us to give her the same amount of mls as days she is old (ex: on day 2.5 she should have btwn 25-30ml), and she was doing great with it. On day 4, we took her to her first pediatrician appt and the lacta”

“Unfortunately I had a traumatic delivery on the 9th September and I am now being treated for a suspected pulmonary embolism. My little girl has been exclusively breastfed this entire time and she is now one week and two days old. Sadly on the 28th of September I need to undergo a radioactive scan of my lungs to check for any clotting and to plan the next phase of my treatment. I’ve been advised that due to the radiation I will be unable to breastfeed for 24 hours following the scan, nor able to”

“My 5wo son pretty much came out of the womb hangry. I was hoping to EBF, but my supply hasn’t been able to keep up with his appetite this whole time, and he has had a very hard time latching (potentially due to a now released lip/tongue tie). Now we are triple feeding (attempting bf, supplementing, and pumping). It’s utterly exhausting. Anyway, my concern is that he goes into feedings very stressed. Hard crying and rooting all over the place from the moment he wakes up til the moment he can get”

“My second daughter was born at 52nd percentile and was stable at 44th percentile at her two month appointment. At three months she dropped to 33rd percentile and, after a move and transfer to a new paediatrician, I was encouraged to re-introduce overnight feeds since she started sleeping overnight regularly around this time. Recently at her four month appointment, she held relatively steady at 32nd percentile. I could never exclusively breastfeed my first daughter for many reasons I won’t go int”

“My baby is 7 weeks old. She was born via c section and was a small baby at 5 pounds 11 oz. I’ve always been super intimidated by breastfeeding but we gave it an earnest attempt in the first few days... I have very large boobs and she was so small, we worked with three different lactation consultants and it just wasn’t a good fit so we decided to exclusively formula feed. This is going really well!! I feel mostly recovered from the c section, baby is growing well and I finally feel like I’ve hit”

“My wife and I had our LO four weeks ago and brought her home from the NICU two weeks ago. My wife initially tried to pump but ultimately it was not working for her and made the hard decision to formula feed. Many of our friends, family, and co-workers have given their well-wishes and have been very supportive. However, I'm shocked at how many of them have boldly asked us if we're breastfeeding or formula feeding. It never crossed my mind that people would ask that question. It's a pe”

“So my baby has been EBF since birth, with a nightly bottle of breastmilk to help him settle. Lately my supply has dropped dramatically and after speaking to someone from the feeding team and our health visitor we've decided to supplement our boy with formula to keep him from being hungry. I'm thinking I'll give him a bottle of formula in the afternoon when his hunger seems to peak and breastfeed the rest of the day if I can. Please can someone offer advice on how to introduce formula”

“My baby is 1 month old (5 weeks) and I didn't really breast feed her, only on her 1st day here. I remember waking up every hour to do it at the hospital. Exclusively pumped and I was an oversupplier. I got really tired in the middle of the night and only pumped for half the amount of time I usually do to prevent emptying my breasts. I thought since I make so much milk it wouldn't matter It completely ruined my supply and was put on medications because of post partum depression as well an”

“hi y’all, first time mom here. I planned to EBF (not pump) but have had some curveballs. planned a home birth but ended up at the hospital after 36 hours, total labor was 48 hours which I think was hard on the baby. she didn’t latch the first day, and when we brought her home she was clearly having trouble getting what she needed for 3 days -- she was not putting out enough dirty diapers, and was either on the boob or completely inconsolable. I think that because we werent able to establish a go”

“My 4 month old is exclusively breastfed. We had some feeding difficulties in the beginning and had to supplement with formula while my supply came in and we worked on his latch getting better. At his 1 month appointment he was in the 22nd percentile for weight, at 2 months he was 20th, and today at his 4 month appointment he’s 12.49th percentile. Also his length percentile dropped from the 65th at 2 months to 40th today. He now weighs 13.59 pounds. Due to the drop to the 12th percentile the pedi”

“I really wanted to have my baby be completely EBF (for the mom/baby connection, and also because I didn’t want to wash bottles), but baby has been dropping weight percentiles from 70th to now 40th (70th at 1 month, 50th at 2 months, and now 40th at 11 week mark) and our pediatrician wants us to try adding in one bottle of 4oz formula at night. My plan is to pump when we give that bottle of formula and save it for the freezer stash. At the end of the day, I don’t want my baby’s percentile to keep”

“I’ve been EBF my 8 month old. He struggled with weight gain as a newborn and after tons of cluster feeding, lactation consultant reassurance and pumping to up my supply (I started with an oversupply, it seemed to be a milk transfer issue), finally at his 4 month checkup he was in the 10th percentile. My mother passed so we had to reschedule his 6 month appointment and today was the soonest we could get in. He has fallen from the 10th percentile to the 0.6th… I’m still pumping twice a day. Once a”

“Hi everyone, I am a first-time mother who had an emergency c-section after dilating to 9-10cm (baby wasn’t coming down). I will be 3 months postpartum on September 20th and am exclusively pumping. I still do not feel like my normal self, particularly, my knees. They feel so weak and dislocated. It’s difficult for me to get up from the couch or floor or to bend down or squat. I have to rely on my arms to lift myself. Why is this? Has anyone experienced this? What can I do to feel normal again? Co”

“My baby girl just turned 5 months and I am feeling hopeless after breastfeeding support appointment we had today. My baby was measuring around 20th centile throughout pregnancy and was consistently on 9th centile after birth (while also 75th in height). Nobody was concerned about her being low weight and I kept getting consistent comments on how active and happy she is and that it looks like I have good milk supply. Until today. For reference we saw : - lactation consultant at hospital and at 10”

“My daughter (7 weeks old) was born a little under 37 weeks gestation, so technically she is considered late pre-term by a matter of days. She wasn't hitting her birth weight quick enough, so her pediatrician told us to fortify my milk with formula (adding formula to my milk without additional water). They gave us some preemie-formulated enfamil. After a week or so of that, she really started packing on weight, and the pediatrician was satisfied (3 weeks old). She was weighed a few days ago (”

“My baby is 5.5wks old, born full term via c-section, my milk came in on Day 3. She lost 10% of her bw by Day 3, gained 4% of that back by Day 5 (about 4.5oz), but then lost 1.5oz between days 5-8, all while exclusively nursing on demand/maximum every 2-3hrs around the clock. Output has always been above average, since day 1. On Day 8 our ped told us to go to Triple Feeding and I started pumping to give her full bottles while still nursing+topping off about 3x a day. She regained bw by day 16. He”

“My newborn was unable to latch/transfer successfully and lost way too much weight, requiring us to triple feed with formula supplementation for the last six weeks. I’ve been pumping 8+ times a day and still fall about 6oz a day short of his bottle fed needs while also nursing him when he’s receptive. My supply is still slowly increasing; yesterday was my best ever pump yield at 18oz. He is now latching well (hooray!) and transfer is improving, so I’d like to move toward exclusively nursing if po”

“My baby is 11 weeks old and my supply has finally started to somewhat regulate. I used to have an insane letdown and my baby had a lot of issues managing it. She also had a horrible latch that shredded my nipples. In the mean time I would pump one side and exclusively feed from the non damaged side. I went to a bunch of lactation classes and met with lactation consultants to find help. I was told to use the my breast friend pillow and basically have my baby lay on top of me to manage the letdown”

“Last Saturday I had my baby via emergency c-section (thankfully zero complications!) due to baby still being breach. His birth weight was 5 lbs 8 oz & we went home Monday. Wednesday he had his first dr appt & they recommended to supplement him w/ some extra formula as my milk hasn’t fully come in yet & I’m having some difficulty adjusting to breastfeeding & producing enough milk. He had gone from his birth weight of 5 lbs 8 oz to 5 lbs 6 oz, since the dr appt I’ve been feeding hi”

“In two weeks pp and trying to EBF however still combo feeding because I’m not producing enough (ab 2 oz total when I pump). Anyways, my baby and I cannot still get a good latch going most of the time, usually it’s worse on my left nip, it’s so discouraging because it feels like someone is constantly burning, crushing and pinching my nipple😭 it’s so sore!! I’ve looked up how to properly latch and I think I’m just not understanding how to position baby the right way. I saw a LC at the hospital wh”

“Does anyone have any insight/experience with combination feeding when the mom (me) has a dairy allergy? Basically, my LO is 3 weeks old. He spent the first two weeks in the NICU on respiratory support so we weren’t really able to try breastfeeding that much. By the end of our time in the hospital, the IBCLCs and I tried to work on breastfeeding, but it was pretty clear he had developed a bottle preference, so I’ve been exclusively pumping and my supply has usually been just enough. In the hospit”

“My son was born 2 months ago at 34 weeks. He was premature and also had mild IUGR, so he was quite small. He spent his first 2 weeks in the NICU. During his NICU stay, I never really got a chance to breastfeed because he was attached to so many wires and monitors. I started exclusively pumping, and he was bottle-fed from the beginning. We’ve been home for about 1.5 months now, and I’ve been trying to transition him to breastfeeding, but I’m really struggling. He seems very used to the bottle and”

“I don’t even know really why I’m posting BUT — my baby is 11 weeks and I just adore him! I had the dream of EBF and found out pretty early on (week 2) that I’m a super undersupplier. I had a breast reduction about a decade ago and my midwives suspect that that’s what’s going on. I was devastated and I still hope and pray that someday (if I have the privilege of having another baby) I’ll make more milk. All of that to say, I basically give him maybe 2-3oz a day and that’s it. In the beginning, I”

“LC wants me to express/ pump colostrum for the next few days until my milk comes in, due to nipple damage from new bub and not great latching. LC and midwives were able to get plenty of colostrum by hand expressing but I just can’t get the hang of it and want to protect my supply. What did you do? How did you collect colostrum post partum that wasn’t hand expressing. submitted by /u/OkCryptographer1113 [link] [comments]”

“Hi all. My boy is nearly 9 weeks old and I’ve pretty much EBF since he was born, but I’ve started to combi feed over the last few days so my partner can feed him and he can go over his Nans. He takes the bottle okay, I’m just struggling to build up some sort of combi feeding routine. I BF in the night. But would like to mostly FF in the day, however, if I do BF in the day then FF, he only takes around 1-2 ounces and it’s all over the place at the moment. For people who combi feed, what is your s”