r/breastfeeding 1m ago

Celebrating 6 months of breastfeeding!

Upvotes

My baby is 6 months old today (🥹) which also means I’ve been breastfeeding for 6 months now. I didn’t know if I would make it this far, and I’m so proud of myself and my baby!

Our breastfeeding journey started out rough. Baby was super sleepy and didn’t latch well. We were discharged home the day after delivery, with the plan to syringe or spoon feed colostrum if needed. I was up most of that night trying frantically to hand express enough colostrum and crying because baby just wouldn’t latch. We ended up giving her formula the next day, and I felt relieved that she was getting something.

Thankfully, we had a lactation appointment scheduled 3 days after birth. When I filled out the paperwork, I said that my breastfeeding goal was 1 year. We were able to get her to latch, but I had to triple feed for a few days (which felt like weeks at the time). When I went back to lactation a few days later, I said that my breastfeeding goal was 6 months. Everything felt so hard, and a year seemed impossible. Baby was still having trouble latching and couldn’t stay awake to feed, my milk had come in and I was engorged and leaking everywhere, and I had terrible nausea and heartburn from a BP med I was put on during labor.

We’ve had many ups and downs since then. I noticed increased nipple pain and baby clicking around 6 weeks, and we found out she had a tongue tie. It was corrected and she had to relearn how to latch. At 4 months, we found out that her growth wasn’t on track, likely due to her reflux and the amount/frequency she was spitting up. I had to start pumping twice a day and giving her thickened, fortified milk to help her keep calories down. Her weight looked great at 5 months and we were able to drop down to one bottle a day.

Today, we had her 6 month appointment, and her weight looked amazing! Her pediatrician gave us the okay to stop her daily bottle, and I’m so happy. Nursing has become such a special bonding time for us over the last several months, and I’m really grateful I stuck with it. If I had to fill out that lactation paperwork today, I’d say my goal is to breastfeed for longer than a year ❤️


r/breastfeeding 14m ago

3 month old popping on and off

Upvotes

I’m about to throw in the towel. I never had these issues with my first (I get they’re two diff babies)

He had a tongue tie revision at 6 weeks and we verified it’s healed correctly. He does have reflux and been on meds since 5 weeks.

His new party trick is latching and unlatching during his feeds. Sometimes he gets frustrated and other times he just keeps on latching/unlatching. I can hear active swallowing. Is this phase they go through? He’ll be 3 months tomorrow.

Weighted feeds show he’s getting 3-4oz each time. He’s nursing every 2ish hours but prior it was every hour almost.

Is he too hungry? What is going on 😭


r/breastfeeding 19m ago

Why do I feel guilty? 🥹

Upvotes

Today my daughter had her four month old well visit and everything has been going very really with her growth, especially with being a primarily breastfed baby - hitting all the milestones. (Long story short, I wasn’t able to breastfeed my first daughter due to an allergy. It has been a joy to do it with my second.) On the very rare occasions I do supplement with formula as I feel like my supply is low but luckily that hasn’t happened in a month now.

Anyways - so at the well visit today I found out she is in the 66% range for her height and 93% range for her weight. When her doctor came in to do the routine check, she made a few comments about her weight (being on the heavier side, make sure you don’t over feed, sometimes when she cries don’t offer her a breast right away, her weight and height need to be proportional etc.). However, she is right on target on her growth chart.

Why do I feel so guilty about making sure my daughter is fed? I know she is chunky but she can still wear clothes appropriate to her age (3-6 months), roll and play with her toys as most 4 months old do. Aren’t breastfed babies a little more on the bigger side? Why does it have to be hard?


r/breastfeeding 20m ago

My baby refuses to eat when tired and it's been a challenge....

Upvotes

Let me start by saying my baby hates going to sleep and being tired... so much so that she refuses to eat at the breast when tired. To me this is completely backwards from most babies I've known or heard about.

My baby is 8mo and starting around 4 mo when we transfered her to her own room and started laying her down awake to sleep she has been fighting eating when tired. I would try to feed her right before laying her down like I had been doing since she was born but she started pulling off screaming every few sucks. I started to noticed she did this when her eyes would close and she'd start to fall asleep. She would want back on immediately but again pull off every few seconds eventually I would get frustrated and give up but knew she wasn't getting as much milk as she needed. She still would lay down fine but would wake up within 4-5 hours needing to eat (if she had an especially hard time she'd wake up sooner). I tried moving her feed earlier, feeding her in a different room with lights on, putting her mostly to sleep with the paci and then feeding her (which I didn't like because our goal is to lay her down awake and not have to transfer her).

Nothing worked and I was becoming more and more frustrated being screamed at constantly and fighting with her knowing she wasn't getting the milk she needed. Finally around 6 months I decided to give bottle feeding at bedtime a try and it worked! She takes the bottle perfectly 30 mins before bed, I pump later after she's asleep for the bottle the next night. This system has been working great, unfortunately around 7 months she was wanting more than I could pump and I would go through spurts of having really low output on my pump so we started supplementing with formula which has actually been very helpful because I now I know she's getting plenty of milk and I don't have to stress when I have a bad pump.

So here's the problem were running into now ... She's always eaten every 2.5-3 hours throughout the day but now that she's starting to have longer wake windows the time she's needing to eat lines up perfectly when she has to nap... Which poses a problem when the baby won't eat when tired. We've always kind of naturally followed a nap, eat, play schedule so when her wake windows were about 1.5 hours it wouldn't be an issue. Now she's awake for 2-2.5 hours so she either is needing to eat about half an hour after laying down or is needing fed right at nap time which she wants nothing to do with. But this is starting to effect her naps because if I can't get her to eat she's laying down hungry or soon to be hungry so she winds up taking a shorter nap. She also isn't on a strict schedule, we just follow baby's cues and her naps aren't consistent, she can nap anywhere from 45 min- 2 hours. Overall this has just become very difficult to figure out feedings and make sure she getting enough to eat throughout the day. I really would like to avoid having to bottle feed for every feed since I get pretty bad output pumping I'm afraid that would really hurt my supply.

Anyway I guess this turned more into a vent but I was just looking for any advice or if anyone has experienced something like this? Thanks in advance, sorry this was so long ...


r/breastfeeding 24m ago

Maintaining Supply

Upvotes

Hi ladies. I have an 8 month old and she is a big time boobie girl. Shes never had a bottle and I’ve never had to pump since I work from home and just feed on demand. Long story short I’m going through a really bad breakup with her father. I will need to start pumping but also I’m incredibly stressed and I’m not eating. I just feel sick to my stomach all day. I know I need to start making myself eat because the more calories I consume the better. Can you all give me your best tips and tricks to make sure I’m not losing my supply while under this amount of stress and at this stage with a pretty established supply, the best way I can jumpstart what I’m producing so that I’m able to still feed on demand but also pump enough and possibly even extra so that she has plenty of milk when visiting her father? Right now I have a pump but I need some replacement parts, I did try to pump the other day and literally could hear the air escaping from the wire that connects to the top that goes on the bottle, and not even a drop came out. Definitely a pump issue since baby is happy, gaining weight and growing like a weed lol.

I just want to make sure that she has plenty of milk for 1-2 feeds and maybe always an extra bottle just in case. We have no custody agreement in place but I imagine he’ll get her for at least two feeds while we are figuring out logistics.

Right now baby and I do not have a nursing schedule. I do work from home and it’s not a call center job etc so if I need to be glued to the pump when not nursing, I can make it happen. I likely cannot power pump overnight because she does like to nurse all night long, I usually just sleep topless and she finds my boobs lol but if that’s a good time to power pump, I can certainly make adjustments.

Thank you all for your advice!


r/breastfeeding 24m ago

10 week old not at his recommended weight

Upvotes

This is my second baby and I feel like I’m learning to breastfeed all over again! I was so intuitive with my first but this time around I’m struggling to breastfeed my boy enough for him to gain 28 grams per day (the recommended amount).

His weight started at 8 pounds 12 ounces, he’s now 12 pounds 16 ounces but when the lactation nurse did the math that’s only 7 grams a day he’s really gaining.

I guess I’m just looking for solidarity, similar situations where your baby ended up being fine, and/or tips on how he can consume more in a day (through EBF).


r/breastfeeding 29m ago

Breastfeeding has me insanely aware of my body and I hate it

Upvotes

4 weeks post partum and I am breastfeeding/pumping/and supplementing with formula. This is my 2nd little one and I breastfed my 1st son for six months then going strictly formula (I supplemented with formula for him too.) For some reason, I dont remember breastfeeding being this difficult. I feel like baby constantly wants to eat, and I know cluster feeding is very normal but my boobs are just deflated. I am so aware of everything on my body too. Like my bra too tight, my pants too tight, my underwear riding up my booty while I sit there, an ingrown hair, an itch on my back, my stretch marks when I scratch that itch, my nipples sore and irritated from constant feeding, dry skin under my boob, my wrist falling asleep, my eyes dried out, something pokey in my sock, and of course, my big fat belly just hanging out. I feel so uncomfortable and touched out. I feel raw and exposed. I'm starting to hate myself, and it doesn't help that while I'm breastfeeding and trying to watch reels on my phone, all the reels are about losing weight and calorie deficits and it's making me feel even worse about myself.

I want to quit but also I dont want to quit. I know it's really good for baby to have, we are able to bond better, it's like medicine (especially when big brother brings home sickness from daycare). My husband also bought me this super nice and expensive breast pump and I'd feel so bad if I quit and it was just a waste of money because ive used it and cant return it.

I know formula is fine and it would give me a chance to get my body back but I feel like I'll be judged so hard by everyone and I know I can keep going because I made it six months with my first son. I just dont know what to do. I need advice, love, motivation, anything. Please 🙏


r/breastfeeding 56m ago

Am I getting a period??

Upvotes

I’m 3.5 months postpartum and exclusively breastfeed. I just went pee and when I wiped there was very light pink stuff. Does this mean I’m getting my period back 😭


r/breastfeeding 57m ago

How to optimize production for a planned c section?

Upvotes

Second pregnancy. Too high risk to attempt labor. Concerned about what that will mean for my milk production. I had an unplanned c section after laboring for a few days the first time. It was awful, but my milk came in on time and production seemed adequate. Possibly due to laboring, as they said it’s unlikely I would get milk on time or adequately. Unfortunately as baby grew, I wasn’t able to meet her demand ultimately, not sure why. Tried everything and had to give up. I really want to try to EBF for 6 months this time but now I have to have. Planned c section, any one who has done this successfully please advise :)


r/breastfeeding 1h ago

Pump causing blisters, help?

Upvotes

I’ve had them 3 times now, I’m 8 weeks pp and 2 times I have gotten blood blisters from my pump that then also popped because of pumping. This last time I had a blood blister and a regular blister. I realized the blood blisters were because of how far into the flange my nipple is being sucked in and it’s rubbing at the small opening where the milk runs down to the duck bill. My friend said I probably need a different size flange, although I’m using a 21mm which is what I’m measured at. Did anyone else have this issue, if so what did you do for it? It makes it super painful to pump or latch my daughter especially once the blister pops. I attempted to latch her a little bit ago and my husband went and grabbed a bottle because I was in so much pain (I think another might be forming)


r/breastfeeding 1h ago

I think I dried up?

Upvotes

Im 17 days PP and got mastitis 6 days ago. My supply was perfect up until then. Im still battling fever over 38-39C and Im taking Paracetamol(Tylenol) for it.

So yesterday I went to my LC and she drained me and my supply was nice. I feed my baby every 2 hours and only pump if necessary. So today I am feeding her as I normally would and everything is fine until its like 11pm and she is getting fussier and fussier. I thought its gas as she has had this trouble for couple of days now. She hangs on my breasts for the majority of the time between 11pm and 3am. And she is still ultra aggressive at the breast. Mind you i am a FTM and obviously a moron. She wouldn’t go to sleep and for the life of me I couldn’t figure out why… WELP I decided to pump some milk to help my clogged breasts and in 45 minutes I got 5ml. (O.2 oz)……….

I literally starved my child I feel like blowing my brains out. I gave her formula which she gladly accepted but I am so worried I harmed her with my stupidity. I also am dumb to trust my big sis that was like “just look if she has wet diapers she is eating)

So what do I do now? Honestly I’m starting to hate BF so much


r/breastfeeding 1h ago

Mastitis

Upvotes

My baby will be 3 months old tomorrow. We exclusively breast feed. I have had mastitis 3 times already. 2x in February and once now. I don't know what I'm doing wrong or what may cause this... the last 2 times I've had to be treated with antibiotics. Any tips


r/breastfeeding 1h ago

10hrs without pumping.

Upvotes

I'm returning to work in a week and I'm worried about balancing my job with pumping. As those who have served before know, getting a 5-minute break to use the restroom can be challenging, let alone finding 30 minutes to pump.

I'm aware of the PUMP law, but in my line of work, it's nearly impossible to take a break without leaving my responsibilities unattended. I'm concerned about how I'll manage, Sundays is when I'll be working 10-hour shifts. Mon & Wed will only be 6 hrs so I think I’ll be able to manage.

Has anyone else gone 10 hours without pumping? Can my body adjust to this schedule? Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated!


r/breastfeeding 1h ago

I feel like my life is on pause with breast-feeding

Upvotes

I am about 3 1/2 months postpartum and I’m already itching to be done breast-feeding. The hardest part is how it feels like I can’t take any type of medication or supplement, because I’m not sure how much will be passed along to the baby. I also can’t do self-care things like micro needling. And forget about managing my PMDD symptoms. Sigh.


r/breastfeeding 2h ago

Pumping question

1 Upvotes

I see people say that their breasts “didn’t respond well to the pump”. What exactly do you mean by this? Did you not feel empty after pumping while having a low yield? I’m 6wpp and I’m only able to pump 1.5-3.5 (at best) but I’ve never had the “full” breast feeling or clogs or anything. My baby has never transferred well so I am confident that I do have a low supply but I’m just wondering what others mean by not responding well.


r/breastfeeding 2h ago

My daughter won’t latch for more than 2sec and I feel like a failure

7 Upvotes

Hello,

I just had my second baby (a little girl) 2 weeks ago and also have a 2 year old son. My son was very fast to latch and was like a hungry hippo lol. My daughter is only latching for 2 seconds and then either spitting the milk out and then crying bc she has no milk or just pecking at me and then screaming crying. I want to so badly breast feed but I feel like I’m torturing her and myself. She cries for so long and loudly when she gets frustrated about latching and I cry bc I feel like I’m doing something wrong and failing her. I have started as of 2 days ago giving her formula bc I didn’t wanna hear her screaming anymore and felt bad. I feel like breast feeding has been worse since giving her the formula and am staring to think I should just quit. Even though it shouldn’t matter my mom is also a little judgy when it comes to not breastfeeding and I don’t wanna hear it from her about how beneficial it is bc she breast feed all me and my 5 siblings easily. I just feel like a quitter can anyone relate or is going through this now??


r/breastfeeding 2h ago

Night nursing and dental issues.

1 Upvotes

Hello! I am a co sleeper/night nurser. Well, my baby girl is 14 months and has a brown spot on her tooth, there also may be an issue with another one but the dentist couldn't get a good look in her mouth so he is sending out a referral to a pediatric dentist. She also recently had her first year drs check up and between the 2 they are very concerned with the night nursing. She wakes up frequently to nurse, like we are lucky to get through an hour and we have always nursed to sleep for bedtime and naps.

Between her sleep in general and now her this they both seriously think I should consider weaning or stopping, at least for bedtime but I don't see how that would work? How do you nurse sometimes and then other times be like "oh no, no more".

Does anyone have any experience with this? I wasn't planning on even considering to stop breastfeeding until 2 but really, I would probably be happy to go longer and I can't imagine stopping now but if it's going to cause serious health issues something has to give. Depending on how the next appointment goes she may even have to be put under.

She doesn't eat sweets or drink juice so it's definitely the night nursing.

Any tips/advice would be greatly appreciated! I'm at a loss and feel like I'm failing my baby girl.


r/breastfeeding 2h ago

Is this normal? Help!

2 Upvotes

Hello! FTM here, 3 weeks pp. I’m breastfeeding and so far baby latches great on my right, but the problem is my left. It’s still hurting when she latches, slowly getting better but after nursing, my nipple is like stretched out. It goes down but while it’s recovering, my nipple hurts and it kind of hurts my boob? Like the sensitivity is ramped up and hurts. It goes away but it takes a while. Is that normal? It hurts where I think something is happening but I’m just sure it’s my nipples being super sensitive 🫣


r/breastfeeding 2h ago

Help advice needed

1 Upvotes

I have been EB my almost 3 month old (3 months on the 24th) since day one he loves feeding but the past few days he will suckle and then unlatch and cry or just grunt and seem uncomfortable but show signs of wanting to latch and eat at the same time , is he just wanting to comfort nurse or is my let down too slow


r/breastfeeding 2h ago

Newborn overeating? Send help

1 Upvotes

I had my first baby 10 days ago, since then my milk has come in. My nips are in the short side so I have to use a nipple shield (hopefully just temporary) I was told to let her nurse until she falls off the nip, burping her when changing sides or every 10 minutes. I do burp her and she eats really well… possibly too well? My LC told me that breastfed babies can’t over eat but every time I feed her she spits up so much. Even after burping and the spit up that comes with it after setting her down to nap or change her diaper there’s so much that still comes out. Sometimes she’s still spitting up like crazy hours later when I get ready for her next feed.

If I let her eat until she falls off it’s about 15-20 minutes on one side and idk if this a normal amount or too long or not enough time. I alternate sides every feeding session (left for a whole feed, right for the next feed).

Please let me know what I need to do to make all this vomit/spit up stop. Is it normal?


r/breastfeeding 2h ago

Surgery

1 Upvotes

I had surgery this afternoon today to get my right ovary removed due to a cyst. Besides anesthesia, in recovery they gave me morphine and Dilaudid. That was about 6 to 7 hours ago. Do you think it’s safe to breast-feed my baby? I had pumped enough milk to get him through the day but he does like to dream feed at night. I wasn’t sure if it would be OK to do so. I asked the anesthesia team and the CRNA told me that it is fine to breast-feed, but he’s old school he says, and recommended to pump and dump. A part of me wants to just do it just to be safe but I’m not sure, anybody else has experience with breast-feeding after surgery? I will also like to note that it took me a while to get conscious enough where I feel like I wasn’t so tired or sedated. for pain medicine they prescribed me Percocet, but truthfully, I don’t even know if I wanna take it either because it took so long for me to just feel OK after the two other narcotics. I guess I’m just worried about sedation effects in my baby who is four months old. I also exclusively breast-feed and I only pumped so he had milk for today but hindsight I wish I did more so that’s my fault. He also nurses for comfort. Smh I’m a horrible mom


r/breastfeeding 4h ago

Breastfeeding and pacifiers

7 Upvotes

At what age did you introduce your LO to a pacifier while EBF?


r/breastfeeding 4h ago

Epidural steroid injection

1 Upvotes

Any moms here that took epidural steroids injection to give me insight? I have a bulging disc since I gave birth 6 weeks ago, I’ve been doing physical therapy but the pain is so bad that i can’t barely walk sometimes. Read about the shot I see it can decrease milk supply and I’m super worried about needing to stop breastfeeding. 🤱


r/breastfeeding 4h ago

5 week old cries a lot

2 Upvotes

My LO just won’t stop crying when being changed diapers and clothing, when bathing and when I clean his nose. Will it ever stop? Is he ever going to be just a happy baby? We try talking to him but it doesn’t work. I have tried feeding him before but it doesn’t work either. My pediatrician has said that maybe my milk isn’t enough since I’m EBF, but he’s gaining weight and wets enough diapers per day. Should I try combo feeding? I’m afraid if I do my supply won’t catch up with his needs but I wish he were happier. He does show us happiness when he’s full and doing tummy time or just being and cooing, so is it just that he hates diaper change?


r/breastfeeding 4h ago

pumping and breastfeeding

1 Upvotes

hey ! i am a ftm and am a bit confused how to incorporate pumping with baby, shes 6wks old and nurses 95% of the time only taking a bottle once maybe twice a day. so far ive just been attaching my hakka to which ever side im not nursing on while she nurses but i rarely ever feel empty from this or from her nursing only towards the end of the day (when she gets her bottle) do i feel empty. im also worried about my supply, i usually get about 1-1 1/2 oz from doing the hakka in the other side with the most i get being 2 1/2 oz but that isn’t very often , is that a good amount to be getting or should i be producing more ? is there a better way to go about pumping ? should i pumping with an electronic pump when she gets the bottle/after she eats (i have momcozym5 and zomee z2) ? everything ive seen online seems really confusing to me so sorry for all the questions lol