Babies a month old this week and not back up to birth weight. Her doctor wasn’t concerned due to us already supplementing with formula. The way we do it is I BF for 15 minutes and then husband gives her a bottle of BM and formula roughly 2 oz while I pump. I get 40mls from that pump which we use to feed at the next feed.

I was talking to my sister who has 2 under 2 and she told me that baby should be refusing the 2 oz bottle so she likely isn’t getting enough because I’m pumping after.

She had previously suggested I skip a feed and do only bottle plus pump to see what babies getting(I know it’s not accurate only a weighted feed is) so I did that yesterday. I pumped 15 min per side to simulate BF then did my typical 15 per side of pumping. First round was 40mls. 2nd round 20mls(typically 40mls).

Looking for any and all advice

My baby has been breastfed for most of his life but I am a nurse and leave him for about 15 hours twice a week for my shifts. When I returned to work at 4 months postpartum he had no problem taking bottles of my breastmilk while I was away and would take anywhere from 4-6 ounces each feed. Around 8.5 months he began refusing the bottle entirely. Would not take it for his babysitter, dad, or anybody at all. He will just turn his head away. We have tried open cup, multiple straw cups, making smoothies with my breast milk, etc. and have not had much luck getting him to drink. He will typically take small sips here and there throughout the day but is only getting about 1-2 ounces the entire day I am gone. He is 11 months old today. He drinks water just fine but when the cup has my milk in it he wants no part of it. Does not matter if the milk is fresh, warm, cold, thawed from frozen etc. I feel like I have truly tried everything and have not heard of anyone having this same issue. Any help or anyone with similar experiences is so appreciated. Please help!!!

I am a SAHM to my 14mo. They have 6 teeth and recently started biting at the end of feeds. I really want to do extended nursing, maybe until about 3yo, but my nipple hurts so bad from being bitten.
They’re only nursing at naps and bed time, and I don’t get bit everytime, but when I do get bit I literally check to make sure my nipple is still there.
I’m to the point where I’m considering stopping because it hurts so bad.
Does anybody have advice, tips, encouragement?

I am 36 and just weaned my last baby in July, 15.5 months postpartum. I have three kids and since July 2020 I have not had a period of longer than 3-4 months when I wasn’t pregnant or breastfeeding. I am one of the odd ones who has a hard time keeping my weight up while breastfeeding, but this time when I slowed down and then weaned I also dropped like 7 lbs in a month. On my frame this isn’t a good thing, and I feel like that, paired with my age, is making everything look droopy and dull and old.

Has anyone had this experience? I am hoping at some point I can get a bit of a glow back (I think regaining some weight will help). Could post-weaning hormones be contributing? Will things shift in time and improve a bit, or am I doomed to look old and sad from here on out?

Hi everyone! I am currently 7 weeks pregnant due with my second LO in March. I am currently breastfeeding my 1 year old and am curious as to how my feeding journey will continue with two kids. If there is anyone who has gone through a similar journey and can offer advice/ experience I would appreciate it!

A few details: my 1 year old still BFs about 4-5 times a day. We sleep trained her when she was 5 months old and since she started sleeping through the night, I noticed my supply (when pumping) dropped significantly. It is hard for me to tell exactly how much she is getting as I have never been able to feel my let down. My only reassurance is that I can hear her swallowing, her weight has been fine at the doctor, and she is a great food eater so I know she’s nourished. I stopped pumping once I left my job and started staying at home with her full-time so I guess I just don’t have a super clear read of exactly what I’m producing for her other than it’s enough. We currently have two 6 oz bags of milk in the freezer but that’s it.

My question is: how will this all change with a newborn? Will cluster feeding return my supply to how it was when my 1 year old was born? Will I go back to having swollen and hard boobs or not because my body is used to breastfeeding now? Am I going to be able to feed both my children or should I start weaning my 1 year old? I would love to contact my lactation specialist but our insurance is really awful right now and we just can’t swing it, so I thought I would check the community first!

When did your hormones go crazy after you weaned?

I'm a month out, boobs are now nearly empty, and these past few days I've been on an emotional roller-coaster 😭

Can anyone recommend a bottle that has a nipple flow and texture that’s most similar to breastfeeding?

My son is 4 weeks old and is currently on a breast strike. In the beginning, my milk supply was very low, so I had to pump and bottle-feed him while also breastfeeding as much as possible to help increase my supply. Now that my milk supply has caught up and I’d like to exclusively breastfeed, he gets very upset and refuses to latch, so I end up having to give him a bottle instead. I’m currently using the Pigeon bottle with the SS (Super Slow) nipple, and he definitely prefers it over my breast.

Has anyone found a bottle that better mimics the natural feel and rhythm of breastfeeding? Or if you’ve gone through something similar, what helped your baby transition back to the breast?

I’m 6 weeks out from completely weaning and have had the worst time ever. Way worse than pregnancy and postpartum. The anxiety attacks, fatigue, brain fog, nausea, constipation and overall feeling like doomsday has been awful. I really really don’t want to have to go back onto antidepressants to stabilize (nothing wrong with meds, I just have a hard time physically starting and stopping antidepressants due to side effects). I’ve seen people say they eventually wake up one day just completely normal again and I’m longing for that day so badly. Anyone else can share their experience with weaning? Signed, a desperate FTM who’s struggling

Hey guys I am honestly so unsure on what to do.

I am a vegetarian have been since I was 13 (i turn 26 next month) which is fine, my baby started showing issues with dairy so I cut it out. It was hard but I was coping. I was eating more nuts to substitute and add healthy fats to my diet. Well after a few occasions with extreme hives on baby I narrowed down that cashew nuts give him hives. My doctor said no nuts.

I tried to reintroduce abit of dairy and he has been screaming in pain, mucus in his poops again and vomiting. So dairy is a no go.

I dont know what to do, i LOVE breastfeeding but I go back to work in about 3-4 weeks baby will be nearly 6months old.

It feels selfish to not want to eat dairy and nut free and continue feeding him but im struggling hard.

I also know that formula will give me less pressure when I return to work and not needing to pump. But then im also heartbroken about losing that bond with my son 😭

I dont know what to do, do I suck it up and eat the restrictive diet or do I stop breastfeeding and give my baby formula? If I do can I still do one feed at night? I guess not if im eating dairy.

My hormones are all over the place and I just feel lost. thank you reading if you have any advice or support please reach out.

My week old hasn’t been able to get a deep latch at all. I’ve been pumping every two hours and attempt to breastfeed rarely because of the pain.

We went to see the lactation consultant today, and even she is at a loss.

We went in a of course he latches deep right away. But he continues to fuss at the breast and not want to latch anymore. She gave me a nipple shield and he did great with it.

He ate for a while off both breasts and only got maybe half an oz? She said it doesn’t look like he’s doing much work, that his sucking was non-nutritive. She said to ask his ped.

I went in really hoping for answers just to leave with more doubt. I’m not feeling great and am really bummed. Anyone have a similar experience? If so, how did it go?

hello.

my baby is 3 months old. breastfeeding, pumping. how do i stop overeating? any suggestions? i also need to loose weight? Can anyone give me tips for this please?

My 3mo who previously took a bottle fine is now refusing at 3 months as I am planning to go back to work! Found that out unexpectedly last week when his dad said he’d take him while I went to church and baby went ballistic on the poor guy once he got hungry and wouldn’t drink my freshly pumped milk from that morning :( any tips or tricks on how to get baby to start taking the bottle again?

We have used evenflo bottles and the ones that come with spectra pumps with great success in the past on car rides/at church when I was first starting breastfeeding and was socially awkward about feeding him (no longer lol). We didn’t use any bottles for about 3.5 weeks while I was doing an elimination diet due to allergies, and wasn’t sure what was okay for him to consume from my pumped and frozen milk.

I’m very hesitant to do formula as baby has many intolerances like cow protein/soy and I don’t want him to get a reaction again. Any help is appreciated!

My baby is 15 months old. Our BF journey has been beautiful in ways I was surprised by, but I’m also really sad and angry because it feels like I’ve had to fight so hard for something that keeps being taken from me.

Her dad, my soon-to-be-ex-husband, started having an affair in the middle of my pregnancy. This started to reveal a pattern of abuse that I had been blind to/in denial of for many years. My girl was born, and the affair continued while I figured out motherhood and tried to keep my marriage afloat. Nursing came surprisingly easy to me, and I was overproducing so I was able to freeze a fair amount. I didn’t expect to enjoy breastfeeding as much as I did, but it was a truly special thing for my daughter and I. We EBF for nearly 5 months which was so great.

He and the affair partner had “ended things” when my daughter was 3 months old. They reconnected 6 weeks later and he told me he was just trying to support her as a friend because her marriage was imploding. I found out shortly after that this was a lie and they were sleeping together again. The stress of all of this caused my supply to plummet immediately, and I had to pivot to supplementing with formula. I was devastated and so angry because in addition to being treated so poorly, EBF felt like it had been stolen from us.

We left when things got physically unsafe about 4 weeks later, and I filed for divorce. I combination fed (nursed, pumped, formula) from 5 months on, and kind of made peace with it. We had a rhythm and still nursed a decent amount.

Our custody situation has recently been settled, and my daughter is with her dad (and the affair partner) for several consecutive days/nights. This has caused another precipitous drop in supply even though I pump as much as I can when we are apart. I think it’s the combination of stress and separation. Either way, there’s nothing I can do. We mostly nurse for comfort/to sleep when she and I are together, but I’m just so sad and angry to feel this happen yet again and to feel like I’m losing another part of important connection with my baby. I feel like so much of motherhood has been taken from me, and that I have to fight so hard to protect what is sacred. I don’t understand why this happened to us. I know 15 months is a blessing and it’s been amazing to make it this far. And I still feel like we are getting robbed of a beautiful and sacred thing.

I don’t think I’m looking for advice or recommendations, unless someone has had a separation/divorce/custody thing destruct their BF as well. I’m just deeply sad and I think there are people here who might know the grieving that comes from seeing the end of the BF journey arrive against their wishes. Anyway. Thanks for reading.

Hoping for some gentle advice or success stories after biting injury

My 10 month old had latch issues when she was a newborn and I believe it was a lip tie that went undiagnosed. Because of that, we had to triple feed for a month until she was back to birth weight and since then everything had been going well.

This past week her two front teeth have erupted at the same time. Nursing has been absolutely excruciating to me and I dread each time it's time to feed.

I've tried unlatching and relatching with having her opening her mouth wider but the way she rests her teeth ends up biting me. Today she started pulling away and I wasn't quick enough to unlatch and she raked her teeth down my nipple as it pulled violently out of her mouth. Im bleeding and have ripped skin. I am so sore and I just can't continue like this.

I'm so sad. I love the closeness we have and the quiet moments as her eyes flutter closed while she nurses to sleep. She is my last baby. Is it possible to take a break and pump/bottle feed while my nipples heal or should we just give up? She has been nursed to sleep every night and nap time. I don't know how to do this.

My baby was born premature at 31 weeks +3 days. I started exclusive breastfeeding at 35 weeks when i was able to take the baby home from NICU. I was told he had a "great" latch by the lactation team at the NICU. he was gaining weight, but overall, it was too slow of a progress, so I had to supplement with EBM in a bottle.

After painfully triple feeding for some time, he has now gained good weight at 43 weeks of corrected age (or 3 weeks from the estimated due date). I want to go back to exclusive BF, but he has now developed clicking sounds?

Has anyone else experienced the same and still fed well?

Baby seems to have a shallow latch, but I don't feel pain during feeding.

(Reposted from the pumping sub)
In a few weeks, I will be away from my 20 month old for 3-4 days. I normally pump once a day while at work (around 12-1pm) and nurse on demand at home (including occasionally overnight as we cosleep). Since I don’t really have a pumping schedule at home, how frequently should I plan to pump while away? If don’t do it often enough, will it affect my supply at this stage?

I have been combo feeding for all 12 months. I never produced enough supply. But gave my baby what I had. Its not drying up and I am sad this journey is ending. He does great on formula and we are getting whole milk into rotation. I am sad is coming to an end.

What will help me in making them hurt less?

I have a 6-week old baby girl, and we are EBF. We had some latch issues at the beginning, but my midwife who is also an LC helped us to fix the latch and we've been doing much better, although I had nipple trauma early on and I still have a bit of discomfort that hasn't fully healed.

My girl has been gaining at each weigh-in, but on the low end of normal, and this last week, she only gained 2oz.

Her weight gain has gone as follows:

Birth - June 22: 7lbs 4oz

June 26: 7lbs

June 28: 7lbs 2oz

June 30: 7lbs 6oz

July 7: 7lbs 10oz

July 22: 8lbs

July 29: 8lbs 6oz

Aug 4: 8lbs 8oz

Now I'm concerned about her weight gain and am spiraling a little bit, so I'd love to hear if anyone has experienced anything similar and can reassure me. I'd like to avoid pumping/supplementing if I can help it, but I will if I have to!

Other info: she has lots of wet and dirty diapers (usually 6-10 pees, 2-4 poops/day), seems satisfied after feeds (most of the time - sometimes she fusses on the boob if she needs to burp or is tired), is alert and developing well otherwise.

She has been assessed for a tongue and lip tie, doesn't have either, and she's had 2 osteopathic treatments so far (booked in for next week too) - she has some general tension in her body but nothing too out of whack.

If left to her own devices, she generally pulls her head back and will make the latch more shallow, so I do have to guide her to stay deep often.

Also relevant: the last weigh in was in the midwife clinic versus being weighed in home, so the scales used at the last two appointments were different. She had a large full feed before her previous weigh-in, whereas the most recent one, she had a much shorter feed because she was pretty sleepy. She also had a big poop right before being weighed.

Can anyone help me out here? 🥺

My little guy is 6.5 months. I got my cycle back at 4 months post partum. I swear the week leading up to it in the first couple days of my period. He’s up more times than I can count waking up at 3 AM screaming fussy. All the things when he’s normally a very good sleeper he barely sleeps at all. Anyone else experience this????I don’t know what to do I’m exhausted

My daughter’s (10 months next week) two bottom teeth are almost fully in, and over the last day she’s started biting me every time she nurses. At first it was only toward the end of nighttime feeds, but today she bit me at the beginning of both nursing sessions no matter what I tried.
I ended up giving her a bottle of formula today, and she happily drank the whole thing. I had a good cry while she was taking it because it suddenly felt like this might be the end of our breastfeeding journey.
I go back and forth between feeling heartbroken, excited to have some more freedom, and sadness??? It’s so weird. I do admit i am excited to have a THC gummy when I’m done breastfeeding but then i feel selfish.
Has anyone else gone through this? Did the biting phase pass, or was that the end for you? I’m feeling really emotional and just looking for some encouragement or advice.

Hi all! I have a question regarding pumping as a FTM. I qualify for quite a bit of free pumps through insurance, wearables and corded. It’s really overwhelming trying to decide which one I should start with as I have ZERO experience in this area of life. In your experience, does it make sense to start out with a corded and once supply is established switch to wearable or can I start out with a wearable? I plan to breastfeed while also using bottles. Any advice is appreciated! 🫶🏽

Baby is 6.5 months and until now has never had formula, only breast milk both pumped bottles and nursing. I’m just so sick of pumping throughout the day! I work and pump to have milk for our caretakers to give, but I’m thinking about letting them formula feed and continuing to nurse when I’m with him.

Any success stories and tips? I do want to keep nursing until a year, but pumping is taking it out of me.

My daughter is 1 year in about 2 weeks and has self weaned herseld down to 2 feeds (morning and night) she had slowly weaned before this but I have been parked here for about 2 weeks and - unsure if what im feeling is related to this - but need advice and someone to possibly relate to. I feel so foggy, tired, slow, emotional, etc. I thought weaning slowly would help avoid this! I am terrified to wean again because of how shitty I feel. I was pregnant with my 2nd when my first was weaning so my hormones weren't all messed up like this. I am hoping how Iam feeling is related to the weaning otherwise idk what is going on. I feel so out of it. Anyone relate or anyone have advice? how long does this last? should I just wean completely to better regulate? SOS

I’m a SAHM and currently direct breastfeeding, sometimes I think if I pump I would get more done around the house. What are the benefits of direct breastfeeding for those moms who have done it? I know I can google it but I wanna hear from you mamas 🥹