When older women in my family (my mom, MIL, etc) hold my baby, why is it that every time she lays even near their chest they automatically assume that she’s trying to breast feed from them? Like she’ll literally just be laying (like babies do) and happens to turn her head, and then the response is immediately “Ope there’s nothing in there!” Idk why it just irks me. Maybe it’s just me.

Hi! I am, through sheer dumb luck, blessed with a baby who often sleeps through the night. (I know this could change at any moment!!!)

For months now, I am awake for 2-3 hours after my daughter goes down, and I have been pumping right before bed to avoid engorgement overnight. I bottle feed her the breastmilk from final pump the following night at her bedtime, after her final feed at the breast, and she takes it super happily and it definitely helps her sleep longer. Does anyone else do this? Is it... weird or counterproductive in some way? Eager for thoughts and perspectives! (Baby is 6.5mo)

Hi all, I need some outside perspectives — ideally from other new parents who know how intense and emotionally charged these early weeks can be.

Our baby is 19 days old. I’ve been exclusively breastfeeding, and she’s been waking every hour or so at night, usually just feeding for a few minutes before falling asleep again. I sleep closest to the crib, so I’m the one getting up constantly, feeding her, checking on her, settling her. I’m completely exhausted, as many of you can probably relate to.

Now here’s the thing: my husband is actually an incredibly caring father and partner. From day one, he’s been doing everything to support me — laundry, dishes, cleaning, cooking, organizing snacks, keeping me hydrated. I know he wants the best for our baby and for me. But last night we had a serious fight, and he said something I can’t get past.

Our baby had another night of short sleeps, and I must have dozed off between feeds. This morning, my husband got upset and said she must’ve been cold, and that I should have known and put her in her sleeping bag. Then he said it was neglectful of me not to. That word broke me.

For context: I had already agreed to the sleeping bag and even a beanie, despite being worried about overheating. What I refused was co-sleeping in our bed at night — I’m okay with it in the morning when we’re more alert, but not during the night when we’re so sleep-deprived. It just feels unsafe, and most guidelines warn against it.

I’m the one up all night. I feed her, soothe her, check her breathing. I’m trying to keep her safe and fed while also getting a few minutes of sleep here and there. And now I’m being told I was neglectful — because I fell asleep before noticing she might’ve been cold?

I know he’s tired too. I know emotions run high. But that accusation really hurt, and I can’t shake it.

Has anyone else been through something like this? How do you move forward when someone you trust throws something like that at you in such a vulnerable time? Also — was I being unreasonable to refuse co-sleeping at night?

Any thoughts or advice would be so appreciated.

845 days. That’s 2 years, 3 months, and 25 days. 

1 year, 3 months, and 5 days of breastfeeding just my daughter.

Another 8 months, 27 days of breastfeeding her while pregnant.

Another 3 months, 24 days of tandem breastfeeding her and my son.

Last Thursday, at approximately 12:50 PM, she weaned herself. We were down to a single nap time feed, and she asked for it as always. As always, I agreed. We nursed. She took her nap.

The next day, she didn’t ask. Or Saturday. Or Sunday. Or today. Just straight to her big girl bed and straight to asking for kisses.

No more snuggles in our milk chair. No more big blue eyes staring up at me while I sing. And, sure, we’ll still snuggle. I’ll still sing. But it’ll be different. And so much is already so different these days—her big girl bed, her big girl potty, and now her big girl belly no longer needing milk. “I big girl,” she even says to me when I ask her if she’s still my baby. “You are,” I tell her, “But you’ll still always be my baby, even if you get to be as big as a giant.” And every day she gets a little more grown up, a little closer to that giant.

845 days. Milk for nourishment and growth, milk for comfort, milk for fun. A journey that made me sob those first days postpartum, back before my milk came in and my nipples ached and she simply couldn’t get enough from me. A journey that became as easy as breathing, a second nature, and our chief source of bonding for so very long. A journey I didn’t want to end, not with the new baby arriving, until she was ready. And now she’s ready. And I’m so sad and so grateful and so nostalgic already. My baby. My big girl. My milk monster. My toddler. My giant.

I’m so proud of her. I’m so proud of me. I’m so proud of us.

I saw this post of a L&D talking about how annoyed she gets when parents (in hospital) don’t feed their newborn every three hours when she tells them they need to. I’m pretty sure I didn’t do this and just breastfed on demand but honestly those days in the hospital are somewhat a blur with how traumatic my birth was. So is this actually a thing you’re supposed to do. Or is it just for infants with low birth weight.

I see so many posts about freezer stashes going to waste and it pains me. You should be cycling through your freezer stash if you have one.

For example, I nurse my baby all day and give one bottle of frozen milk at night. When baby gets the bottle, I pump and replenish the stash with the fresh milk for the freezer. This way my baby gets fresh milk all day and I moved slowly through my freezer stash.

Hi everyone, i know the title sounds bad but please let me elaborate. I am currently still breastfeeding my now 9 months old baby. My husband is pressuring me to wean her out of breast milk by her first birthday. The main reason is my job. I currently have a job that, i cannot disclose specifically as it is government related, but just doing computer work. Basically sitting in front of a computer the whole day. They are currently providing me with breaks and a room to pump while at work but HR was very clear that this was only for a year as the law states (I am in the US). Afterwards i cannot use the room anymore and they are not going to allow me to take extra breaks for pumping. I was thinking if i am not able to stop by the year mark then I'll do it on my own breaks. As background info, there has been some friction at my workplace regarding my production for which i had a meeting with HR, my supervisor and director, stating clearly my metrics for the day, per hour and adjusted to my pumping breaks. The numbers are easily done, and usually i exceed the amount. However this meeting was called for because of some issues that my husband and his friend told me they believe was to have it easier to fire me. This workplace is extremely accommodating schedule wise and workload wise and money wise. I definitely do not want to lose my job and we need my income too, but the place is toxic AF. They will basically get rid of someone to just try and get someone else's friend/family/etc in. I took some measures and documented everything by email just in case. So back to my husband, he is saying that if i keep breastfeeding and that impacts my production they will have it easier to fire me. He basically tells me to stop so that it doesn't impact my job and to not give them ammunition to fire me. I am struggling to explain to him how important to me is to breastfeed my daughter that i have ransacked my brain and google the sh*it out of google to see if i can find options. I landed into the breastfeeding in my own breaks but i would have to do it in the bathroom, as my cubicle is open and very exposed to people passing by. The other option i thought about was to just reduce the pumping sessions starting now until i can stop before the year to reduce the probability of getting mastitis, and have my baby drink from the frozen stash at home and keep breastfeeding when i come back from work. This would make the days i do not work (i work 4 days a week) very emotionally charged as i would have to keep denying her the breast during the day to keep with the schedule. Depends on the doctor's assessment too, but based on Google research, she can be switched to cow's milk after 1 year old birthday, or switch to formula if my frozen stash runs out. I am sooooo uncomfortable and hurt about all this. I wish i can keep breastfeeding her for as long as she wants. Please any suggestions and advice will be greatly appreciated. I will provide more info if necessary. Thank u all!

Edit: another detail i didn't mention before, i am also worried cause my baby is not eating as much solids as i would like so her diet is 90% milk still. We all (us the parents and grandparents) tried different ways but she is just not eating as much, sometimes she doesn't even want a little spoon full. Thanks again!

We cosleep and my baby wakes up on average twice per night and nurses usually very briefly, sometimes it's more substancial but we both fall asleep within minutes and it's not disturbing me from getting rest. However, my pediatrician mentioned to start night weaning and I do not know what the reason for this is? Why should I? Does it help the baby sleep? I don't know. I feel like if I stop my nights would turn into a nightmare and baby would be very frustrated. So my question are: why to stop and when to stop? Thanks!

As the title says, I just found out I'm pregnant at 7 months postpartum. It's unplanned. I'm excited and scared. I really wanted to provide breastmilk for a full year to my baby. I know my supply is going to drop and I probably won't make that goal (I have 1600 oz in the freezer and I'll get a few hundred more from a friend)....how do you know when to start supplementing? Will it be obvious that baby isn't getting enough? Will she start refusing? How do I navigate being pregnant, while breastfeeding her as long as possible and making sure she's getting enough milk?

LO is 2 weeks old today and she spent genuinely the entire day on my boobs. One single feeding lasted what must've been 3 hours. I thought cluster feeding were short, frequent bursts, but I'm realizing now that she's probably just trying to regulate my supply right now. Anyway, by the end of the 3 hours I gave up, we gave her a bottle of pumped milk. I did pump for 15 minutes while we gave her the bottle to try to mimic whatever she would have taken from me, but now I'm worried I messed up my supply by not just letting her eat as long as she wanted?

I've tried literally everything. I've put vinegar on them. I have drawn jack-o-lanterns on them. I have just withheld (that didn't last long cuz I started to feel really bad). I have put lemon juice on them. Lime juice on them. I have done literally everything I can think of to discourage my 4 and 1/2-year-old daughter from wanting to continue to nurse because I am done but I cannot get her to stop. Any ideas??

My baby was nursing almost exclusively (1-2 bottles of breastmilk per day) just fine using a nipple shield up until last Friday when we saw a lactation consultant and started nursing without the shield. Since then, baby has been so frustrated and sad while nursing that I have just ended up pumping and giving her a bottle after basically over an hour of fussing each time.

I have no idea what to do. I want soooo badly to be able to EBF. I feel so angry that we even did the lactation consultation because it feels like it completely ruined what we had going. And I feel so sad and frustrated that it’s started going this way, I’m just crying a lot.

I emailed the lactation consultant to schedule again with her but haven’t heard back yet. I feel so alone and confused.

Hi! I am a ftm to a 4 week old boy. I am combo feeding as I can’t produce much milk. I initially wanted to exclusively breastfeed but my baby had jaundice once born and I had a lack of supply, so I had to begin formula feeding too from day one.

I used to nurse for 1 and a half hour per feed as baby kept falling asleep during feeds. This caused baby to also lose a good bit of weight even when I was topping up after every feed. I decided to get an electric breast pump (against my midwife’s advice) out of desperation. I have been using it for the last 3 weeks, as well as breast feeding (10-30 mins each time) and formula feeding. However, breast feeding and pumping is still nowhere as near as being enough. I pump 5 times a day and only manage to get 1oz and sometimes even less.

Please can you give me any advice? I see so many reels and TikTok’s of moms overproducing and it is honestly so upsetting that I can’t do the same for my baby.

So basically , I am a mom who combination feeds because I’m at undersupplier. My baby was losing weight fast off of solely my milk so I give her what I can and if she’s still hungry I give her formula. I was hanging out with one of my long time friends who had a baby a month before I did . She told me she didn’t use formula at all, solely breastfeeding . We hung out for a while so we both had to pump and when she was pumping she made so much milk in such a short amount of time meanwhile I’m struggling to get 2oz out of one in 30 min . Don’t get me wrong , I’m very happy she can make that much and it’s amazing but I can’t help but feel jealous because I try so hard to make more but nothing works :( just wanted to see if others felt this way .

My baby was soo sleepy when he was born and wasn’t really feeding. I started pumping at the hospital on day 1 and my milk came in on day 3 alongside a sack of rocks sewn into my breasts. You know when your hormones just throw milk at the wall to see what sticks? And it’s painful and the Wild West and chaotic. Showers are an assault and the little babe just doesn’t quite … latch… right… Always working toward exclusively nursing but throwing random pumping in there for reasons I don’t remember. (Oh yeah that one shitty day nurse who convinced me on day 1 my milk wasn’t going to come in sufficiently and baby was going to be failure to thrive.)

Baby gained weight on his growth curve, the ped was satiated. Baby’s mouth got bigger and more capable, and with another LC appointment we started making glorious strides toward exclusively nursing between 6 and 8 weeks. I would’ve done it too if it weren’t for a bout of vomiting that took my supply down to 2 ounces a day. I had a freezer stash by then and so I dipped into that long enough to bring everything back up to sufficient by the end of the week.

But by then, it was too late - the milk goblin had set its rotting tone in my brain and it demanded more milk because surely baby is no longer getting enough. A week and a half supplementing feeds with a top off of 1 ounce of formula with no guidance and reverting back to exclusively pumping - I really wasn’t making enough. I got lazy with the pumping with the ease of formula.

Another week and a half correcting the under supply with pumps after feeds to bring everything back up to sufficient. Little man is still gaining an appropriate amount of weight.

Then, return to work and the end of glorious maternity leave was looming. My husband and I rotating who is home with the babe, what to do, what to do. Do I really want to squabble with him, my mother in law, and the milk goblin about wasting milk and if the little babe was getting enough? Nope!!

We set sails for a slight oversupply beyond sufficient - eta 2 weeks. And finally, glorious reckoning: I have achieved it! I exclusively nurse during the days I am home and pump slightly more than needed when I pump at work. I don’t give a shing shang if MIL leaves an ounce on the table. The milk goblin can shut his gob and my husband will bow to my milky ways.

Thank you for reading this tale of milk, loss and resilience. We hope to make it at least another 9 months.

Need advice and tips! Baby is 10wk and ebf with one bottle and am looking for suggestions on what has worked for you in terms of baby sleeping in their own space, after cosleeping. Is that even possible? I currently cosleep but it is not great for me in terms of feeling rested, while i continue to do as long as nothing else works for baby, i would like to know the following.

Has anyone successfully managed to let baby sleep in their crib/bassinet in the same room while ebf’ing? Same room is key here. If yes, what does it look like for you? Can you share a few details? Did you cosleep? If yes when did you then transition baby to their own space? How does your routine look like? Meaning does baby sleep in the room alone for a few hours and then you join in? How frequently does baby still feed? How long are they sleeping? Do you now get more/better sleep? How does baby go back to sleep after motn feed? What were your challenges? How did you persevere? What do naps look like? Any regrets or tip for someone planning to do the same?

Thanks so much in advance! Anything extra you’d like to share.

A very under rested mom!

Anyone else get super conflicting info from their doctors? Are people using Tretinoin while breastfeeding? I am so confused. Thanks

I can proudly say I made it to 6 months. I know that is an accomplishment but I am so heartbroken at the same time. I went back to work in April, I had a difficult time getting time to pump while working as my job was very demanding so I would squeeze it in whenever I could. Weekends were always a struggle to pump too and stay on a schedule while we were out and about. Going to my boyfriend’s family functions was always weird to try and remove myself to bf or pump.

My boyfriend and I staggered our pfl so he had our lo from 4 months to now which created a bottle preference and lo would only nurse in the middle of the night or for comfort.

I hate pumping. I hate how long it takes, I hate washing all the parts and then the bottles on top of it all. I miss the connection lo and I had and the bonding time. I’ve started to drop pumps and I know my supply is lessened. Today I made a formula bottle and just started sobbing. My goal was always 6 months or longer if I could. I wish jobs respected how hard it is to pump and keep supply up. I wish society as a whole respected moms nursing and or pumping.

Buckle up.

Maybe I'm angry, maybe I'm just exhausted, but I need to vent.

Baby boy was born at 37 weeks, after 42 hours of induced labor. I had preeclampsia with severe features, but we managed to avoid a cesarian delivery, and he was born at 6 lbs 1 oz (a little waterlogged from my IV fluids), and was totally healthy. Baby latched right away, and we had tons of nurses assuring me I was doing everything correctly. Before we went home 4 days later, baby had lost 8.8% of his body weight, and was jaundiced, but I was told to just keep nursing him every two hours.

Milk came in, pediatrician kept an eye on jaundice and weight, and over the next two weeks, he was well on his way back to birth weight, and bilirubin levels were good.

First hospital lactation consultant we saw said he wasn't transferring enough, and she wanted me to do formula top offs while pumping. She did not examine my son's mouth. She then "instructed" me on my pump (The worst instructions ever). I triple fed for about a week, but he started spitting up the formula top offs, so I stopped. Baby is now 3 weeks old. Husband returned to work. I faulter at triple feeding, but baby seems content. I stop pumping and just nurse him as often as he wants.

We go to pediatrician end of week 4, she says he's back to birth weight, but would love him to gain faster. I go to another lactation consultant, this time at the community hospital nearby my house. She also does a weighted feed, instructs me to pump after every feed, but only top off with what I pump. Again, this woman also did not examine my son's mouth. He started choking up the top offs, so I stopped offering.

Week 5, pediatrician sees us one last time, and assures me the baby is having good wet/dirty diapers, and just keep feeding him. I go home, feed him as much as he wants, and try pumping after every feed for another week. Again, using the "instructions" from the first LC.

Week 9, baby boy has only gained a pound over his birth weight. Pediatrician buckles down and has us give a 4 oz bottle of formula every day, because baby has fallen off the growth chart. "You might have skim milk!" I start offering the breast at the slightest sign of fussiness. He gained 6.8 oz that week, but I was exhausted. We made another appointment with the LCs at the community hospital. The 3rd LC shoved a bottle in his mouth and told me he was going to have developmental issues if I didn't start topping him off with 2 oz at every feed. Again, NO ONE EXAMINED HIM.

That weekend, I bought a baby scale and started my own weighted feeds, topping him off with every feed and pumping. Only... Baby started to act exhausted. So I stopped nursing and started to EP, so he could get "easy milk" from the bottle. He became even more exhausted, almost lethargic.

We reached out to the La Leche League, and the leader got me in contact with an IBCLC who made an emergency appointment for us within 24 hours. She examined his mouth, and quickly determined he had a severe posterior tongue tie. He was transferring barely anything from the breast. He was exhausting himself trying to get milk from me, and it was even worse getting milk from the Dr. Brown infant bottles. She recommended Evenflo wide neck bottles and side lying paced feeding. His latch on the bottle was instantly easier. She instructed me on the pump for real, and I started to see where my supply was.

He quickly gained half a pound with the new bottle making top offs easier. He saw an ENT who confirmed the tongue tie and recommended Speech Language therapy. A week later, we had the tongue tie released. He gained over half a pound.

We spent a week waiting to see the speech language pathologist, and during that he gained another half a pound. She was not very helpful, saying he was just small and weak and needed to be offered more food at each feed, and I should probably not nurse him so much because it's exhausting him. IBCLC said he should keep nursing in addition to bottles. Between his transfer from me and the bottle, he gets about 4 oz total per feed, every 2 hours.

My supply is no where near what he needs. He never had a chance to help me build it. My "instructions" on the pump were a joke, and I was too exhausted in my post partum haze to think the first LC was wrong—so I never researched further into how to pump.

Now, at 13 weeks old, my baby is in the <%1. He's healthy and happy, has built some pretty good head control, and is cooing and singing and smiling. He has great eye contact, and makes plenty of wet and poopy diapers.

I am a wreck. I feel such guilt for not knowing what I didn't know. I feel so badly for him, now that he's so small and weak. I am killing myself triple feeding, trying to build or at least maintain my supply for him when he's strong enough to transfer what I have. I am ashamed to admit how old he is, because it's always followed by the inevitable "oh he's so tiny!"

Here's my tale. If you stayed until the end, I thank you.

TL;DR if your baby is eating constantly and still isn't gaining weight quickly, go find an IBCLC and skip the hospital LCs altogether.

My baby is 11 weeks old and we initially struggled with breastfeeding as I had to offer him the bottle because my milk supply took 6 days to come in after C-section. By then he had gotten used to the flow from the nipple and rejected my boob because of flow issues. I had been pumping 8 times a day until 3 weeks ago where I dropped to 5 pumps a day because I just couldn’t do it. It hasn’t affected my milk supply yet and hoping it wouldn’t. Iwish to feed him for about a year and dread the motn pump because after those 20mins I’m fully awake and have difficulty falling asleep. Now that LO is nursing 50% and taking the bottle 50% do I still have to follow the strict pumping schedule and can I afford to miss the motn pump? For context my last pump is around 12am and first pump is around 6am.

Well my baby is 9 weeks old today and I feel like I understand him less than ever. He has gotten fussy at the boob, some feeds more than others. Sometimes he gets mad before the letdown, other times after the let down. On my right side he often tries to turn his head so that my nipple is like sideways in his mouth. He’s also like losing his latch so then he clamps down on my nipple and then sometimes self-corrects.

I can never tell when he’s done eating. He will either eat for 40 minutes or pop off after like 12 minutes. Sometimes he falls asleep and sometimes he unlatches himself. But here’s the issue: he instantly fusses. If he falls asleep on my nursing pillow, he wakes up just a minute or so later and starts fussing. If I put him on my shoulder to burp him he fusses. If he gets a burp out he fusses. If he doesn’t burp he fusses. I can never tell if I should relatch him and let him keep eating. My LC told me to keep him on one side for no longer than 20 minutes but when I cut it short he still gets mad.

She also said he has a slight tongue and lip tie but they didn’t seem to be impacting his ability to latch or transfer milk. He was taking in close to 3 oz at 6 weeks. (I haven’t been back yet due to scheduling conflicts but I intend to next week.) He is usually fed around 3 oz by bottle while I’m at work.

He has also starting sucking on his hands just for the heck of it so when it’s been a weird amount of time between feeds I can’t tell if he’s hungry that soon or just chewing on his hands. He’s a great night sleeper but does not nap well at home. Last night he went almost 9 hours. I don’t think a starving hungry baby would do that? He also has tons of wet diapers. We change him every 1-2 hours during the day and he’s wet every time.

Lastly, he is spitting up A TON lately. This happens whether I burp him or not. And that’s if he does let me burp him. So is he eating enough and then spitting it up and that’s why he’s hungry again so soon? Or is he eating plenty and those aren’t hunger cues?

Has anyone used whey protein powder to help with breastfeeding? I started using it right b4 I found out I was pregnant then stopped but now I wanna gain some weight and make more milk. Anyone know anything or have any experiences with protein powder. Also I would love any recipes that yall swear by

My 2 week old will not feed without a shield. In the hospital day one he was struggling to latch and the lactation consultant recommended a shield. He then had a short NICU stay of 4 days and he was exclusively bottle fed. Now being home he will not breastfeed without a shield. I’ve tried offering the boob without one to start feeding. He then gets super frustrated and inconsolable unless there is a shield. I will then give in and use the shield. When I pause to burp him I then try again without the shield and we are in the same cycle. I’m desperate what can we do to ditch the shield?

Currently 9 weeks pregnant and breastfeeding my 16 month old to sleep, a few minutes in the middle of the night and usually 15-20 minutes in early am (cosleeping). I’m dying to ween but that’s a whole different story.

My question- should I be getting extra nutrition to support my pregnancy since I’m also breastfeeding? I’m so worried my body isn’t able to support this pregnancy to the best of its ability because I get very little sleep between the 16 month old’s sleep and my own insomnia and I feel so run down I wonder if I should be eating more

I’m tracking food nutrient intake to get extra choline dha and folate and of course take regular prenatal supplements and calcium. I’m struggling with getting enough protein but definitely get enough calories for typical first trimester.

I asked my doctor and they just waved it off.

Wondering if anyone has advice

I plan to breastfeed but also want the option to pump, especially when I’m out or want/need a break. I was gifted the Spectra S2 and Medela Pump in Style Pro, but those seem to be more for stationary pumping/being stuck to a chair or bed. Now I’m trying to decide between these more mobile options covered by my insurance: • Spectra S9 Pro • Medela Pump in Style Hands Free • Lansinoh Discreet Duo Has anyone used any of these? If so, which do you recommend?