I get that each method of feeding has its pros and cons, and I’m only a month into breastfeeding as a first time mom. But I have been feeling like breastfeeding has to be making my postpartum life harder — even though I’ve had a relatively easy time.

Not only are you recovering physically and dealing with the hormone drop/baby blues, you’re also dealing with sleep deprivation and you/baby working out positioning and latch etc. If EBF you are the one getting up all night every night and have the baby strapped to you pretty much 24 hours a day. Then there’s cluster feeding where you quite literally cannot do anything but sit on the couch and feed your baby for hours on end, sometimes several days in a row. If you want a break and want someone else to feed baby, you now have to somehow work out a time to pump in the day in between the constant nursing and hopefully you have a baby who tolerates being set down. But IBCLC will tell you not to introduce a bottle before 4 weeks so you just have to power through an entire month of doing it on your own. They will also tell you not to introduce a pacifier so now your baby has next to no coping mechanisms if not attached to your boob, which makes car rides and doctors appointments an absolute riot. And keeping up on your nutrition and hydration is its own event. Someone else has to make all your meals or you need to get really good at cooking one-handed because again you essentially can’t set the baby down.

Sigh. I love bonding with my baby while nursing and I know I’m doing something great for them. But it’s not as easy and “natural” as so many people would want you to believe. I can’t help but think formula feeding, or maybe even exclusively pumping, would make my life easier in some ways.

Is there something about breastfeeding that causes a huge craving for sweets?? I thought my sweet tooth was bad during pregnancy, but it’s nowhere near as bad as it is now. I am constantly feeling guilt about my sugar intake. My overall diet is still good, but I feel like having 1-2 desserts per day is overkill lol

Hi all! I'm FTM and not very shy, that doesn't mean an exhibitionist, I just mean I'm not very sensitive.

My question is, do I really need to cover my baby while breastfeeding?

My perfect scenario would be people keep living their lives and just let me do my thing without staring, questioning or even telling me to cover myself when breastfeeding in public spaces such as parks, restaurants, etc.

Is that real or a fantasy in my head? Will people (man, they are the one who bother me if looking) actually look? Or even tell me to cover myself?

How's real life out there?

I appreciate your perspective. 🩵

TO BE CONSIDERED: I live in New Brunswick, if that changes things.

I never gave a second thought to breastfeeding when I was asked while pregnant. I thought, “why wouldn’t I?” No one followed up with details on how hard it would be, especially while working full time.

I had 12 weeks off and made plenty of milk. Pumped for a freezer stash and bottles so dad could feed. I was up around the clock for months making sure I could keep up.

Work started and I got my pump routine down, 3x a day 15-20 mins each, fine. Used to come home and nurse immediately, then on demand/before bed/MOTN.

Had to start supplementing formula about a month and some change after daycare started to keep up with his intake. That made me feel terrible. I felt like I was doing so much work and still it wasn’t enough. Eventually, I accepted fed baby is best. We also had some struggle with weight gain, so that outweighed my ego.

We’re now at 11 months and baby has developed a bottle preference and barely nurses except for mornings, sometimes MOTN. I’ve still been pumping once at work and before bed every day just to keep some supply up for when he wants some. It takes days of pumped milk to collect just to make a full bottle anymore. I’m so annoyed with pumping, but I just keep doing it with the hopes he’ll want to nurse more. But with adding solids and bottle preference, it seems we’re at and end.

I’m so sad. I never had a specific goal for length of breastfeeding, and it’s not completely over, but I just feel like I missed out on so much. I didn’t think I’d be as sad as I am at the thought of ending things. I just wish I could’ve had more time with him to directly breastfeed.

I’m 3 weeks postpartum and been breastfeeding and struggling with the pain. No issues with milk production though and baby is packing on weight quickly so I assume he’s able to latch well enough. Sometimes he keeps relatching which I was told could be due to too much milk coming out or boobs being too engorged. Older women in my family told me some pain is normal and that it should subside by about a month in but I’m worried it won’t for me:/ It just feels like my nipples are sooo sore and tender, hurts for the shower water to hit them or for clothes to rub up against them. One side hurts a decent amount more than the other side and I feel like I need to yelp and squirm when he latches. That one often hurts a bit the entire feed, not just the beginning(though that is when it hurts most). The other breast usually only hurts at the beginning. They got a bit cracked and maybe a tiny bit of blood the first week but not anymore, though my nipples often look white after feeding.

It just feels like they need time to heal? Like how are they going to be able to heal if he’s on my nipples so many times a day. I really want to skip feeding with the painful nipple but the other boob already seems to be producing more milk so I don’t want to make it worse. I was even thinking of just pumping on the painful boob and feeding from the less painful one to keep supply in both and give it time to heal. I only pumped a couple times with an in bra it seemed less painful on the lowest setting. But not sure if that would cause issues.

Anyways, been trying to use lanolin after every feed but wondering if I also need silverettes or if it’s worth seeing a lactation consultant? I’ve just heard mixed things about the silverettes and they didn’t seem to be a thing for older family members and they eventually made it to the other side. I feel like since baby seems to be getting enough milk and some pain is normal at the beginning maybe I have no real issues to bring to a LC but it is covered by my insurance so I want to use the resources if they’d help.

This is my second baby, and I forgot about this phase - and how much I hate it - with my first until it rolled around again. The 9 month "f****** around while feeding" phase.

Unless my girl is starving or half asleep, she's pinching me, yanking my hair, grabbing my lips or nose, banging me in the chest, or my personal least favorite, bracing her arm against my chest and pushing so that my nipple is stretched as far as it can go. Why? Why do you have to do that?? It's not once or twice with these behaviors, it's the whole damn time. It's so overstimulating and I hate it. I'm feeling like I may just move to pumping and bottle feeding until she's 1.

My second baby will be 6 weeks old tomorrow, and we are currently doing triple feeding. His weight gain was a little slow, so his pediatrician recommended supplementing. I’m currently direct breastfeeding 8–12 times a day, pumping 4–5 times, and giving top-ups to make sure he is getting enough and continuing to gain weight. The supplements have definitely helped, and I’m grateful for that, but I’m really hoping to get out of this triple feeding cycle.
I’ve been working on improving his latch, and he latches well, but he often falls asleep after sucking for a while. I’ve tried everything — undressing him, diaper changes mid-feed, tickling his feet, cold wipes, breast compressions — but he still gets very sleepy at the breast. It makes me wonder if my supply is low or if he just isn’t transferring milk efficiently.

With my first baby, I exclusively pumped and made “just enough,” so this breastfeeding journey has been very different and challenging.

I would love to hear from other moms who had sleepy babies at the breast. Did your baby eventually become more efficient at feeding? When did things start improving? I’m trying to stay motivated and continue breastfeeding before the exhaustion of triple feeding makes me want to give up.

I’m about 3.5 pp, mostly EBF, and I feel like staying hydrated is its own job right now! And I’m struggling.

I usually drink more than 2 liters of water a day, and have recently added some Gatorade into the mix, but every time I wake up after sleeping for more than a couple hours, I feel hungover and noticeably dehydrated. And I’ve noticed my production is often tied to how hydrated I am.

So please give me your tips and tricks, or just share how you handled/are handling this part of breastfeeding!

Hello all,

I’m just a bit frustrated with my partner at the moment.

Currently pregnant (25 weeks) and we have a 16 month old. He has three older daughters 18, 13 and 10. We have a ten year age difference.

My daughter is wonderful and i love her so much, but she is at the point of super clinginess and sometimes i just want to have a break and teach her to be more independent and not need mom so much. She eats solids 3-4 times a day, and drinks water and one cup of whole milk as we recently found out she is on the brink of being iron deficient. I wanted to wean her before baby #2 gets here but obviously it’s hard to do that alone. I already feed her on demand and a couple times at night, sometimes more if shes going through something.

Whenever i bring up weaning and suggesting things to my partner that I’ve read or seen, he is quick to shut it down and tell me it wont work since i never kept up with pumping or never gave the baby a bottle when she was smaller so she won’t take one and he thinks that is the only solution. Whenever i tell him just him spending time with her or even helping at bedtime will help, he refuses and says that a crying and screaming baby left with him would be unfair to him, and its my fault she is clingy and wants no one else, so i need to fix it on my own and learn to not do that with the next one.

I’m obviously unhappy he refuses to try anything and when i tell him he doesn’t seem willing, he gets mad and we fight. I just want some help, he is great with everything else, but it would mean a lot for him to participate in this

What should i do? Im scared i wont be able to have my daughter left at home when its time to give birth again

My 8 month old’s weight gain has been slow since his 6 month appointment. He dropped slightly in percentiles but is still on his expected curve. The pediatrician isn’t concerned and said it’s common at this age and probably a result of distracted feedings and picky eating with solids. He recommended we move to solids 3 x day to supplement calories.

Knowing that breast milk should be his primary source of calories until 1 year, I’m wondering if that’s the right approach or if I should be concerned about my supply. Has anyone experienced anything similar around this age? And if so, did increasing solids help?

How do I get my 4 month old to nurse less frequently? I know how that sounds- but she nurses every 90 minutes (maybe 2 hours if we are lucky) like clockwork.

I love nursing and honestly I have been loving following her cues, but I keep waiting for her to be every 3/4/5 hours and it just hasn’t happened. Even our ped asked how often she eats and was shocked. My baby just loves to nurse- I do cut her off after 15mins or so when she starts using me as just a paci, but I can’t seem to lessen the frequency. I don’t want to let her go hungry or keep crying!

She sleeps 9pm-7am except lately as we have 1 MOTN wake + nurse back to sleep, we are mid 4 month regression. I also think she’s teething, shes been extra fussy lately which doesn’t help.

My huckleberry app has me at 9 feeds a day, average of 1 hour 47 minutes between.

I went back to work this week (I WFH with a nanny but have calls all day long) and I severely underestimated how hard this would be. I’m like going to lose my job if this continues.

Hi! FTM, I am concerned about my supply and if my baby get enough milk when I nurse him. I am EBF and everything was going well for the first 3 weeks, baby was gaining weight well. Everyone was really happy with the weight gain but he has started to slow down last week and seems to stay at 3.25 kg now. We are concerned that he may not be getting enough milk, and I am a bit lost between all the advice I am getting. Some people say it is fine. My doctors are monitoring him closely and have told me to pump two or three times a day to top up what he gets from nursing.

Everyone agrees that his latch has been REALLY good from the start. I see him swallowing, at least for the first 10 minutes of each feed, so he is getting milk. Nursing generally lasts 40–50 minutes, which seems quite long to me. If I weigh my baby before and after nursing, he seems to get around 30–40 mL/1 oz, which seems quite low to me. I do have milk though, when I pump, I get between 100 and 150 mL/ 2-4 oz in 10 min. I have started doing this twice a day to top up feeds. If I give him 1.5 oz of my milk in a bottle, he will take everything and seem full. However, he never seems full after nursing (eating hands, fussing, looking for breast) and often fall asleep. I also feel that he is CONSTANTLY on the breast if I do not give him a bottle.

We are a bit lost about what to do and if what he is getting is normal. He does not have clear eat-awake-sleep cycles yet because he is constantly nursing (not easy for me as well!). I only get this when I give him a bottle. Is that normal? Thanks a lot!

Hi all!

My baby is 10 months and I'm struggling to imagine what the next couple months looks like.

When baby turns 1, I plan to continue to nurse baby in the morning and before bed, but plan to wean him during the day. I pump while I'm at work and I'm really looking forward to not having to do that.

My question is- can you tell me about your transition with daycare at 1 year old? I can't imagine just not sending in any bottles. We currently send 2, one for before each nap. I also nurse him when he wakes up, when I pick him up from school, and before bed.

I don't really want to switch to milk. He has a CMPA, and my pediatrician said Ripple could be an option if we wanted to do milk, but Ive also heard babies can just have water after 1 and no milk during the day, which is my preference.

Please help me imagine what the 1 year transition looks like in practice, especially if you didn't replace breast milk with cows milk. THANK YOU

Has anyone ever increased their supply around 5 months postpartum? I never was great about pumping and my baby doesn't really breast-feed anymore. I basically pump about one to one and a half ounces a day just so that she gets the benefits of having some breastmilk and she's mostly formula fed. Has anyone ever successfully increased their supply? at my peak pumping I was getting about 3 ounces in the morning and then like an ounce to 2 ounces for the rest of the day so like 5 ounces a day max. If I do it every two hours and chug a bunch of water and eat oats will my supply increase? I have a dream of being able to stop formula and give her breastmilk until she's a year old

Currently breastfeeding my third and last baby. He’s 18 months old and I want to stop soon. This time around, my boobs grew… a lot. And they’ve stayed the same size the whole time. For the first two times I breastfed, they grew but shrunk during breastfeeding, and especially after weaning at 15 months and 12 months, respectively. Right now they are the biggest they’ve ever been (except when my milk first came in of course).

I really just want to know what to expect after I wean. I know only time can really tell, but specifically I’d love to hear from any other third time moms who have weaned (or second, fourth, etc.) and how your boobs changed after weaning, if at all. Is it possible mine will stay the same size?? I hesitate to buy any new bras right now, since I don’t know what they will look like after weaning.. it’s just interesting to me how different my experience has been this time around.

My son is 3 days old and has an amazing latch. Only issue is he cannot stay awake to eat. He’s lost 6% of his body weight since birth and the doctor said feeds every 2-3 hours. I try to feed him every 2.5 but end up spending an hour and a half trying to get him to stay awake. He has a great latch when he initiates a meal by showing hunger cues, but when I initiate a feeding he’s out like a light. I did everything. Taking all clothing off, diaper changes, tickles, cold hands, cold wipes. He’ll get annoyed but the second he’s on the boob he’s out no matter how much I bother him. He also will not exceed 15 minutes of breastfeeding at a time, which is half the time the doctor recommends. Any advice or reassurance would be great!

Is it common for women to have strong let down during nursing? I didn’t realize this was an issue in my supply for my baby.

1st baby: I was a “just-enough” producer always worried about my supply (i.e. waking up to pump if my baby slept too long) & wishing I was an oversupplier.
2nd baby: I’m now an oversupplier with a strong letdown so baby chokes at every feed & sometimes vomits from gagging. Hand expressing or using a Haakaa before each feed is annoying & now seeing the good side of my “just-enough” producing days with my 1st.

1st baby: She was a slow nurser who loved taking her time & I wished she was one of those fast nursers.
2nd baby: This one is a fast & efficient nurser who only takes one boob per feed most of the time & is done in like 5-10 min, but then she loves to comfort nurse after & throws a hissy fit when milk is still coming out or sometimes overeats & spits up a lot. Now seeing the good side of 1st who was a slow nurser, but rarely spat up.

To my “just-enough” producers out there, I see you. To my oversuppliers out there, I see you too. My 2nd made me realize there are pros & cons to both.

Baby is almost 1 month and has been drinking from bottle and BF. Sometimes BF is easier than bottle but sometimes he will get fussy so ill give him a bottle. Even with a bottle he’s still showing signs of hunger and immediately starts trying to suck my clothes so i just start BF is this normal? Or has he just gotten used to BF for comfort

Day weaned a few months ago and finally went cold turkey the other day (18 months) with feeding to sleep and middle of the night nursing sessions. It’s only my left breast as she stopped feeding from the right a while ago, which was gradual so it never got engorged. My left one is HUGE, hard, and quite painful. I’ve been self expressing here and there but I read to only do that when completely necessary so my body knows to stop producing milk. I’ve been freezing cabbage leaves and putting those in my bra which is nice but they only last cold for a few minutes.

Any tips? How long will until my body gets the picture and my boob deflates? 😅

I think I just need to vent, but feel free to share tips. I had a session with a lactation consultant during the baby's first week and got all the instructions: "baby's tummy against mine, baby needs to open their mouth wide and take in the whole areola, nipple pointing toward the baby's nose, baby's chin touching the breast," etc. But it never became easy or smooth; correcting the baby's latch is always a huge, stressful effort.

How can I ensure he opens his mouth wide enough? How can I stop him from gradually slipping off the breast until he's only latched onto the nipple? After getting past the phase of biting the nipple with his gums, we’re now in the phase where he chokes on the milk. When he chokes, he gets really stressed out (I would too). How can I prevent him from choking? The positions I learned (baby lying down with a nursing pillow) don't work anymore because he chokes, so now I have to keep him upright. This is affecting my posture and causing back pain. I am so tired and frustrated.

The baby is 8 weeks old; he poops 3 to 4 times a week, his diapers are always wet, and I won't know if he's gaining weight until the pediatrician appointment next week—though he feels heavier, even if he isn't a typically chubby baby.

Private lactation consultant appointments are very expensive in my country, but I'm thinking about saving up to hire a different consultant.

The baby gets two bottles at night so I can sleep; the rest of the time, he nurses. My breasts leak frequently, so I assume my supply is fine. Are we expected to correct the baby during every feeding?

My LO is almost 7 months. I’ve always erred more on the oversupply end. So I’ve typically only nursed from one side each feed, with exception to first and last feed, which has worked well for us. I’ve recently returned to work and I’m trying to find a good balance with pumping. She doesn’t really eat much through the day. I was originally sending three 4 oz bottles and have since decreased to three 3 oz bottles. She varies day to day, sometimes drinking all 12 and sometimes only drinking 6. (Which thankfully she now accepts bottles lol it was a hard time trying to get her to bottle feed, so much stress 😅) But my question is, since we typically only nurse from one side, should I keep that going with pumping? Or should I do both sides until I get the 12oz? My concern is maintaining supply over time. I also don’t want to screw myself and end up with over over supply. lol TIA!

My son is 29 months old and still wakes up to nurse 2-3x a night. He also has recently been coming up to me wanting to nurse during the day. I want it to end! It seems at night nothing comforts him except being breastfed back to sleep.

We’ve been lucky to avoid sickness until 11 months - my baby girl had been congested for a week or so and then came down with a fever yesterday and threw up. Seeing a baby sick is so sad! About a week ago she started refusing my boob (probably around the time congestion started). When I try to latch her she arches and cries. She will sometimes take a bottle but not as frequently as normal. I should add that she loves food and is still eating while sick just not as much. Even this morning as her fever is gone she’s still refusing boob. I’m wondering if she’s self weaning? Is she over it ? Or could this be a symptom

Of congestion/sickness?

I’m a FTM to twin girls now 10 weeks, born at 37 weeks. They’ve generally been really good latchers since the beginning and feeding well. We do a mix of BFing during the day and bottle feeding at night with pumped milk so I can get a bit of a break.

Recently, randomly, in the mid to late afternoon feed, one of the girls will seem super upset and won’t latch. Soothes relatively easily with some bouncing up and down / carrying but then still won’t latch on either side. Doesn’t happen every day, maybe 1-2 times per girl per week.

My going theory is they have some gas or need to poop and are too uncomfortable to latch, but lots of tummy rubs and bicycle kicks don’t always work. Also, I know they’re hungry because it’s been 3-4 hours and even if they won’t latch, they’ll still take a bottle.

Anyone have any suggestions?

I find it so frustrating when this happens. Also because one will latch fine on one side, I only need to pump a single side which for some reason I just find incredibly annoying.