I’m just so sad…I think my supply is decreasing and my husband keeps telling me to leave the house but it seems so hard!!
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Yikes. I'd give up on pumping if this were me. My baby is 4 weeks old. How is that worth it? I'm letting what happens, happen with breast milk vs formula. Generations before us have used formula and survived. Your baby will be fine. I agree with your husband - take formula with you and take a couple of days to relax.
FYI women in France apparently bf for around 2 months. It is only in US I have experienced this obsession with breast feeding. You're not a dairy cow, you're a human being. Be happy and enjoy making memories with your baby
I would not agree that breast feeding is an “obsession”! It is the most healthy and natural way of taking care of your baby - this is exactly what we were made for ;) Most countries encourage you to rather breastfeed than using formula for food reasons like lower rate in allergies and useful antibodies in the milk depending on the baby’s need. I don’t understand why you pump and not breastfeed right away? Take the baby and your boobs and go to a park :) or leave the sleeping baby with your partner IF you want to go outside. Otherwise skin to skin helps with milk supply You are not wasting any time! The best time is the time with the baby! This is the only time you can be at home for a bit, don’t take the pressure (in Asia you are home minimum 60 days) Check your ion level!!
Can totally relate. I tried and tried and tried and never managed that much. Every time I got my supply up I got a cold or something. I pumped occasionally till a year then stopped. If trying to pump is interfering with your mental health, it's time to rethink. To be fair, it's really hard getting out with a 5 week old on your own. I generally only managed getting out of the house when my husband was home.
What I noticed it that my supply drops drastically when I don’t eat and drink enough. Maybe that could be something to check for you And if you want to get out of the house, why don’t you just try to talk a walk around the block? Go right after pumping, so you don’t have to pack anything. If I can be home within 5-10 minutes I don’t take anything, so much less stress :) But keep in mind, your mental health is just as important for a happy baby, as a baby being fed, no matter if it’s breastfeeding or formula
As someone who was at a breaking point with pumping around 5 months, I understand. I stopping pumping and just fed my LO from my breast. She seems happier and so was I. There was a lot less stress about pumping and cleaning and sterilizing everything. I noticed an increase in my supply. If I still felt full after a feeding I would pump. Don’t put so much pressure on yourself. I do agree with your husband about getting out of the house, just don’t overthink it and go.
The more formula feeds baby is given the more your supply will drop especially at a young age like this. It's a supply and demand cycle. I would recommend talking to a lactation consultant as putting baby to breast will be the quickest way to increase your supply but it is possible to do it by pumping but it requires a lot of effort and determination. In terms of your mental health maybe try short walks after a feed. Start with just 5-10 mins walk a day or twice a day after baby has had a feed so you don't need to take anything with you and gradually increase it as your confidence increases. Your mental health is really important but that also means having the support to feed baby how you want hence my recommendation to get help with this
@DANA yeah I do actually have the spectra and the Willow Go so i can totally pack the Willow one I guess I just need to stop worrying and just do it! It just seems stressful the washing of parts, drying and whole cycle of it so when it’s time to do it again it takes forever. Like in my head it just seems like so much to get ready and pack and look half way decent to leave the house haha!! Then I find myself tired and lazy to get off the couch lol but i need to just do it haha!!
@Gloria soo I am hoping this will change when he ages a bit more but right now he is just not effective at the breast unfortunately. He is faster eating a bottle. It seems like no matter what on the breast after like 30 mins of “eating” he is still rooting if i take him off and never satisfied ever. It worries me he isn’t getting enough but i think it’s because he ALWAYS falls asleep if he’s on me but will stay awake with a bottle. It honestly just irritates me to be stuck on the couch that long feeding to the point of rather pumping and feeding a bottle because it’s faster :/ plus i don’t BF in public so i would need to pump if i leave the house. I just don’t feel comfortable BFing in public. I do need to check iron. I was going to ask actually at my 6 week checkup because I was low during pregnancy and actually fainted once during my pregnancy cause it was too low and I had to supplement but i stopped. Maybe i should start back up.
@Miriam yeah I almost feel like my supply is bipolar…one min I’m getting a decent amount and the next it’s back down to 2 oz. I’m so confused! It’s like I’ll focus so hard on raising it and doing all the things so when it does, I’ll stop and it goes back down but i don’t have the mental energy to keep focusing on it all day everyday! And yessss so hard…I know my husband means well and genuinely trying to help but pushing me out of the house sometimes is a tiny bit annoying because me leaving the house looks so different than him leaving and it’s not so easy thinking about pumping and washing. Plus not to mention the broken sleep I get versus his solid 6-7 hours of sleep each night.
@Stephanie yea it sucks cause it’s like i know formula is fine. I used formula with my first because my mental health wouldn’t allow me to BF. But because the way BF is looked at I always felt guilty and that’s why i wanted to BF my second baby. Idk why I just wanted to be one of those girls so bad that is like oh I BF my baby for 20 months or 15 months or whatever they say haha. But now after trying again it’s like I’m coming to the same conclusion that it’s hard AF and I’m over it Haha! I do want to try to do what i can until the 6 month mark (mostly because I’m off work until then anyways so it’s like I DO have the time to do it) but I’m rethinking trying to go to the 12 month mark. It was in the back of my mind about quitting at week 2 buuut i felt bad cause my husband went out and spent a lot of money a wearable pump during that time when i was stressing about it to make it easier on me to pump. I feel like i go back and forth often on it whether it’s a good pump day or a bad one
I started taking him places around 3 months. My LO has been on a breastfeed strike for almost 1 month (he's 4 months now). As for the milk supply and milk volume, dont stress, It does not help the flow, and you won't get much out. When you do pump, be relaxed, do nothing else. This is my observation. Get a good quality pump, preferably a wearable one, so you can move and even pump outdoors. I have a momcosy and elvie classic. I now pump on the go, like when we are at a coffee shop, museum, or just while talking a walk outside. When I do pump outdoors and won't stay still, I get less milk than when I sit still. I pack my pump pair and 1 bottle in my baby bag. For maintaining a good milk supply, I drink nonalcoholic beer daily. Also, I pump after I bottle feed my baby. Not before, as it can be stressful if my milk supply is not restored in between sessions. So I always have 1 bottle ready in case he is earlier hungry and such. I hope you find your way around pumping and outdoors. It can be a nice experience.