Hi mamas :) I’m a FTM and my LO will be one month old tomorrow. I’m really struggling with low supply, and I’m looking for any and all tips and tricks that might actually work, as well as some advice on what’s even realistic for me. Long story short, I’m currently pumping 10-12x/day and only getting just under 8oz/day (0.5-1oz/session). Backstory below for those who want to read.
My son was born 12/13/25 via an unexpected C-Section. He latched once during the golden hour, but ended up having to go to NICU shortly after and was there for 7 days on an NG tube being supplemented with donor milk and formula. He was taken to NICU not due to feeding/weight issues, but once he was there he was required to eat at least 60mL every 3hrs, which I firmly believe sent my milk supply to die. My body still doesn’t make that much, let alone the day he was born. I started pumping 6-8x/day on the day he was born, but my milk didn’t come in until day 5 PP. Starting then, I was getting anywhere from 10mL to 30mL per session. I thought my supply would increase once we got home and I started to nurse him, but it didn’t. When we got home, I tried exclusively BF but he lost a significant amount of weight in 2 days, so we continued supplementing and I would latch when I could and then pump. Still no increase. Last week, I met with an LC who said I just needed to pump more, so this is my 4th day pumping 12x per day (every 1.5hrs during the day and every 3hrs at night 😫). I really have not seen much of an increase, except maybe in my morning pumps I get an extra few mLs. How long does it take to see your supply increase from pumping more frequently? Am I even able to establish a larger supply this far PP? In my mind, one day I will figure out what works for me and I’ll start pumping 4-5oz/session - is this a realistic hope? I’m getting so discouraged, I want nothing more than to be able to sustain my baby with milk produced by my body. I feel like I failed in my delivery, and I’m now failing again. I’m constantly either on the pump, or stressing about when I need to be on the pump next and I don’t think it’s doing anything.
I’m looking for ANY advice at all at this point. I use my Spectra S1 primarily, and my Eufy S1 when I absolutely have to be mobile. I’ve tried my Medela hand pump and I don’t see much of a difference in output between any of my 3 pumps. I take supplements, I’ve tried power pumping, cluster pumping, oatmeal, Body Armor, etc. 😭
Hello! Your post mentions nursing/breastfeeding Reminder to please ensure that your selected flair is the trigger warning for nursing if the content of your post discusses nursing/direct feeding in any way. If your submission contains an image, please ensure you include a spoiler. If this post breaks these rules, we ask community members to please report for mod review. Thank you for keeping our community safe for all!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
First off, you are doing so well! I also had an unexpected c-section and ended up having to bottle feed my baby donor milk immediately due to hypoglycemia concerns.
Secondly, no, it is not too late! I'm a little surprised that the LC recommended pumping every 1.5hr during the day, that seems crazy stressful on the body. I am not a LC, but I would personally advise sticking to 8-9ppd and making two of them power pumping sessions instead. And maybe see if you can get at least one 4hr stretch of sleep at night. Having proper rest can make a surprising difference in supply.
I assume you've been properly measured for flange sizing?
Thank you for this! I thought the same, but I guess according to my “storage capacity,” 8ppd would maintain my supply, but not increase. I don’t think this will be forever though, she has me on this plan just for the week and we’ll re-evaluate after that and hopefully switch to something more sustainable. I’ve been measured, but the size my in-home LC put me at is different than what the hospital LC gave me. I just started seeing my in-home LC on Friday, and she watched me pump for about 30 min total on a bunch of different flange sizes/shapes before settling on one that was comfortable and gave the best output. I’m only in day 4 of using this flange, so hopefully in time it will make an improvement as well!
In a very similar situation to yours. I was making about 250-300mls at 5 weeks post partum when first saw LC. With 10ppd for a month or so and now 8 I make closer to 900-950ml daily at 11weeks pp which is just slightly more than baby takes. It was a really slow process with greatest daily increase being about 30ml. Hydration and eating enough definitely help as does sleep which seems cruel with all the other demands. It is possible <3
Thank you so much for this - simply hearing that it is possible gives me so much hope, even if it doesn’t happen overnight. I feel like all I see is over suppliers or people trying to increase supply and getting results within days, so knowing that just because my journey doesn’t look like that now doesn’t mean it never will is seriously helpful 🫶🏼
Honestly it took me realizing I had elastic nipples to really increase my supply. Once I started focusing on the types of flanges that worked for my body, my supply started increasing. It sucks but sometimes it’s a trial and error thing to figure out what works. I also had LCs oversize me and I had to experiment with different flanges and inserts to find what was comfortable—even though I may technically have measured at X size flange.
How did you know you had elastic nipples? That’s something else - I feel like I get so overwhelmed by all the different possible underlying causes of low supply that I don’t know how to troubleshoot 😅
Do they get drawn right into the flanges no matter what size you use? I have elastic nipples too and spent some time being told my flanges were too big or too small depending on who was taking before realizing that my nipples just do that.
Welcome to r/ExclusivelyPumping! Here is a reminder of our rules: 1. Be kind and courteous. 2. Use available flairs and post options. 3. Absolutely no prescription medications or other medical advice. 4. No inaccurate information. 5. No spam. 6. No fetish content 7. No linking Facebook groups. 8. Moderator discretion. 9. No discussions around veganism, animal cruelty, or other non-pumping related topics. 10. No formula shaming. Reminder that we are a supportive community and do not allow for fetish seekers. While we do ban those individuals from our community, they can still view the community and send direct messages. You may choose to turn off your messages, or block individuals for your safety. Thank you for helping to keep our community safe!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.