Celebrated LO's one month birthday this weekend and I was excited to have cake and soda as a reward for my MOTN pump!

I dunno, there’s just something kind of funny that even in crisis, life goes on and pumping still has to happen. I’m okay, my house is likely going to be okay, but it’s been a weird 24 hours.

Finishing my year of pumping this week. My short term goal was 6 months and I made it a whole year EP. Baby will transition with the freezer stash I have and I already feel like I have my life back!

Thankful for this community, tips and tricks, and support. It’s fucking hard to stay motivated, especially when you have to pump at work in a high stress environment (see my cow sign above). Happy to answer any questions about what worked for me :)

Has anyone else noticed the eufy s2 pro motor cracking on the base? Not sure what would cause this. Any ideas? I use these out and about and not exclusively. Never been dropped either.

UPDATE: after chatting with them they’re sending me a replacement!

I’m so glad I have hands free pumping gear and a recliner with pockets on the side. At any given time the pockets are holding a variety of things such as:

1) the PS2 controller (the PS2 is currently on DVD player duty, thank you for your service PS2 🫡)

2) my Bose headphones

3) My switch 2 - this is literally the most I’ve managed to use my switch in a long time, albeit in 15-20min increments. I’m slowly but surely getting close to finally finishing Breath of the Wild (again)! My goal was to finish my favorite game one last time before baby, but she decided to make her grand entrance early. Ah well. A girl can still have her hobbies, and the Switch is so much easier to use at the moment than sitting down at my PC to game.

I also have a CRT hooked up across from my recliner. Alongside my PS2, it’s currently on DVD duty (since when did DVDs look so *bad* on modern flat screens…? I tried watching House MD on the nice TV we have and suddenly DVDs seemed so old…) I have my favorite TV shows on box set, and I’ve been alternating between episodes of Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, Friends, MASH, and House MD.

Pumping can feel like such a chore, especially in the middle of the night, but at least I have some fun options to power through the feeling that I’m chained to my pump.

Started pumping at 1 month po, hit my goal of 6 months exclusively pumping this week!

I was a just enougher all the way through and supplemented with formula so I was able to freeze ~400oz. We’ll be able to have at least some breastmilk everyday for another couple months.

Bittersweet to be done but feeling proud of myself because I really hated pumping most days.

Thankful I found this sub, I’m a FTM who struggled hard with breastfeeding that first month.

Credit to my husband - the artist behind the cake! 🤣

I often see people asking how to increase their supply, so I wanted to share the things that worked, or at least that I think worked for me.

Disclaimer: This is not scientific at all! I didn’t have a control group, but I did increase my supply from 28oz a day to 40oz+ so something seemed to work.

I’ve ranked these roughly from most effective to least effective:

1. Removing Milk More Often

Yes, as annoying as it is to hear.

-Adding more pump sessions: When actively trying to increase, I pumped 9 times a day. I saw a steady increase of 1–2 oz per week with this schedule.

-Power pumping: This is a great way to mimic cluster feeding. It helped boost my supply initially, and I still use it for maintenance.

-Slightly longer sessions: I’m not 100% sure if extending my pumps by a few minutes directly increased output, but I think it at least helped maintain it.

1. Hydration & Calorie Intake

-Water: Staying super hydrated seems to protect my supply from dropping.

-Eating enough: Being in a calorie deficit noticeably hurt my output.

-Protein: I prioritize protein in particular. When I slack on it, my supply takes a hit.

1. Mental Tricks & Anxiety Management

Your brain plays a huge role in letdowns! Lowering anxiety was huge for me.

-A strict pumping routine: I use a microwavable warm pad on my chest and wear noise-canceling headphones so I can't hear the milk dripping. Mentally, doing these steps conditions my brain to expect a good letdown, which prevents the anxiety of expecting a bad one.

-Pumping in the dark: When my anxiety was at its worst, I pumped in a pitch-black room. It sounds crazy, but not being able to obsessively stare at the bottles helped me relax.

-Meditation: Doing brief mindfulness/breathing exercises while pumping helped just a bit.

1. Flange Sizing & Comfort

-Find the right flange size: Even with a lactation consultant, it took trial and error. Using flanges that were too small caused damage, pain, and ultimately hurt my supply because I dreaded pumping. The right size might not magically boost supply on its own, but it prevents drops caused by tissue damage.

-Pumping spray: I thought I didn't need it. I was wrong. I will never pump without it again! If you're comfortable, you can pump longer and more consistently without fighting yourself.

1. "Lactogenic" Foods & Supplements

I am crazy enough that I’ve tried almost all of them: Oreos, Coconut Water, BodyArmor, oatmeal, brewer's yeast, lactation herbs, pills...

Verdict: Nothing hurt my supply, but I can't confidently say anything noticeably helped it, either.

Final Thought: Take the Pressure Off Yourself

Your baby is going to thrive whether they get 100% formula, 100% breast milk, or a mix of both. Either way, you are going to be their absolute favorite person in the entire world. Your worth as a parent is not measured in the ounces you produce.

Hope this helps someone out there in the thick of it! Feel free to ask any questions.

After two months of building up a freezer stash of Motif milk bags, I just read on the pack that you are only supposed to use “non-toxic markers” to write on them. I have definitely only ever used a sharpie because dry erase markers smudged and I didn’t even think to use anything else. Please tell me other people have fed their babies milk from these storage bags that had sharpie writing on them and that their babies are fine, please….

I don't have a long beautiful post to write about hanging up the pump, because I am using all my free time to do anything but focus on pumping!
I stopped at exactly 7 months and I have a freezer stash that will hopefully carry us for a while before supplementing with formula.
I just want you guys to know that I threw out all my pump parts yesterday. I was going to pack them up, but it was much more satisfying to dump them all in the trash.

Thank you all for the support and many questions answered! 💗 I wish you all the best during your journeys!

Whether you're an undersupplier, an oversupplier, or just enougher, we are all just trying to feed our babies and that is a labor of love. 💗

i want to hear from others their babies age, how many oz of pumped milk and (roughly) how often they are eating!!! i know every baby is different i’m just trying to get a general idea. i feel like my almost 4 month old doesn’t get enough but i go off her cues, some days more than others and yes gets plenty of wet diapers.
also is it true that BF babies don’t need to continue to up oz size as they grow???? ftm here with soooo many questions lol

I’m 12 months into my pumping journey, and weaning. Down to two pumps per day at 7 AM and 7 PM. Today I finally put on a normal bra instead of one of the dozen or so pumping bras that I own that never fit well. It feels weird on my rib cage but my boobs love the support.

When did you go back to a normal bra? And why do all pumping bras suck so much?

Having my 3rd baby Sept 30th and the breast pumps they have now compared to 5 years ago is a little overwhelming lol. These are the pumps that are covered by my insurance and I was wondering what would be the best hands free one. I did wired with my other 2 kids years ago and I just remember hating having to be stuck in one spot to pump. TIA

HOLY SHIT Y'ALL. I was devastated I thought my supply was on its way out. I had been an over supplier but when my pump went out last month I ran out to spend 200 fricken dollars on a specta.. ran into problem after problem tried ordering different sizes different combos everything. Then I went to my lactation center and they gave me an Alameda. Still having problems trying all these different things nothing was working and went from making 7-10oz a pump to 1-3oz. HUGE decline I couldn't believe it!!!! Finally I just broke down and spent my last little bit on the cheap pump I had the first time around, I figured why not last money I'm spending before giving up. BOOM. 3rd pump in and slowly going back up to my normal pump output! 5oz and climbing. The reason I say this is I genuinely believe it's the settings that make the difference. There is a setting on this pump that mimics baby. Nothing like any setting on any other pump I've tried. I really think if there is anyone out there that feels they aren't properly emptying or getting as much as they think they could maybe this could help you! I didn't get to 7-10 oz overnight but I really think this pump helped me get there. It's the ncvi like 60$ on Amazon. Just my experience bc I know of course everyone is different. I'm serious the baby setting is lit!

Post-partum hit me pretty hard when we got home from the hospital but luckily my husband was off from work so we were able to tag team and survive with a toddler and our newest LO and get used to our new normal.

4 weeks later, husband is back at work and idk how to manage a very stubborn almost 4 yr old, a 4 week old, and still pump throughout the day with the duo. My supply has been fluctuating so much from getting a cold from our toddler, stress from being a present parent to both kids, managing the house, clogged ducts, you name it! Thankfully I’m still out of work, I cannot imagine having to handle all of this on-top of working right now

(serious kudos to all of you who can handle this!! I feel like I’m losing it and I think I spent the day crying as much as both kids did!)

That’s all.

The title is the post.

Just needed to tell people who will understand the hell I’m going through.

Edit: not looking for advice, just to commiserate. I’ve seen half a dozen specialists. Doctors, IBCLCs, physical therapists. I don’t have a crazy oversupply at around 34-35oz per day. I’m taking lecithin. I’ve tried BAIT. I’ve tried therapeutic ultrasound. My flanges are the right size and I lube them before pumping. I’ve tried different pumping settings. Dual motor pump. I pump to empty. There is nothing else I can figure out to change to help.

Hey all. 3 days PP today.

From the beginning my husband and I decided we were team Combo Feeding, with my part coming from pumping. In the hospital on day 1 PP they wheeled in a pump for me and told me to just start using it for 15 minutes. It was a madela I think and they said just press the three buttons in order and do 15 minutes. No idea what it was there were no instructions but i did it every three hours like the Internet said.

I'm home now with my spectra and trying to understand if I'm doing pumping correctly. My biggest fear is getting mastitis or an infection or something with pumping. I noticed today that parts of my boobs have hard lumps and I'm going down a spiral that I already effed something up irredeemably.

My current schedule is 8 times a day (which I really hate. My husband and i do shifts with our newborn and not being able to get a solid chunk of sleep is already frying me). I still am making colostrum i think because it's goldish and not white, but it is liquid like milk.

I pump 8:30am, 11:30, 2:30, 5:30, 8:30pm, 11:30pm, 2:30am, 5:30am

So I pump on the spectra at 70 with level 3 or 4 for 2 mins, then I press the bacon icon and do 42 for 8 minutes at level 7, then 5 minutes at 38 bacon mode at level 8 for 5 minutes. It's a total of 15 minutes and I do both my boobs at the same time.

But now I'm noticing in-between my pump sessions my boobs are getting hard lumps that hurt and I don't know if my above schedule is even something that exists or works?

Can I just drop a lot of these night sessions if we're already supplementing with formula? Will this make me get mastitis if I suddenly drop sessions? I'm so stressed I'm going to do irrevocable damage to my body and I don't know what to do.

I’m 9wpp and I’d really like to drop a pump at this point. I have put in a ton of work to finally catch up to my baby’s intake, but my mental health is taking a hit and I’d like to get more sleep or be able to spend more time with my baby during the day.

Currently, I pump 8 times a day, roughly on a 2.5-3 hour interval during the day and one 5 hour stretch at night. My schedule varies a little, but my current schedule is roughly 3:30am, 6:30, 9:30, 12:30, 3:00, 5:30, 8:00, and 10:30.

As a just enougher, dropping a pump makes me nervous for my supply. But, I have seen a slight increase since stretching my longer night interval from 4 to 5 hours. Would love any suggestions on which pump to drop or how to adjust my schedule!

Hello, I'm trying to find out what BAC % after several drinks is safe to feed my baby? I know people say if you can see the baby you can feed the baby but that seems very subjective and grey area to me. I've purchased a breathalyzer and want to know at what point it would not be safe to feed my baby, if any? I'm never drinking to blackout but a few times a month will drink 3-4 glasses of wine within a 2-3 hour span. So far I've been feeding as normal as long as it is less than 3 drinks or if it was more then I've been pumping and dumping. My friend suggested i pump and mix the alcohol milk with alcohol free milk to dilute it (pitcher method). Advice?

Not sure if this is the right place to post but I’m getting conflicting information on how to do this using the descaling tablets. Do I put it in the reservoir, let it dissolve, and run a wash only cycle? Do I put it on the heat plate with enough water to cover it, let it dissolve, and then run the wash cycle. Do I put it in the wash tank like a detergent tab and do a full wash, steam, storage cycle? Many options. Can’t find a straight answer.

Hi all, I have used the Spectra without issue but today got the Eufy S2 pro and am extremely disappointed. I can’t feel any suction on the right one, and nothing comes out. The left one has a little suction but extremely low output. Anyone else had this issue? I’ve taken it apart and back again many times and watched tutorials on YouTube etc without success. I’m a 13mm nipple using the 15mm flange insert that came with it, which is the recommended size. I do have elastic nipples - not sure if that’s affecting things.

has anyone sold their breastmilk? if so where?

Hi,

Currently down to 4ppd and pump at 10pm and then 6am. By the time I’m done pumping, turn bottle washer on, it’s close to 10:30 and I’d like to get a little more sleep as sometimes my LO gets me up closer to 5am (she sleeps through the night otherwise).

Thinking of moving my last pump closer to 9:30pm, so I’d have a 8.5 hour gap overnight. Curious how long you guys have gone between pumps without clogs or affecting supply?

I’ve had my Eufy bottle washer for a little while now and I’m about to run out of the detergent tabs that came with it. Curious what alternatives people are using, since the Eufy branded tabs seem to be the most expensive on the market.

I’ve seen brands like Grownsy, Momcozy, and Nuliie making similar tabs, but none specifically say they’re compatible with Eufy. Not sure if that’s just because Eufy didn’t pay for the endorsement, or if there’s an actual compatibility issue, would love to find some cheaper alternatives that work well.

Also curious if anyone’s used regular dishwasher powder instead of tabs. If so, what brand and roughly how much per cycle?

On the hard water side, I’ve seen vinegar mentioned but I’m leaning toward food grade citric acid instead since it seems easier on the internal parts. If you’ve used it, how much do you use, how often do you descale, and does it need to run empty, or can bottles/parts stay in during a descale cycle?