Breastmilk

Hello mummy, I had the same struggles as you.. it is very difficult to pump and take care of LO at the same time especially if you don't have extra help. And it caused me to have panic attacks and was very unhappy and did not enjoy taking care of my LO.. It is very tiring because I cannot sleep when LO sleeps because I will be pumping (and it takes 1 hour for me as I pump one breast at a time, I will put haakaa on the other breast). And really very tired to wake up in the middle of the night to pump (sometimes tired until I can't hear my alarm and overslept and cause my breasts to be very full and uncomfortable, luckily no mastitis). Until after 12 weeks, then I started to slowly drop pump sessions to 3 times per day and supply was still good. But I began to feel overwhelmed again, wanted to stop pumping but I feel so guilty so now I'm at 2 pump sessions per day instead but my supply dropped, so have to supplement with FM. But I have decided to stop pumping when my LO reaches 6 months. If pumping is making you feel depressed and miserable then I would recommend you to wean off pumping and give FM. You can also try reducing pump sessions and topping up with FM if not enough. I grew up healthily with just FM, my mum only breastfed me for 1 month haha. Just remember "Fed is best" and "Happy mummy, happy baby". Please take good care of yourself so you can take good care of your baby. Jiayou! :)

If you have good supply of milk do continue to give your LO breastmilk. Definitely, I can assure you will miss the bond between you and LO. Can't deny that it can be tiring to pump every few hours and even at night. But if let say you do not wish to pump, you can direct latch baby till LO is full. If you wish to stop breast milk, mind you that you still have to continue pumping to avoid engorgement, mastitis, etc. As first time mum, you can always seek advice from experience mum, take in what's good and then you decide. Sometimes follow mother instinct and you do what suits your LO. It requires trial and error. Not easy at all. I had my downfall eventhough I have helping hand. Because my LO was so clingy with me. Latch every 15 mins and still not enough. Every night , every 3 hrs wake up for milk. It requires us, as first time parents to better manage time,learn the pattern of our child and try to balance where possible. Also to get helping support esp from spouse. If you rest in the day, then he help at night. If he rest in the day, then you help at night. This may or may not work for you but it will help you better heal yourself, understanding and managing your LO.

There isn’t a minimum and maximum. Of course best is breastmilk but formula milk is fine too. I grew up being fed formula only as my mum has no milk supply and I am very healthy!! So don’t feel guilty and you can always bond with your child in other ways, not just breastfeeding! Have you considered latching? If you can latch baby, just cut some slack in your pumping frequency. Eventually your supply will match the demand. Mine took some time (4-5 months). I diligently take supplements and lactation inducing food to keep supply up which helped. I also couldn’t take 3h pumping schedule and idk how other mums do it honestly! So I didn’t do that. I only did 1 pump, max 2 sessions daily in the beginning. Once supply established, I depend on latching mostly.

I started exclusive pumping right from the start and stopped at 2 weeks as baby was at Nicu from the start for the first 4 days. I am on a urine bag for 5 weeks so far (still on it). it was depressing, tiring and i tried to be up every 3 to 4 hours but my breasts were engorged. plus my medicines gave me constipation for 5 days and my pelvic was so sore that it wasn't helping my muscles recover to be out of the urine bag as well. I decided to take the medicine to stop my supply. its not something that I wanted. but it did help me a lot. I'm still tired waking up every 2 hrs plus to feed baby with formula, burping etc. Your health comes first. It's okay to formula feed if it takes a toll on you.

Do whats best for you and your mental health. I stopped BF when my LO is only 1 month old, I’m taking birth control pills and scared that it might affect my breastmilk and my baby so I decided to stop BF. I stretched out my pumping and soon enough it’ll stop. It will be very hard at first after you stop BF as you will feel like you could do better, you should’ve BF longer and all but I brush off that thoughts aside, in a matter of few weeks you will feel way better knowing that your LO is still growing perfectly without BM.

Hello! Other mummies have provided reasonable answers to your questions and wonderful words of encouragement, too, so I won't repeat them... But I'd like to remind you that should you be feeling down all the time and showing signs of post natal depression, pls seek help. PND is real, and it is ok to seek help for it. If you're unsure whether you're experiencing PND, tell your hb or your mum or your best friend how you're feeling. Get their support while u seek treatment.

You might be going through some post-partum depression. Do seek some professional help. Together with your family, I hope you can overcome this dark period. When I was at home for three months on maternity leave, I latch on most of the time. I found that to be much easier than having to pump. But every baby is different and your conditions might vary. It is certainly tiring! It helped that my husband helped to change the diapers so I focus on nursing.

yes I know exactly how you feel and I've felt the same thing. I decided for my own mental well-being to wean off when baby was 2mo. i didn't care what other ppl have to say and I believe my baby can be formula fed and be just as happy & healthy. more importantly I was much happier after weaning, and enjoyed motherhood so much more . baby is now 5.5mo and I have zero guilt for making that decision.

its okay to switch to formula milk mummy, i stopped pumping bf at 6 mth mark because it was too tiring and time consuming.. Also, its normal to feel anxiety when nanny is leaving but you will get the hang of everything by end of 2nd mth and it will get better once you understand your baby cues..with husband's support as well.. Dont worry, one step at a time.. we all learn along the way 😘

you have to take it slow my dear, you cant rush being a mum. if there isnt enough milk, turn to formula milk, if you dont wish to, dont force yourself, but you will get engorgement, if u don't pump it out. Just rmb you are the best!