How do you find the time?!

Wearables never worked for me so I always had to squeeze it in where I could. If she was awake, I put her in her little seat right in front of me, with a big pile of toys next to me, and sing/play/chat to her the whole time I pumped. Or I’d sit with my legs stretched out in front of me and put her in between my legs. Especially when she was very young, this was my only option because she mainly contact napped and needed to be touching me!! In addition, my partner usually held her for my first pump of the day (7am), my evening pumps (8pm, 10pm) and helped with the night feeds so I could pump and still get some sleep. As she got older, sometimes it was easier, sometimes it was harder! It is really tough, though. It gets so much easier when you can start to drop some pumps. I struggled with my supply too and it can really take a toll on your mental health. Even small amounts of breast milk offer the benefits of your antibodies for your baby so you’re doing an amazing job ♥️

@Rhiannon I praise anyone who is able to bf/pump 😅 I’ve found that when pumping every 2 hours I’d be lucky to get 50ml from both sides combined, leaving it 4+ hours I get 100/130ml so idk if I should just stick to going longer or if I should try stick to 2 hourly

I would suggest stick to 2 hours because your supply is not established and if you continue pumping frequently it will continue increasing until establishes. My milk supply established around 4 months and I could get 1000-1200 ml breast milk in a day. Then I decreased the number of pumping sessions to 4 a day and the supply remained the same amount

If you’re struggling with supply, the advice is to aim for every 2/3 hrs for the first 10-12 weeks if you can, especially if you want to pump long term. It’ll help establish your supply. But from my own experience, there were days where that just was not possible! Some days I got 10 pumps in, some days only 6, then others it felt like every pump went completely wrong!! I exclusively pumped for 15 months so obviously my supply survived 😂 I look back on my pumping journey and wish I’d stressed a lot less about it. We can only do our best! ♥️

@Imelda oh wow that’s great! Yeah I’ll have to try get back into the habit of 2 hourly, really hope wearing the pumps make it easier! Swear he only fusses when I want to do something for myself 🤣

I only use wearables (I use the single Pippeta Compact)… when my little boy is awake I wear it on the opposite side to where I hold him and pump for 15 mins… then when when he sleeps I put it on my other boob for 15 mins. In total I pump about 6-7 times a day on each boob and find it just about manageable with the wearable pump!! I do also give my baby a bottle of ready made formula (200ml which does 1.5 feeds) in the evenings to help me catch up and take some of the stress out of pumping. I also always carry a bottle of ready made with me just in case it’s ever needed!

I have a wearable. I put mine on as the bottle is heating up and then I sit on the floor and feed baby while I pump. Then I sit and play on the floor while I finish pumping. Then I place 3 to 4 of her favourite toys down so I can wash up or I put her in the bouncer and dance while washing up as she likes that It wi be easier with a wearable. I quickly changed from a handheld one because it just wasn't feasible

If she’s awake and not entertaining herself, I put her next to me on the couch propped up in the boppy with toys/pacifier.

@Emma I’ve got the medela freestyle hands free on the way which is a double the only issue is it has the tubes so they are connected but I hope that helps me if baby becomes fussy and wants me to hold him, just not feasible at the moment as I have the medela solo and that’s one I have to hold and has the bottle attached to it

I don’t breastfeed as he sadly prefers the bottle and struggle to latch but the plan was always to pump anyway

@Jennika I do that but typically he gets fussy and it’s not enough 🤣

@Emily I used to have a similar one and I know what you mean, it’s impossible to do something else so it’s just not sustainable. I hope the new pumps work for you both!

@Emma when you say three days, how many times did you have a power pump session on those days?

@Naz I did 1 powerpump daily and the rest of the time pump every 2 hours even through the night

I don’t have a solution for you just wanted to say you’re not alone and I could have written this post myself . I know with low supply i should be pumping more but the more alert my baby has become finding it impossible. I do have wearables but bending over with them, having baby napping on me etc hasn’t made this perfect either