Feeling like a disappointment with breastfeeding

I am in NO way an expert, but as a fellow under supplier I know the struggle you’re feeling! A friend said to me “it’s more important for your baby to have a healthy happy Mama than anything else” and when I realized pumping and breastfeeding was causing me more harm than good, I stopped. My baby was also combo fed from the start and he’s doing great! Do what’s right for you

As Kate said do what you feel is right for you - don’t feel like a disappointment. It is not your fault and a fed baby with a happy mama is the best thing all around. But somethings that might help you increase supply if you haven’t already tried - power pumping - get baby latched as much as you can & get lots of skin to skin contact - as hard as it is stress is detrimental to breastfeeding - one trick I was told on here with my first (which I’ve done for all 3) if you’re pumping put baby socks on the collector bottles, put something you like on to relax (music/tv/movie) as sometimes it’s more stressful watching how much your pumping. - at least 2+L of water a day - high protein foods - making sure you’re eating plenty in general (some things that have helped me include oats, milo, coconut water and homemade lactation cookies) Instead of different pumps have you checked the flange size? Have you also spoken with a lactation consultant? Has baby been checked for any oral ties?

I'm not an expert but if I remember right as long as there is milk there is the potential to increase supply. I had some troubles when my LO was very young and was advised the best thing to do was latch as often as possible because babe is much more efficient at getting milk flowing than a pump will ever be and also the golden hours for latching between 1am and 4am (how bad does that suck when you're sleep deprived!) Apparently during that time something I can't remember is happening i think with our hormones that helps improve supply and I have to admit when I switched to breastfeeding during that window instead of my partner taking him for a bottle to let me sleep he did start to slow down the cluster feeding and things got more manageable. As the others said though the most important thing is babe is fed and happy and you do what is right for you and your situation. If you'd really like to keep trying and are in the UK then speak to your health visitor who may be able to refer you to someone

I could of wrote this myself, we had a horrendous 8 weeks starting breastfeeding my lo had lip tie so it was painful and hard, tested my patience ALOT, he lost alot of weight and it was really hard to get him to feed, the 3 month i decided to pump and i last around 6 weeks as it is alot but i just wanted to know how much he was drinking as weight was an issue. So i religiously pumped every 3 hours, if i missed a night pump, doing a ‘power pump’ was a life saver. It helps so much. My first pump was £50 of amazon and was amazing but then had the momcosy s9 which was really good for on the move. Making sure your flange is the right size for you is so important! My lo is now 16 months old and we are still happily breastfeeding hes still not the biggest baby but hes thrived so much with milestone so all i would say is trust your mothering instincts and do whats best for you and lo. I really really wanted to breastfeed but if i listened to nurses and midwifes i would of stopped at 2 months.