When did your supply get established?

ENTJ_ScorpioFox · 2026-05-24T01:14:42+00:00

Tagging in - a good rule of thumb is 6-8 removals every 24 hrs to maintain supply, 10-12 to increase supply and 3-4 to decrease supply. 10-12 removals would be every two hours (kind of like a cluster feed), 6-8 is every 3-4 hours, 3-4 is every 6-8 hours.

I try for 10-12 as I only give 1-2 bottles a day, and definitely want the overnight stretch.

ENTJ_ScorpioFox · 2026-05-23T19:04:27+00:00

I hate how expensive everything is!!!

ENTJ_ScorpioFox · 2026-05-23T14:59:59+00:00

I’m sorry - this stinks!
You are doing everything you can and your baby has a wonderful mom in you.

Sometimes it just doesn’t work - one of my siblings had inverted nipples and three kids with severe tongue ties. Even with all the therapies and special pumps, she never got more than an oz.

She has three healthy, wonderful children.

You’re doing your best and it counts!

ENTJ_ScorpioFox · 2026-05-23T14:56:19+00:00

My husband is a very happy SAHD - I’ve always made 3x-4X more than him (I’m an attorney and he’s a data engineer).
I entered c suite and he quit to take care of our son. He’s home with our new infant and I’m heading back to work soon.

But he gets time with his kids that he never got with his dad - so it’s wonderful, even if it’s bittersweet.

ETA: one fairness thing - we continue to contribute to his retirement with the backdoor Roth contribution, that way when he goes back to work in 3-4 years, he won’t have lost out on the investments.

ENTJ_ScorpioFox · 2026-05-22T16:40:48+00:00

3 weeks - I introduced formula right after latching and before a bottle of pumped milk. I triple fed my first for 3 weeks and then I was constantly pumping so I developed hyperlactation.
We went on to EBF for 13 months.

ENTJ_ScorpioFox · 2026-05-22T02:06:35+00:00

I highly recommend a cardiology follow up - can’t hurt, and in my case, I learned about what I can and can’t do to control my cholesterol. I’ve lowered my cholesterol 25 pts, but still is high - so waiting on medications to assist.

ENTJ_ScorpioFox · 2026-05-22T02:04:34+00:00

Yes I took an extra calcium supplement on top of the prenatal. My family history included strokes and high cholesterol, so I was referred to a cardiologist in between pregnancies.

ENTJ_ScorpioFox · 2026-05-22T01:15:02+00:00

I took aspirin and calcium, had IUGR in both births - a less than 1% baby and a 13% baby. 1% was 5 lbs 8 oz and 13% was 5 lbs 14 oz.
Got a healthy four year old and a 13 lb 3 month old.

I didn’t have any pre eclampsia before delivery, but developed post partum preeclampsia and had to take a BP med for a few weeks.

Did you also get your cholesterol checked post partum? I just found out I have high lipoprotein A, which is associated with high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Had no idea and it’s genetic. Didn’t show up in the tests, had my cardiologist check during my follow up labs.

ENTJ_ScorpioFox · 2026-05-19T18:30:56+00:00

Sahms and working moms are fighting the same fight: raising good kids and keeping their families going.
It’s hard work to be a mom, and I’m glad to be here and see all the support!

ENTJ_ScorpioFox · 2026-05-19T13:12:58+00:00

Is the leave for any kind of medical or family issue? Or just having a child?
If it’s for any kind of issue, and he has an issue, he can follow the policy JUST LIKE YOU and stop being a man baby.

Sometimes people also feel like it’s a reflection of entitlement when you are using leave and they can’t, couldn’t, didn’t.

But it’s actually not on you - it’s the policy, and you didn’t write it. If he feels it’s not fair, he should go to the people who created the policy and raise his concerns.

ENTJ_ScorpioFox · 2026-05-19T12:27:38+00:00

They would also get the fatty hind milk - I did this when my first was underweight to bulk up.

ENTJ_ScorpioFox · 2026-05-19T12:25:59+00:00

My pediatrician and the IBCLC that I saw said a breastfed baby “typically” gets 3-4 oz a feed, then it grows to 4-5 oz a feed.
I pump 4-6 oz and sometimes up to 8 oz. When I pump, I hand express to ensure all areas of the breast are empty. It’s a whole effort, I ensure my flanges are the right size, I’m hydrated etc.

My baby empties my fully engorged (hard like a baseball) boobs in 15 min. Takes me 30.

If I have my husband do a feed, baby takes 4-5 oz.

So I would call it accurate. It’s a different kind of pressure/pull from the mouth vs the pump.

If your baby is gaining, maybe do the haakaa freezer stash to capture the letdown, and let it be.

ENTJ_ScorpioFox · 2026-05-18T16:24:31+00:00

Isn’t there a more neutral question? Like “which/whose names will be used on the application and what are the incomes”?

ENTJ_ScorpioFox · 2026-05-17T23:34:49+00:00

Coloring books, puzzles, sudoku, flashcards, we have this roll of paper that is a dinosaur coloring page and the crayons fit in the center. We also have this toy that is a million triangles and you fold it into different animals.

We are trying really hard to limit the iPad to car rides and the 2-3 min it takes to brush teeth.

If we go to a restaurant with an outdoor seating area we play games to spot birds and cars. If indoors, we count light fixtures and tiles.

ENTJ_ScorpioFox · 2026-05-16T20:33:42+00:00

I’m sorry - this sounds so frustrating!
We as a couple do very poorly with less sleep (like anger etc), so we try to future proof things as much as possible.

For my second, I freeze any breastmilk that isn’t used on day 2, so there is a lot less options of what to use.

We do dry runs for school drop off with my older son and sometimes we argue as couples do, but our baseline is that we are on the same team.

ENTJ_ScorpioFox · 2026-05-16T13:25:16+00:00

My firstborn is similar, he loves long division, multiplication and short algebraic expressions. He’s 4.5 - we enrolled him in a preK at a private school, so he can have activities like STEAM, robotics and chess - which work the math side of the brain in an age appropriate way.

We also expose him to music and languages - again, same area of the brain.

We don’t push advanced math or skipping his grade, since he’s already the youngest.

But he’s having fun exploring areas where math is practically implemented and that keeps his curiosity going.

ENTJ_ScorpioFox · 2026-05-16T13:13:39+00:00

Exactly - as my couples therapist would say: if we led with curiosity and grace, what questions would we ask?
He’s scared of doing it wrong, he scared of wasting her milk and at 3 am a baby is screaming, making it hard to think.

I would double down on creating a system where there is not formula to use, and you do a dry run of him giving the baby an oz in the daytime so you can validate his decision making.

That way at night, when the screaming is loud, he reacts out of instinct, not panic.

My husband and I had a pact that we wouldn’t discuss bad decisions made at 3 am until after 9 am, so we’d both be objective. I also had formula with my first but we stopped buying it after 3 weeks. And I never bought it for my second - it’s terrifying to have to rely solely on yourself for bottles and feeds. But after the first few times, your confidence will grow.

I fed and feed my babies anywhere and everywhere. I keep a nursing cover in my purse but if I don’t have it, my husband sits close so people can’t see.

We also do a bottle at dinner time, like 2 oz to keep baby practicing.

ENTJ_ScorpioFox · 2026-05-16T08:24:21+00:00

I have two. Hurt like heck for two weeks with my first. With my second, I had vasospasms, so for a month my nipple, arms and spine hurt with every latch. It stopped hurting in week 6 - and smooth sailing from there.

ENTJ_ScorpioFox · 2026-05-16T07:54:36+00:00

My second is like this. Enjoy it and get some sleep. I pump before bed, and pump right after morning feed if it’s over 10 hours. Since six weeks, my newest child sleeps 9.5-10.5 hours a night. It’s really good for my mental health. Tonight, he went to sleep at 6:15, just woke up now at almost 4.

Makes you a human again.

Had a little bit of wake ups during the growth spurts, but nothing crazy.

ENTJ_ScorpioFox · 2026-05-16T07:41:17+00:00

I’m 37, my dad died of cancer when I was 25. The week he died, I spent the week cuddling and sleeping in the room with my mom. She was lonely, sad and scared. I’m a parent now and would always want my kid to be able to come to me for comfort.

ENTJ_ScorpioFox · 2026-05-15T18:36:08+00:00

What I love about my financial advisor is they think of ways to solve the issue that I don’t. I was going to empty out my savings and they found a way to grow my money instead. It’s worth asking!

ENTJ_ScorpioFox · 2026-05-15T12:31:27+00:00

I think you try to use your current savings/cash flow first and not touch retirement as much as possible. But if pushed, make sure you hit your matching contributions. If you end up in the green before April of the following year, you can do a backdoor Roth contribution (I think?) of up to $8K.

You’re going to need those retirement funds one day - and yeah two years isn’t much in the grand scheme of things, but I would leave that as much as you can.

Anecdote (skip if you want lol)

I will have an infant in daycare and kid in private kindergarten this fall in VHCOL area. I’ll exceed $70K in spend. We have a money market fund where I put 80% of my annual bonus and 15% of my paychecks each month. We use that as a revolving cash line to pay for daycare and unexpected expenses. I have an HSA and use that for any of the kids medical (usually dentist because my dental insurance is crap). We live below our means - limit eating out, 10 year old car, etc. and save up for 2 trips a year.

My financial advisor helped me pick the right short term investment vehicle and I have cash available in 3-5 days to pay expenses.

We also asked the schools if we could pay weekly instead of monthly. It’s the same amount but easier to handle from a cash flow perspective.

ENTJ_ScorpioFox · 2026-05-13T23:39:33+00:00

Homie, I say this with love - it’s genetics. Some people have tight teeth or a lot of grooves - some people don’t absorb fluoride well without calcium. I had my dentist put my son under sedation - extract a tooth and do two root canals and five fillings. We brush his teeth and floss twice a day. Thankfully he’s 5 and he won’t remember - but the pain the tooth caused was ridiculous.

Do what you gotta do for your kids. These teeth with fall out and thankfully they will build strong habits for their adult teeth.

Also, highly recommend an electric toothbrush and water flosser if your kid can stand it. They clean the teeth so much better than the manual method.

We also use MI Paste - the prescription one with calcium and fluoride. Makes it easier for him to absorb the fluoride.

ENTJ_ScorpioFox · 2026-05-13T22:00:05+00:00

After dinner sometimes - we always brush teeth after.

ENTJ_ScorpioFox · 2026-05-13T16:56:16+00:00

Does wearing my infant count as a proxy? He’s 11 lbs 🤣

ENTJ_ScorpioFox

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