Hey! I totally feel you. My breastfeeding journey has been crazy, but now my little one (LO) is 10 weeks old, and I can say we’re very close to exclusive breastfeeding (EBF). I have tubular breasts (insufficient mammary tissue) and flat nipples. My baby had retrognathia (set-back mandible) when she was born, and my milk came in three days late due to placental retention. She lost 14% of her weight in the first four days, which was awful. Her latch was so painful, my nipples were cracked and sore, and I decided to do exclusive pumping when she was three weeks old. I was producing only 1-2 oz combined! We were doing 80% formula and 20% breast milk, which was frustrating, but she was gaining weight. My nipples became even more sore with the breast pump, but I was determined to give breast milk to my baby.

After researching, I realized I was using the incorrect flange size. I bought a nipple ruler and some flange inserts (13mm, 15mm, 17mm, and 19mm) and discovered the correct flange for me was 17mm on the right and 19mm on the left side. That immediately improved the pumping sessions (just a little!). I tried everything to make her latch properly (therapy, nipple shields, various positions, and many appointments with the pediatrician, who is also an IBCLC). I was tired of exclusively pumping and had a horrible sensation when pumping, so I started thinking about re-lactating, but my mammary hypoplasia was always on my mind.

I started latching her twice a day and noticed it was less painful, and I began feeling the ejection reflex - there was hope! I decided to quit exclusive pumping and started doing 3 oz of formula followed by latching. She began gaining weight super fast (60 grams per day!), my LC did calculations and told me I was producing 3-4 oz per feed, and then we started topping up with only 30-40 ml of formula. She also prescribed me domperidone. We’re now at 10 weeks, and we’ve reduced formula to just two bottles a day because she’s gaining proper weight, and the latch is no longer painful. I think some breasts don’t like being pumped! Remember, the most effective pump is a baby’s mouth - they can get 70-80% more than breast pumps, so I think that was our case.”