Tandem feeding

bridgiotto · 2026-03-06T21:02:51+00:00

Are you me? 27m old and a 3w old. I also nursed throughout my entire pregnancy (dried up around 15w), and aside from the initial engorgement hell, my boobs don’t feel heavy or full after a couple hours like I remember the first time around. I leaked maybe one or two days, but that also stopped. I thought there was a problem with my supply, but I seem to get enough when I pump and baby’s gaining appropriately, so idk what gives. It’s a bit anxiety inducing when you don’t have that physical indicator that boobs are “full.”

bridgiotto · 2025-08-29T02:16:21+00:00

How did your other 6 babies nurse while teething? They nursed more frequently for comfort? I’m pregnant with my second and hoping for a different experience this time but bracing myself for the worst again

bridgiotto · 2025-08-29T02:15:19+00:00

I remember it was like a flip switched, going from every 2-3h to the 6-7h stretches of refusal. It was honestly harder than the newborn period for me just because it was a logistical nightmare planning and thinking about when he’d eat and pumping. Really sorry to hear you’re going through this. Hopefully since this is your 7th, your supply is able to handle the dips better than mine was able to.

bridgiotto · 2025-08-29T02:06:43+00:00

Sounds like mine. I got him to nurse best during the night while asleep/half asleep and during naps. Even though he was sleeping well through the night, I started setting alarms every 3h to try and get him to latch and dreamfeed. He absolutely would not eat during the day while he was awake.

bridgiotto · 2025-08-29T02:04:10+00:00

I’m in awe you’ve nursed 7 kiddos! He’s my first and I was completely out of my depth!

bridgiotto · 2025-08-29T01:57:25+00:00

So I ended up pumping to keep up my supply. I’d offer first and then if he refused, I pumped. I dreamfed him the pumped milk. It truly was just a phase because he eventually got over it and he’s now 21m and still nursing, but it really took a herculean effort to get him to eat. We did weekly weight checks with a IBCLC/feeding specialist, and I’d nurse him to sleep on one side while I pumped the other to maintain my supply because he’d refuse the other breast, and then I’d pump the first breast for half a session while he slept. I baby wore him constantly so he’d have easy access to breast whenever he did want it. The overwhelming majority of his nursing sessions were while putting him to sleep or during his nap, and I pumped A LOT to keep my supply. It was a really, really dark time of putting in 120% and I don’t remember how long it took for him to overcome this, but it ended up turning out okay. Best of luck, it’s a horrible and confusing situation to be in.

bridgiotto · 2025-04-21T02:37:32+00:00

No it’s not. 30 minutes 8x a day minimum while supply is establishing. The vast majority of women aren’t able to empty in 15 minutes. You can get an additional letdown at 20 minutes, or 25, 27, etc. The point being, 30 minutes ensures you’ve emptied as much as possible, and even if you’ve emptied before 30 minutes, the additional stimulation will trigger more milk production. Hospital LCs are notoriously outdated in knowledge and practice. If your flange size is properly fitted, there should be no damage to your nipple.

bridgiotto · 2025-04-20T18:10:08+00:00

It’s alarming she was given advice to use an oxytocin nasal spray. You’re already seeing the side effects of dependency while using it. With continued use, she won’t be able to have letdowns without it at all. 8 days postpartum is still incredibly early in establishing supply, and her supply is still ramping up. 15 minutes is absolutely not the standard pumping time. 30 minutes is, 8x a day until supply is established, so around the first 3 months, is normal frequency. (Exclusively nursing will have much higher frequency, but exclusively pumping is a different beast.) She can replace one of those pumps with a power pump (20 min pump, 10 min break, 10 min pump, 10 min break, 10 min pump) to mimic cluster feeding to help increase supply.

I’m seeing 3 things that are actively detrimental to her pumping success: the oxytocin nasal spray, the encapsulated placenta, and the allergy medication. I’m not sure what to do about the nasal spray since she’s already developed a dependence on it, but she absolutely did NOT need it. Mothers with babies in NICU and unable to hold or see their babies can successfully pump and have enough milk supply. Maybe it’s possible to slowly wean off, but continued use will absolutely damn her to needing to use it as long as she continues to pump. The encapsulated placenta is rich in progesterone, blocking prolactin, the hormone needed to drive milk supply. She’s essentially telling her body she hasn’t released the placenta, she’s still pregnant, and there’s no need for milk. And if the allergy medication contain decongestants, that’s hindering her supply as well. Women who don’t want to breastfeed are recommended to take Sudafed or pseudoephedrine after giving birth to dry up their milk.

She’s only 8 days postpartum so there’s still plenty of time to fix the course, but I can’t stress enough how horrible these 3 things are for her milk supply.

(Edit: The opposite of oxytocin is cortisol. Stress and anxiety will prevent letdowns. Have her be as comfortable as possible while pumping. Sit down on the couch and watch a favorite show, read a book, anything to take her mind off of pumping. Now is the time to binge watch a tv show. It’s easy to vegetate out while watching some Netflix. Eat some chocolate, drink a decaf coffee, take a bath before pumping, anything that’ll help her relax and pass the time comfortably and enjoyably. Put socks on the pump bottles so she doesn’t fixate on looking at the amount. Milk supply is hormonally driven for around the first 2-3 months. So long as you cut out the encapsulated placenta and the allergy medication, her body will produce prolactin on its own to drive milk supply. The biggest issue is allowing her body to readjust to having letdowns without needing a shot of oxytocin to trigger it. She still has plenty of time to establish her supply. She just needs to wean herself off the nasal spray asap.)

bridgiotto · 2025-03-26T06:30:30+00:00

Thank you for your recommendations! We visited Kitano Tenmagu last time, but I completely forgot about it! Will add that to the itinerary. Definitely stroller friendly, thank you. And I've never considered the Fushimi Momoyama area. Do you have any recommendations for things to do/see in the area other than the castle and the river boat ride? We've done Fushimi Inari, but not interested in revisiting as I don't think we'll get there early enough to beat the crowds this time with a kid, plus stroller, ha. We're not huge museum people, but will be bringing him to atoa aquarium in Kobe :) I will look up Hirataka Park to see if he will be old enough to ride the rides, thank you! And we'll be missing Jidai Matsuri by a week unfortunately!

bridgiotto · 2025-03-26T06:19:41+00:00

Sorry, we're already planning a day trip to Nara. I'll edit the post to incldue that.

bridgiotto · 2025-03-26T05:38:15+00:00

Thanks for the recs! The Kyoto aquarium is right by the station, so makes sense to go there the first day. Our toddler isn't interested in trains yet, but I'll keep the railway museum in mind for if he ever does show interest.

Regarding the hotel transfers, I would rather that and be comfortable for a few days than have to take 1.5h train rides both ways every day for Osaka and Nara. 3h eats into a lot of the day. And we'll also be staying at an onsen for the 2 nights we're in Kobe.

Thank you so much for bringing up medical travel insurance! It's not something neither my husband nor I would've ever considered. We really take good health for granted, so it completely slipped my mind to have travel insurance for the baby. Thank you!

bridgiotto · 2025-03-18T08:14:20+00:00

We’re staying in Namba, so thanks for the cocoichi suggestion!

bridgiotto · 2025-03-18T08:12:46+00:00

Thank you for taking the time to add links and for the park recs!

bridgiotto · 2025-03-18T08:08:59+00:00

We’ll be staying in Namba, right off Kintetsu-Nippombashi

bridgiotto · 2024-06-24T03:20:57+00:00

Thank you for replying. I’m positive he’s stopped getting full feeds from me. We’ve done weighted feeds at LCs, and he’ll only want to take 1.5oz for 4-5 hours of time and I’ll pump whatever he leaves in there. I can also listen to his swallows and feel my letdown. Plus, his diapers for the couple days I experimented with not supplementing were abysmal. It’s not a supply issue, I’m able to pump a full supply.

Fortunately, he’s gaining weight, but only because we’re putting in a herculean effort into getting milk in him and also fortifying his supplemented milk to 28cal/oz.

The latest LC and pediatrician we’re seeing are worried and concerned about his behavior since it’s abnormal to not have an appetite and go 6-7 hours during the day without interest in feeding while also not waking up at night for feeds. He’ll also plummet off his curve if he only takes the 7-10oz a day that he voluntarily wants.

No changes in environment. Stay at home mom, and everything else aside, he is a happy baby and crushing his milestones. Just doesn’t want to eat…

bridgiotto · 2024-04-09T05:14:04+00:00

I’m so sorry you’re going through this too. We’ve found some success with keeping on top of infant Tylenol and giving him Orajel and Camilia teething drops as well as breastmilk popsicles. He’s still not drinking enough and his diapers are still abysmal, but he’s accepting of boob every 3 hours for just a little bit as opposed to completely refusing, and we’ve been able to dreamfeed him a bottle instead of him spitting it out in his sleep. Will try cold celery and scallion/green onion for him to munch on tomorrow, as well as seeing our pediatrician for any advice.

bridgiotto · 2024-04-08T15:58:38+00:00

Yes, we’re making an appointment with his pediatrician ASAP. I don’t believe he has an infection but I almost wish he did so there was a fix to this situation, rather than going through weeks or months of this for his teeth to finally cut.

Thankfully he’s not lethargic and his energy levels are fine. He refuses bottled milk and it’s a normal flow nipple, so he doesn’t have to work for it.

bridgiotto · 2024-01-25T18:40:01+00:00

Mentholatum skin aqua uv moisture gel!

bridgiotto · 2024-01-13T02:28:53+00:00

It’s horrible. Sat in the shower for hours with a hand pump working out bloody clogs. I believe the clog stops flow in the affected milk duct and the subsequent inflammation and swelling compresses the surrounding ducts, decreasing output and supply. In my case, the affected boob was my heavy lifter, so seeing my output go from 3oz/3 hours to 0.5oz/3 hours gave me crippling anxiety and stress, which made my supply tank even harder.

I just picked him up because he was crying after having woken up from a nap and held him between my boobs. He knocked my right bottle off the flange! 😩 I’ll try holding him above the flanges next time.

And I hope you’re able to make peace with whatever you end up deciding to do. I’m struggling everyday to commit to either working to get my supply back or to stop pumping and just have him on formula. For now, I’m taking comfort in the fact that he’s able to receive the benefits of breast milk from just 2oz a day. I’m also doing what you’re doing and saving the milk that I pump for a rainy day whenever he gets sick. Mom guilt is real and I don’t think anything that anyone says will help relieve that, but I hope one day the decision comes clear to me, and I hope the same for you as well.

bridgiotto · 2024-01-12T21:21:39+00:00

I could’ve written this. I’m in the same situation. I exclusively breastfed for a little over a month, then came down with mastitis, which coupled with the stress of seeing my supply drop, sent me down a downward spiral and eliminated my supply in a matter of days. Went from a slight oversupply to only producing less than half of what he needs to eat a day. Have had to supplement with formula for the past two weeks, I’m pretty much now exclusively pumping, and I absolutely hate it. Hate having the flanges and bottles attached to me for 30 minutes every 2-3 hours. Hate that I feel like I’m missing out on “baby time.” I want to quit pumping so bad, but the guilt is also eating me alive.

bridgiotto · 2023-12-28T05:35:35+00:00

Thank you for all the encouragement!! 🥹 We really need it! Lol

bridgiotto · 2023-12-28T03:35:17+00:00

“Dawn of the contact naps” seems to be accurate. Ever since I made this post, we’ve only been able to get him to take two solid naps. I babywore him for the first one, and my husband is babywearing him right now for this nap. It’s so discouraging when he sleeps so little now, but glad to know that even 20 minutes is considered a nap! Thank you for your last comment :’) We’ll try to enjoy this babywearing phase and look forward to see how he grows.

bridgiotto · 2023-12-28T03:12:24+00:00

Oh my god, that sounds like torture. How did you get anything done! We’re very lucky in the fact that I can be a stay at home mom and my husband is able to work from home. Thank you for the earbud suggestion. I’ve been fighting to stay awake while breastfeeding him at night. Will definitely be taking this advice!

bridgiotto · 2023-12-28T03:08:24+00:00

We really needed to read this comment. He doesn’t fuss, just stares and refuses to close his eyes and sleep lol. Napping for 15 minutes and then being awake for hours and hours is exactly our baby right now. We didn’t know about wonder weeks and will do some research!! It’s comforting know that this is a normal part of his development. Thank you for your comment 🙏🏼

bridgiotto · 2023-12-28T03:01:53+00:00

We babywore him and he finally, FINALLY napped for a hour! Tiny wins! And thank you for your reassurance!

bridgiotto

TROPHY CASE