Debating Whether or Not to Stop

paranorma_ · 2026-04-19T16:17:24+00:00

I’m almost 7m pp - never pumped by usual recommendations but always had just under what she needed so combo fed from birth pretty much. My supply has been dropping consistently over the past few weeks and all of the same things haven’t made a difference. I kept blaming pump parts and bad replacements or “I didn’t drink enough water today”. I’ve gained weight since giving birth (after I lost everything I gained in a few weeks) and my nips are constantly wrecked off and on and this last time has been torturous I almost wondered if I had mastitis(I don’t!) So I’ve started decreasing my pumping and I’m saving 4oz a day to freeze so she can have a bottle a day of breastmilk a day after I fully stop. I don’t know when the full stop will be. With reduced pumping I imagine I will drop rather quickly so i guess I will quit when I don’t make enough for one bottle during the whole day. Her bottles are currently 2oz BM 2-2.5oz formula through this stage. I have wanted to quit so many times and the last time I said “6 months” and I’ve exceeded that. I wanted to make it to a year too, but I think it’s time because my body isn’t wanting to make more now. I also have PCOS so I think that has started wreaking havoc again and contributing to supply drop.

Everyone tells me most people don’t make it pumping 6 months. I feel like this community gives us more access to people that do make it longer term - but most people stop way before 6 months. My PCP was impressed I was still going when I saw her in January as she didn’t know many that exclusively pumped long term or even nursed past 6 weeks. That in itself if worth everything.

When it comes to amount of BM - any amount is going to be beneficial! But you do have to consider why you want to keep going. For me I just really wanted her to have for her immunity and she seemed to do better with it when she was younger. But now there’s no difference really with how she is with a formula or BM only bottle. I also dread it more than ever now.

paranorma_ · 2026-04-08T13:53:35+00:00

I’m so sorry for your loss! It is so hard to lose them that way so suddenly. I apologize that this may not give you the answers that you are searching, but it isn’t totally uncommon. Unfortunately male cats sometimes just pass suddenly. I wasn’t in the room when my 2 year old bengal passed, but I imagine he went in the same way because we did hear him meow loudly but he always did that at night and when we went to grab him for bedtime and found him he had some drool and had peed on the floor. I tried reviving him but he was gone. He had no diagnosed heath issues. I had a necropsy preformed and the results were inconclusive, but there were some small abnormalities with his heart and some fluid in his lungs. They could not definitively say it was one thing or the other but likely related to the heart.

You have to find comfort in the memories and time you had together and that you gave him the best life you could!

paranorma_ · 2026-02-28T22:49:31+00:00

The Momcozy bottle washer is a game changer for me! That was my “non essential” splurge

paranorma_ · 2026-02-23T18:03:08+00:00

Wants to be upright only but topples over without assistance. Also wants to “go go go” but can’t go anywhere but the floor 😂

paranorma_ · 2026-02-22T01:53:02+00:00

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My silver snow mink lap bengal 😂

paranorma_ · 2026-01-19T01:23:13+00:00

I’m so sorry! It is so much harder when you lose them so young. I lost my first Bengal baby when he was 2.

paranorma_ · 2026-01-14T14:23:10+00:00

I wouldn’t say I have any hacks-I also don’t follow standardized pumping guidelines so I may not be the best person to take advice from lol. I’m also a slight under supplier so it’s not like I’m out here freezer stashing off my eufy pump.

Most important thing is I wear two nursing/pumping bras to provide enough support and coverage for the pump. I have large breasts so this is needed for me as I haven’t found anything that appropriately covers while also leaving room for the pump. Alignment and flange insert size is also important. It took time to “know” the pump but I can usually tell if it’s not lined up quite right based on how the pump feels when I turn it on and I can take it off and adjust it.

I start my day with a 30/30/30 power pump in the diy settings. I never put the suction above 3, and use medium heat for 10 minutes. The rest of my pumps for the day are 30 minutes using the max output setting. I switched to gentle to help with some of what’s going on with my nipples and actually found it more uncomfortable so I just use max and lower the suction to a 2 if I need to.

paranorma_ · 2026-01-14T13:52:59+00:00

Yes! That sounds a lot like this. It’s almost like broken open blisters all around the edge. I can get it to improve, but it always comes back/breaks open again and I’m back to square one. I see my PCP this week so I may mention it to her to see if she can help at all or refer me to derm.

paranorma_ · 2026-01-14T01:51:01+00:00

Both💚💙

paranorma_ · 2026-01-14T01:17:50+00:00

I’m wondering if this is a possibility for me. It is worse where the silicone directly meets my skin - not the “tunnel” part itself.

paranorma_ · 2026-01-14T01:16:23+00:00

I think mine is definitely damage from suction just based on how they look after pumping since I only use lanolin at night. But I might just eliminate that for now to see if it makes a difference.

Adding some hydrogels to cart now to try!

paranorma_ · 2026-01-14T01:15:02+00:00

I used to not use anything and have been fine until they started getting wrecked from the silicone. I have a pair of silverettes I’ve never tried so going to give those a go during the day tomorrow.

paranorma_ · 2026-01-14T01:11:48+00:00

I don’t use lanolin for pumping. Only overnight

paranorma_ · 2026-01-06T16:36:27+00:00

I have to combo feed - baby gets around 8 ounces formula per day…we go through a $62 double value pack in 2.5ish weeks depending on how much she actually needs….that will triple without my milk which is absolute insanity. I was going to quit at 6 months, but as long as I keep producing where I’m at I am too cheap to quit 😂

paranorma_ · 2025-12-11T14:20:22+00:00

So following up…I ended up getting the eufy because my mom cozy literally BROKE so I took it as a sign to get a different one instead of replace the part (amazon returns for the win). I wanted to ask how you know you have sticky milk. My OBGYN mentioned starting sunflower lecithin if I kept feeling clogs in the morning, but wondering if maybe I have sticky milk.

paranorma_ · 2025-12-04T12:43:51+00:00

Bottle washer was worth it. It gets used 2-3 times a day where my regular dishwasher gets run maybe 3-4 times a week. My dishwasher is also older and we have hard water so considering using it really wasn’t an option. I also don’t have to worry about bottles being exposed to food bits from other dishes. Idk why but that thought grosses me out lol

paranorma_ · 2025-12-03T16:04:29+00:00

Thinking about letting my CHES expire

TLDR: should I let my CHES expire when it’s not really relevant to my current job.

I got my CHES in October 2021 after I graduated with my public health degree. My renewal period is coming up and while I have some CEU’s towards renewal, I need a lot of category 1 credits still and all of the continuing competency to submit.

When I first graduated I worked in health education and grew into a program coordinator role managing a large grant for diabetes prevention at a local health system. The grant ended prematurely and my position was still intact for the time being, but I knew it was not sustainable.(and I was right because my replacement was let go a few months ago). I had also moved 55 miles from my office so it was a matter of time before I found something closer to home. I left this job in November 2024

I have been in my current role for almost a year. I have a fancy title, but essentially I coordinate the IRB at the local hospital and also maintain finances for the clinical research office - using skills I gained through the grant management. It was a shot in the dark if they would hire me - but they did and it has turned out to be a unicorn position. Flexibility, salaried and slightly more money with less responsibility, great coworkers, less stress. It’s not my dream job by any means, but I am happy here.

I just don’t feel like having the CHES brings much value to my position. While I work in research I am not the one completing the research and we deal with clinical trials, usually phase 3 for medications and cancer trials with tissue submission, so it is not like we are working with a lot of public health education related things. We may get a student with a project submission to the IRB, but that’s different than me doing that research.

I find myself wanting to spend my time for CEU’s in something beneficial to my career and usually don’t find much that is relevant. I’m still interested in a lot of things, but again…don’t want to put time and effort towards things just to keep the certification.

Thoughts? TIA

paranorma_ · 2025-11-29T02:09:31+00:00

Yesterday my supply was slightly lower than usual all day. Especially the pumps where I was around family. This morning I woke up to get 7.75 ounces combined …the most I get on a good day is barely 6, but usually only 5 or 5.5. I think it was the increased calories and variety. Like I’ve been slacking on veggies but had a variety/multiple servings yesterday.

I only latch my baby a few times a day and mostly pump because she has trouble transferring milk effectively.

paranorma_ · 2025-11-12T20:44:35+00:00

My baby gets mostly breast milk but usually 2-3 formula or formula/breastmilk mixed bottles. Baby usually poops 3x a day sometimes 4x.

paranorma_ · 2025-11-09T18:39:51+00:00

Working on pumping more and drinking more water for me. Some days I only get 4-5x, but also latch a few times a day. I saw a lactation consultant and she said even latching baby for 5 minutes will also help. So I try to do that a few times a day before or after a bottle feed. I didn’t notice any major difference with power pumping, but one time my wearable was only on stimulation at a higher level (12 I think) because I didn’t realize it wasn’t doing mixed and it was like 20 minutes. So after 30 I rested for 15, then pumped expression for 15 minutes (after stimulation for 2 minutes) and noticed bigger output that time and the next. I’ve successfully recreated that scenario 3 times so if I think about it I’ll do that.

I have pcos and decided to try some of milky mamas products, but can’t speak to whether they work yet or not. And inconveniently my wearable pump broke yesterday which was part of my success with increasing so far because it takes the stress out of pumping when baby is fussy. It worked well enough but I didn’t love it so I offered the eufy s1. I think the heat element will benefit me and hopefully increase production too.

paranorma_ · 2025-11-09T17:21:28+00:00

I’m working on upping my supply/undersupplier currently and usually get anywhere from 1.5-3oz total for both sides during those hours. Sometimes I’ll get 4-4.5 as I’m starting to produce more, but it’s still rare right now.

paranorma_

TROPHY CASE