Ciara, my daughter was exactly the same. She was tongue tied and lip tied so I pumped until we had it clipped and after that she wouldn't take the boob. I pumped for 5 months, IT. WAS. AWFUL! My supply was terrible so I was pumping, feeding, pumping, feeding. I also had a 3 year old at the time. Finally at 5 months I told my husband I was done, my 3 year old never got any attention, our house was a wreck and I was a wreck. It's completely ok to stop! It is mentally exhausting. Do what's best for you and your family!

You are NOT failing! You tried hard ... if you decide enough is enough there is no shame in that and if you have to change to formula then so be it. You are doing great what with another child too in the mix ❤️xx

Pumping sucks. I was in law enforcement Academy when my LO was still nursing so I had to pump in a freaking locker room. For an entire college, they only had one designated pumping room. Just make sure you drink a s*** ton of water, and eat a very balanced diet. There are a lot of supplements out there to help with your supply. I took fenugreek supplements, (which make you smell like maple syrup) and special cookies & muffins. My Lactation consultant had really helped me through. If you are having issues, speak with one before you give up. The one thing she always told me, DON'T GIVE UP! She was amazing.

You are not failing your baby. It's ok to stop. You're doing the best you can and that's all anyone can ask for :) Fed is best.

I hate pumping! You do what's best for you. After returning to work with my first baby I was so exhausted trying to keep up. I literally lost 20lbs and that wasn't a good thing.

I have no idea how I'm going to manage this time with a two year old in the mix. My daughter is 5 weeks and I just can't not bring myself to do it yet.

Do what will be best for you. Pumping sucks hairy balls!!!! I breastfed for 16 months but stopped pumping at 8 months and giving my childminder formula to give my son. It's so time consuming. Best decision I ever made. You should be enjoying your time with baby, not being stressed because of a feeding method.

When I was pumping regularly it was so hard. I felt like I was tied down to my pump. I was so over it... I felt like I couldn't make any plans because I had to pump every few hours. I pumped several times throughout the night as well. It was so exhausting, and like you, I had so many thoughts of throwing in the towel. I was always say "I can't wait to be done!" I was so frustrated. Here I am, almost 12.5 months into it, down to 1 pump a day. I told myself yesterday was my last day, and I cried my eyes out. I ended up pumping. It's just been such a huge part of my life. You'll make the right decision whether you continue to pump or stop. Your mental health is so important. You have to take care of you in order to take care of anyone else :)

Aw I'm sorry mama. I understand how it is. I EP for the first two months. It is sooo time consuming! I wanted to quit so many times.

Do whatever works best. You need to be happy as well

Es pumping is so time consuming and very draining! I EP for three months also due to latch issues and then my daughter finally latched correctly. You are doing great' but your health is much more important to care for our two babies :) if you want to continue set a schedule...i would do every 4hours and stayed hydrated as much as I could

Breast milk is awesome. You know what's even more awesome though? A happy, healthy, stress-free Mom. I hate seeing women get so down over one small part of motherhood. And there's always a trade-off. It's not like you quit pumping and you're less of a Mom now. Not pumping will free up time to cuddle your baby close and do skin to skin, and to enjoy your four year old who needs you just as much. Pumping takes away quality time from your two LO's, and time is just as invaluable and precious as breast milk.

Baby won't remember how you fed him Mama, all he will remember is how you loved him. ❤️ Do what is best for you and baby and it will all fall into place.

Like one mama on here said...I had a very encouraging and helpful baby group that I was apart of. I hated every second of breastfeeding and pumping and I had ppd. I would just sit there and bawl my eyes out every time I had to pump. One of the moms in my group told me that it is ok to stop and to do what's best for me because as long as I'm happy then my baby will pick up on that and be happy too. Don't put too much pressure on yourself! If you want to continue to try then go for it! If you are way too stressed out then it's okay! It's great that your baby has gone this long with it!

Exclusively pumping is so hard. I had to for the first three months with my daughter because she wouldn't latch. Miraculously at 3 months she started to latch and life was so much easier then. If she hadn't started latching I would have given up and switched to formula. I was miserable when I was exclusively pumping. I wasn't sleeping enough because pumping, cleaning the pump, and bottle feeding takes so much more time at each feeding than just being able to have the baby latch. Plus I felt like I was just a milk cow. My cousin exclusively pumped for a year. I don't know how she made it that long.

I'd recommend joining a pumping group on Facebook. It is so helpful. I usually only got 3oz per pump, and managed to keep it up for 13 months. Trust me, I know how it seems to take over your life.

Let me know if you need an invite to a Facebook group.

Bfing and pumping is no joke. It's hard! I did if for 13 months with my son waking up at night... working full time... pumping at work - it's very exhausting! Many times I wanted to quit, but i would think "I've come so far!" So I kept going... hard, of course, but now I think back and I'm glad I did it. However, only you know how much you can handle. It's a 24/7 job!

I pumped for 5 months and hated every minute of it. I continued because I felt so much pressure to breastfeed. Im not saying that you should stop, but I wish someone had told me that it is okay to stop ❤️

Pumping is SO HARD. I understand whole heartedly. I almost exclusively pumped for my twins for the first year and it was exhausting in every way. If you want to try to stick it out, I have plenty of advice, but if you want to quit I support you as well. I don't know that I would choose to do it again.

ETA: YOU are NOT failing your baby. Not by a long shot, don't worry about that mama. ❤

My son was tongue tied, I was not able to breastfeed due to him not latching, and I barley got it fixed when he was 6 weeks. And during that week, he had thrush. So I barley tried breastfeeding him last week and it's been a no go for us. He won't even try to latch. I've tried everything possible to try to get him too. ? I wish I could just breastfeed. I believe I'd be so much happier and not as stressed and drained from it. I know me stressing plays a roll in it as me not eating much or staying hydrated. I just don't want to fail my baby. ?

Stop if you need to, all this stress could lead to ppd. 8 weeks is great!

Maybe the added stress is decreasing your supply as well? Do what's best for you! A happy mama is more important than a breast-fed baby imo

4oz per pump is still amazing, and should be more than enough for your LO at 8 weeks old!

I know pumping is a lot of work, I EP for 6 months with my first. But you can do it!

Is there a reason why you're not breastfeeding as opposed to pumping? I found it a lot easier with my second to still interact with my DD when breastfeeding as opposed to sitting at the pump. Reading books, talking, watching a movie.

I get anywhere from 3-4 ozs each side. Sometimes just 2 each side. I don't have a set pumping schedule. Even if I did, It's hard to stick to it between my 8 weeker and 4 year old. I know I don't stay hydrated much, I don't eat as much as I should. Hell sometimes I forget I have to pump. Between that and all the stress, my supply doesn't stay regulated. I know it's still early on but I'm happy I at least got to 8 weeks of pumping. I'll try to keep going at least another week.

It can be huge load to bear. I don't know if I could personally keep up with it myself.

Stop if you want to, I bunch of people will tell you not to but it's your choice. I only pumped for 2 months then it was just too much with my job and everything I didn't have anywhere to pump. I wasn't eating enough food so my supply dropped drastically. I just pumped less and less and made sure to stock everything I could. I gradually transitioned my son to formula and kept some bags of BM on hand for a few months after in case he got sick or something. He's never had any issues and I feel good that he got breast milk for the first 2-4 months of his life. I honestly don't know what I'm going to do after this baby I have issues breast feeding so I'll try pumping again but I'm not putting a time limit on it.

Are you not getting enough when you pump, is it the schedule?

It's ok to stop mama. {hugs}