Pumping affecting my mh

how do you guys keep going with pumping? it’s exclusively pumping no breast tried at the nicu for 2 weeks with lactation nurses and nicu nurses nipple shields etc i’m not doing breast anyway. but how do you keep going? i feel like i can’t leave my house, i don’t want to pump in public, i keep getting matists no matter how much i empty my breast with pumping and hand expressing etc. i just think it’s really affecting my mental health and i think baby is more on formula than my breast milk now or its a 50/50. just don’t know what to do. only 11 weeks pp

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I found it really hard in the beginning. It wasn’t until I got a set of wearable pumps and dropped my middle of the night pump that I felt that it was sustainable. My first goal was to make it to 3 months now I have set my next goal. I’ve been lucky and haven’t had mastitis yet but have had a few blocked ducts and milk blebs. How many times do you pump a day? I’m 14 weeks pp.

@Jessica i had hospital pump for 3 weeks then wearables ones since, i pump like 5 times a day and its usually never enough i usually have to wait till next pump. session till its enough for my babe. ive had mastitis 3 times in 11 weeks its draining me as it makes me so poorly n super painful to pump x

I've exclusively pumped from birth to 5 months, where he's now been transferring to formula the last 6 weeks whilst I wean off pumping. It was difficult mentally at the start for me whilst my body learnt a routine I think. For the majority of that time I found I had to be consistent with how long I would pump and the time between. For me I'd pump every 4 hours for 17 minutes each side. I often got blocked ducts and things if I messed with the timings/what my body was used too. I have the Elvie and would normally try to pump in the car if we went out or id wear easy clothing to descreetly sort the pump out. My first pump was noisy and I found that hard to deal with around people so i changed to the elvie and that really helped my confidence.

I was told to pump every two to three hours during the day and can have four hour gaps during night (with two hour gaps on each end) and always struggled with blocked ducts whenever I slept too long and missed pumping. Do sorry this seems to affect your mental health . I can relate it is so hard. It got better for me getting wearable breast pumps, but I still hate it honestly. It is such an extra load. I do it for my baby and feel good about my choice anyhow. Remembering it is temporary and what my child gains helps me tremendously. Other than that especially praying keeps me strong! I will keep going as long as I have supply since I enjoy having control over what I feed my baby (my choice of food and medication, supplements and so on). The time will pass too and won't last forever and I will keep reminding myself of the benefits of pumping also financially (premium milk is pricey) 😄. - If I had to choose formula it would be goat milk 😊 I pray that you will find rest and peace in all of this struggle

Listen to pumping affirmations on YouTube (my favorite is by Bridget Tayler) and pumping podcasts. 6 months in with a NICU sweetie and been almost exclusively pumping except on the rare occasion he wants to latch. It's not going to last forever and I'm so proud of the effort I've put in to ensuring he's getting my milkies! You got this!!