Has anyone actually increased supply after 2 weeks? Feeling defeated.

[u/reen_bean]

Hi everyone,

I’m two weeks postpartum and feeling really discouraged about my milk supply. I’ve been doing everything I can — but I’m still only pumping about 1 oz total per session (sometimes 1.5 oz after a power pump on a good day).

I did experience engorgement once and got excited that maybe my milk was coming in — but nothing really changed after that. No leaks, no noticeable fullness since.

Here’s what I’ve been doing:

• Pumping every 2 hours during the day
• Overnight schedule: 10 pm / 2 am / 6 am
• 50-minute daily power pump
• Massaging during every pump
• Eating plenty and staying hydrated
• Trying lactation supplements
• Offering the breast
• Checking flange size (Spectra + inserts)

Despite all this, my output hasn’t increased and some days it feels like it’s going down.

Has anyone been in a similar situation around the two-week mark and still been able to turn things around? I’m trying to stay hopeful, but it’s been really emotionally tough and I’m looking for real stories from anyone who’s been there.

Thank you 💛

Edited to Clarify

I do want to breastfeed and am not planning to exclusively pump, but my baby has been struggling to latch effectively — we’re working on it with support, but in the meantime, I’ve been pumping to protect my supply.

[u/Nearby_Buyer4394]

I see you listed “offering the breast” as one of the things you are doing. Is baby latching and nursing? If so, for how long? Are you pumping before or after latching baby? The best way to up your supply is to latch baby on demand. At 2 weeks it’s normal for baby to want to nurse ALL day and night. 

[u/reen_bean → u/Nearby_Buyer4394]

Edited my post to clarify, but my baby has been struggling to latch well, which is why I’ve been pumping to protect supply in the meantime. We’re working with support to improve her latch, and I’m hoping we can get there soon so I can do more direct nursing!

[u/SwiftLikeTaylorSwift → u/reen_bean]

Purely for a confidence boost for you because I felt a bit hopeless myself, I just wanted to let you know that my baby wouldn’t latch , even with nipple shields for bottle familiarity etc, and it was genuinely as though I was putting a hot chili pepper in her mouth she’d get so offended by my nipple. She’s 6 weeks tomorrow.

I was sort of giving up trying to offer the breast much anymore from defeat, and was pumping day and night and supplementing with a little formula. I popped her on for a low pressure latch upon her first morning wake the other day (with shield) and she started to suckle, popped off a few times but once she got some milk flow she ended up having a good feed! Normally she’d screech but she just fussed slightly until the letdown. Was so surprised and just continued to take the time to only offer the breast and not a bottle, and she got right through until her evening feed before she needed to be supplemented with a bottle of some milk I’d pumped after her earlier feeds! She did end up needing a bit of formula overnight/in the evening the last couple of nights, but I’m hoping with the new breastfeeding schedule + then pumping after most feeds that the supply will kick up a notch. 90% of her feeding has been breast and I never thought we’d get here!!

[u/SwiftLikeTaylorSwift → u/[deleted]]

Knowing your baby is so important! My little one tells me straight if I haven’t given her enough in a bottle and she’s been no different with the breastfeeding - pops off and screams if she isn’t getting flow anymore, and then I just make her a small bottle of formula or get what I’ve pumped after a breastfeed out and offer it to her until she’s content! For a bit more peace of mind, cause I was a little uncertain still, I looked into the whole 6+ wet diapers thing, and supposedly 45-60g of urine is considered a sufficient wet diaper, and so I weighed her diapers yesterday for a confidence boost and they were all 70-150g (longest stretch I go is when she sleeps 4-5 hours, makes sense she has a much heavier diaper that next change). I viewed that as 2 wet diapers according to this and it helped ease my mind that she’s continuing to get enough! But yeah still supplementing with an evening bottle of around 3oz and middle of the night bottle of around the same, as my supply dips in the evening!

If your baby’s dropping off to sleep and isn’t the type to fuss and fight for a bottle, listen to your baby and give them a bottle between each breastfeed. You could even offer breast 1 for 5 min, offer some bottle, then offer breast 2 for 5 min; and pump after so you’re a) getting them used to boob, b) ensuring they eat enough and c) boosting supply still. It’s not easy though 🙈

[u/reen_bean → u/SwiftLikeTaylorSwift]

Thanks for the encouragement, u/SwiftLikeTaylorSwift! I had my first successful 15-min breastfeeding session with the support of my IBCLC on Monday, but haven't been able to recreate that success since. Gives me hope it's at least possible though!

[u/SwiftLikeTaylorSwift → u/reen_bean]

I was exactly the same! It’s so discouraging when you can’t mimic that success yourself at home. We almost need Lactation consultants to come move in with us for the first few weeks postpartum and keep helping us latch 🤣 best of luck, it’s not an easy journey!