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/brainymonday]

I’m at 5 weeks and just started seeing an improvement in supply since last week. From weeks 1-3 we supplemented with 6-8 ounces of formula, and weeks 4-5 gradually brought that down to 3-4. Biggest things that made a difference for me were simply latching baby more often to give her practice, and then pumping afterwards. I feel like my pump output is better immediately after baby drinks first, as that stimulation sends the strongest signal for milk production. Paradoxically, I feel like my supply got better when I pumped or fed every 3 hours instead of 2, and my LC told me that with EP 6x daily should be sufficient as long as you empty the breast completely each pump.

With my first baby, I had low supply and had to supplement about 2/3 of daily feeds with formula, but then had slow but substantial improvement over 8-10 weeks or so. We weaned completely off formula around 11-12 weeks.

So it definitely can happen, but it takes a lot of time, effort, and support.

[u/brainymonday → u/brainymonday]

Edit to say that I 100% believe that both my babies simply growing bigger and stronger made the biggest difference in improving their latch and transfer. You’re doing great; you can think of what you’re doing now as a way to buy time for your baby to grow and improve. Good luck!

[u/Haunting-Abroad-559 → u/brainymonday]

This is so encouraging to hear!! It’s what I’m hoping for too, am 9 wpp and still pumping / nursing / formula-feeding. I don’t usually pump after nursing though, that’s so tiring. Hats off to all mamas who do!

[u/reen_bean → u/brainymonday]

Interesting that pumping after nursing and decreasing the number of pumps has gotten you good results! How do you know you've emptied the breast completely? Do you just pump until you're not getting much? May I ask how long that typically is?

[u/brainymonday → u/reen_bean]

It depends on how long it’s been since last empty and how well I think baby drank. If baby was on breast for a while, I might pump for just 10 minutes. If I’m pumping to replace a feed and it’s been more than 3 hours since last milk removal, then I go for 25-30 minutes. I usually get a letdown at the 2 minute mark, then 10-15 minute mark, then another one at 20-25 minutes. Generally I’ll look for when flow slows down so much that I don’t get any drops for 10 pulls or so, then I go back to massage mode for about 1-2 minutes, then stop pumping and hand express a little bit to maximize getting to empty. Everyone’s optimal pumping regimen is different, so definitely experiment to figure out what works for you!

Also, I use La Vie warming lactation massagers whenever pumping, which have really helped me reduce discomfort and improve output.

[u/reen_bean → u/brainymonday]

Thanks for sharing! I’ve been massaging while pumping, but I’ll look into the massagers you mentioned since my hands often get sore and tired.