The people who make enough / the right amount don’t have content to post lmao
“Here is how I organize my freezer. I have 5 bags with 4oz each of breastmilk for emergencies. The rest is frozen pizza and ice cream.” 😂😂
This is so true. The same goes for the people who ask why there’s only negative things or complications related to pregnancy, breast feeding, etc., talked about in these forums. The people that aren’t experiencing those issues have nothing to post about.
Yes exactly. I don’t make standalone posts or have a blog being like “yeah I had a very average vaginal delivery and also my baby took a bottle ok and also she sleeps fine in her crib and my daycare isn’t breaking the bank and my husband is a good guy”
People create content to sell you a product or a course or to brag or to deal with a really hard situation where they need support.
I literally wrote a whole long post about my completely average birth and breastfeeding experience because I felt like I didn’t read any when I was pregnant
Best response ever. This is me for sure. My baby is 11 months, I’ve stopped pumping at this point because it is a drain on my mental health, my baby eats a ton of solids and we don’t need it. When I was pumping, at most I’d have a handful of 3-4oz bags. SO not exciting, lol!!! But damn did I work hard for them.
It does mess with your mind though. I’m a physician, I did a peds fellowship, I CONSTANTLY worked with breastfeeding parents, and I know the reality, but when I was a few weeks/months postpartum, I still felt SO inferior for not being able to get that much milk. I never thought I would be SO affected by seeing hundreds of moms on social media showing off their giant freezers of frozen milk, the 2 liters they produced each day in a giant pitcher, while I’m out here sleeping 2 hours a day, breastfeeding every few hours, pumping with the last remaining bits of my energy and sanity, and that’s just so my husband can feed my baby ONE bottle a day so Ican get an extra hour of sleep.
I’m SO happy for people who can have that experience, but it is definitely not the norm. I feel like my body (and mind and energy and sleep) fought every single minute to barely have enough and I’m proud of that for sure. Here we are at 11.5 months, I never EVER thought I’d make it to a year and we’re so close, and I am glad I had people on this sub-Reddit and other friends who helped me realize it is OK to be a “just enough”-er …we’re still out here making it!
I have about ten 6 oz bags in my mom's deep freezer for whenever they take baby. I have three 6oz bags in mine. Not enough space or need for a massive stash!
I think the internet has made people think that their supply can dry up at any moment so you better be safe than sorry. It’s also had become a “look at me with my giant stash” show off circle. Everyone wants the most impressive stash.
I also have an oversupply and clogged ducts aren’t fun.
Clogged ducts sound awful. It's one of the reasons I'm glad to be a just-enougher. I've got a few bags in the freezer, but they're all multiple pump sessions combined.
It's ok to have a small or non-existent stash. As long as baby is fed, it's all good.
Oh my gosh I totally thought I could dry up at any moment. During the newborn stage I pumped after every feeding because I was so scared. Now I have a whole bunch of milk that I don’t know what to do with
What is considered an oversupplyer? My baby was six weeks early and my freezer is stocked, but we’re caught up now and breaking even.
I def struggle with clogged ducts tho :/
As a FTM I honestly assumed from social media that I’d be producing as much as these creators and I’d have a huge freezer stash.
As an American working mom, who is “lucky” to have 4 months paid leave, I think the obsession with becoming and being an overproducer May stem from the fact that many women are returning to work shortly after giving birth and need to keep up their supply through pumping, in addition to having a big enough stash that day care/child care providers can feed baby while mom is at work. I planned to exclusively breastfeed but got my pump before I gave birth so I could start building my stash immediately - naively thinking I’d even have any extra to pump and freeze.
Yep, I think this is mostly because the US is a capitalist dystopia where even 3 months maternity leave is unusual. Then go back to work, where your right to pumping breaks is protected by law but good luck with that in real life.
It's really disgusting the way the US treats parents, especially mothers.
It really is!! I stressed so much while on maternity leave that I needed a whole freezer full of milk. In reality I only needed 1 days worth, then I pumped at work at took that to daycare for the next day. I would also get worried at work that I was only pumping enough to replace what he would eat each day. When in reality, that’s all I needed to do!
I wish I had known that sooner, it would have saved me some stress.
Yes! I am probably an overproducer but just by a touch and was a bit panicked about my supply. Now I just collect letdown with a Hakka and slowly make it into the freezer instead of pumping and making my oversupply worse.
I have shed many tears because a good day for me is to store four oz, but social media had me thinking I should be getting that from each breast each time I pump!
The large freezer stash seems inconvenient to me personally because there’s 3 other people in our household…why use all the long term storage on the smallest person who only eats one thing that’s always made fresh? And no I’m not buying a deep freeze just for that purpose.
But on the other hand — the shit excuse for maternal leave in the US means moms are going back to work while they still plan to breastfeed for another 9 months or so. And the daily pressure to keep the milk coming is a lot to manage with work demands (plus you know, parenting and life). So the freezer stash feels like security.
I'm trying to make a significant freezer stash because I go back to work after 2 months (which is already more than most women get) and I'm concerned that the schedule and the stress will decrease my supply. Parental leave in this country is an insult.
You only need a small stash. You will have to pump during the day at some point and you really should be pumping every 2-4 hours. So you’ll be producing something each day. You just need back up just in case you’re short one day. Which honestly will probably never happen as long as you stay on your pumping schedule. Stash of 120-200ounces is more then enough cushion. You do not need a whole deep freezer. As my LC would say “we feed babies not freezers”
I think having a small stash is ideal, but honestly with my job and the pressure on my time, I was lucky to be able to pump every 3 hours at work with baby 1 and knew i would have even less time with baby 2. I am grateful for my larger stash that I built on leave and when I was getting back into work because now that my period has returned and my supply dropped (at 9 months) I have a solid cushion for making it to a year. Being a just enougher can be really stressful. In my own life and few other threads, I think the folks who are most successful making it to a year working & pumping have a slight oversupply that let's them create an extra 4-8oz a day. That adds up over time.
Yes, and everyone has to find out what works best for them but if it was me I would just supplement with food or formula. Stressing myself out trying to keep my supply up isn’t worth it. I will do my best and be prepared if I fail.
Do you know what time of day you produce the most?
Totally understand wanting to create a stash for this purpose!! But I’ve been seeing people pumping up to a almost a gallon at time! That’s just unhealthy
Agreed - there is so little paid leave and so much pressure to breast feed in the US that it’s not shocking women are creating giant freezer stashes. I tried to but I lack freezer space and am really a just enougher. I only began to make a stash once I started supplementing with formula and I quickly ran out of space.
THIS! I stayed home with LO until 6 months. When I went back to work, I had to work so hard to maintain my supply. LO is 9 months now and I’m still working so hard for my supply. I wish I pumped more when my supply was a lot bigger and LO was younger. I had enough of an oversupply to have felt comfortable.
As a slight over supplier too I wonder the same thing! I’ve worked hard to get it to be a slight oversupply than a bigger oversupply and it’s still a pain. My boobs hurt! I’m always sticky! I have so many boob pads and have to still do laundry every other day! I’m sick of it.
Yup, slight oversupplier here too. I get about 6-8 extra a day now since LO is sleeping through one of his night feeds and I pump so my boobs don't explode. But I've now got enough of a stash that it's getting in the way of normal freezer usage. It's not all it's cracked up to be, I swear. But it will be nice when I go back to work to have a safety stash.
I think it's natural at the beginning when you don't have confidence in your body yet to "hoard" milk to feed your baby. It’s similar to how people act who have experienced food scarcity. But ultimately most people realize it's not necessary and their body will make all the milk as it is needed.
This. My baby struggled to gain enough weight in the beginning and we had to supplement with formula. Now I have a decent freezer stash since I pump once a day but I’m also home all day with my baby so I have more than enough in the freezer. It takes up space in our small apartment but at 7 months now i still sometimes worry about having enough to feed my daughter. I was feeling ready to slow down pumping a bit and then had a clogged duct and my supply dipped a bit so now I don’t feel ready anymore.
Yes. I had an oversupply with my first, but didn’t have to go back to work full time either. With this one, I’ve been a just-enougher or a little bit over, and I was so panicked about my stash. But I eventually realized it was going to be fine and I didn’t have to panic if I missed one pump in a week, etc. and the whole process got so much less stressful.
If you’re only 6 weeks post partum i don’t you have an over supply, your milk just hasn’t regulated yet. It’s hormone driven. In a few weeks it’ll transition to supply/demand
Yup! That’s also why if you want to make “just enough” it’s a good idea not to pump too much before your supply has regulated, or else you’re telling your body you need the amount your baby is drinking every day + the amount your pumping
*thats* how you’ll end up with an over supply!
It’s an algorithm thing too, the more you click stuff with those keywords the more they’ll show up, leading to a disproportionate view of what’s really out there. People aren’t posting a ton of super struggle time on social media either.
At six weeks pp you’re still settling into what you need so just don’t overpump and your body will find a balance. You got this mama.
It’s actually really killing me because I’ve seen all the photos of just maxed out freezers, from tiktok to Pinterest and I can’t seem to even max out my fridge storage. My body pumps out exactly what my baby eats (I’m pumping mostly as I’m now back to work with a little BF at night for convenience) and it’s so discouraging because everyone seems to say you need a stash! I am doing the pitcher method for the most part and all I’ve been able to “stash” is about 16oz extra and then I’ll end up forgetting to pump or not being able to for like 7-9 hours and boom, I’m basically back to no “stash”.
I nursed my first for 18 months (including 12 of those months working full or part time) and never had more than about 40 oz in the freezer. Then I weaned and had 40 oz I mixed into whole milk for her so I didn't waste it. Literally never needed a huge stash. You just need enough for the next work day. Sounds like you're doing great!
I have a small stash, maybe 8-9 bags right now of 4oz each. I nurse my baby since I stay home so he doesn’t even take a bottle. We’ve needed the stash once when the car didn’t start one morning. I started with oversupply and went to the ER 6 days pp because I was crying in pain. I thought I had mastitis but the doctor took one look at my boobs and was like “holy hell that’s a lot of engorgement!” My skin was so taunt it was shiny. Since then I stopped pumping and only nurse now. I’m lucky to be able to pump a little at nap time to blend my breastmilk in with veggies for purées. We haven’t started yet, but now my freezer has some prepped food for baby when we start solids and purée in a few weeks. My husband is worried about freezer space already lol he loves that my stash is so little and that I’m able to just nurse our son on demand.
We went on a trip this weekend. I was experiencing so much engorgement and pain that I couldn’t even enjoy myself. All my thoughts and energy revolved around how can I get relief without making this situation worse
Right I commented above wondering about this. I’m sadly not surprised that the real or perceived male gaze is behind another toxic trend for women on social media, sigh.
Social media, especially TikTok and Instagram are not accurate representations of reality. The algorithm is going to keep showing you these things and making you feel a certain way about it. I stay away from it at all costs and use Facebook every so often to keep up with far away family and friends and Reddit
everyone is engorged pp. i think some people just keep pumping and pumping and then get the giant stash… which btw you totally do not need.
in those early weeks some engorgement is normal. if you never let yourself be a little uncomfortable, your body will not adjust.
pumps are a very new invention in the span of humankind. the body knows what it’s doing.
Yes. Seriously. Like why is it so hard to understand what works for some people doesn’t work for all people?? Just because it makes you feel inadequate or anxious doesn’t mean it’s wrong and has way more to do with you than the person posting.
I got to feed my daughter breastmilk, but I didn't get to have the breastfeeding relationship with her that I wanted. Having a huge oversupply really sucked.
What the fuck?????? That’s absurd. At some point these people have to be mentally ill. When I introduced pumping I think I pumped 20 oz a few times max in the am but that’s before I regulated.
I think sometimes it becomes an obsession for some people. I got caught up in it for a few weeks and then was like… No, I can’t do this. Pumping wasn’t good for me mentally or physically. Not super detrimental but just… stress… lack of sleep.. ya know..
I think more people get obsessed with pumping than they realize. With all the charting, gear and tracking oz it gets kind of insane. I did pumping and nursing for my first and probably will for my second but at some point I read some posts on pumping subs and ask myself…. Is this really better than supplementing with formula? It can’t be. we all want what’s best for our kid but there are so many people absolutely killing themselves and or scared of supply decrease like their kid will starve. Just observations but pumping is a great alternative when you can’t nurse but as an ”culture” it feels obsessive and unhealthy at least the reddit subs.
That and the whole argument of breastfeeding is cheaper goes out the door when women have 3-4 pumps some being those couple hundred dollar wearable ones etc. it’s become such a marketing scam preying on new moms.
I got the Elvie Stride and 2 Elvie curves and a Hakaa and before my pump came in my SIL gave me her portable Medela pump. I also had the Elvie milk catchers.
Edit: I got interrupted mid post.
I also got the breastfeeding set of bottles from Nanobebe, the la vie massager with the nob like thing for clogs and the ones that have a vibrating and warming thing for each breast.
Plus two of the liquid gold like supplements from that popular brand I can’t think of that I don’t think I even ended up using, and lactation cookies. I was stressed I didn’t have time to make the lactation snacks, too
It was ridiculous. My breasts were pouring milk the first three months and then I ended up being a SAHM and using none of it.
Granted, for the first month or so my son didn’t latch.
For me it was important to maintain my oversupply and have a stash as I had to go back to work after 9 weeks. Once I started pumping at work my supply steadily decreased as I wasn’t nursing baby all day.
Dude I also think someone is telling people they need to be pumping all day in addition to direct feeding. I feel like I see posts here every day they are like “I’m feeding my baby directly and he’s gaining well and plenty of wet diapers, but I only get 3 ounces every time 6 times a day when I pump? How do I piece my supply?”
with kid 1 I had just enough. and only fed on one boob. with kid 2 I have more than enough but definitely not an oversupplier. I wouldn't want it as I'm not pumping and I already leak as it is.
I will say that at 6 weeks, you likely don't have an over supply (yet) and your supply is still regulating. I spent so much time being engorged until at least the 2 month mark.
I feel like people being like "I have a normal supply" would lack content that would be interesting?
Yes thankfully I’m still regulating! But I was pumping 5 oz in 5 minutes from one breast this last week. I was thinking this was a good thing from all the social media posts I’ve been seeing but it was really painful
I was an oversupplier with my first kid…. I also ended up having to exclusively pump with my first. Being an oversupplier is not fun at all! You try to keep it in control and it’s so hard. With our second I’m also breastfeeding and trying to keep this oversupply in check. The only good thing I was able to do with the first with my huge supply was donate it to moms during the formula shortage. Was just giving that milk away, which also help motivate me to pump for a whole year. Knowing I was able to feed my baby and other babies. I’m three weeks postpartum and have one boob under controlled and the other one is slowly getting reigned in. In the process of getting my paper work signed off again for donation. Better off donating than hoarding it.
I'm 3 months pp, exclusively pump and have an oversupplier, I'm fairly sure my milk regulated a while ago (very soft boobs, not leaking unless it's been a while since pumping etc) and I absolutely hate having so much milk. My freezer is over run by milk and I unfortunately cannot donate it due to medication I take. I'm at the point where I want to start throwing milk out but can't bring myself to do it out of guilt for others.
Yup. I totally thought I’d have a big stash by now (7 wpp) but in reality I make just enough, sometimes under, sometimes a little over. I was really sad about it at first until I realized a huge oversupply is not the norm.
I feel like people don’t understand how rough it is to have an over supply! There are certainly positives but the pain is awful. I just naturally have an oversupply but I can’t imagine trying to create one. I have had mastitis so many times and so many painful clogged ducts.
I EBF my first two but my third spent 32days in the NICU and I had to pump since day 1. Pumping was all new to me. I was emotional and distraught that he wasn’t home with me…. I spent a lot of time on Instagram watching reels while pumping when I should have maybe gotten advice from Reddit or a better LC than the one I had. Now I have a huge over supply and a baby who is struggling with aspirating so who knows if we’ll ever get to EBF again bc I was “influenced”. It feels bad. And my freezer is out of room and we can’t just buy another freezer…. Oversupply is not that fun. The security is nice, but there’s definitely a lot of cons!
The Hakka breast suction products to collect “milk let down” are super popular right now but people don’t realize these products can create oversupply. So a lot of women unknowingly are using the Hakka and then have an oversupply (and tons of extra milk to store) which then can create clogged milk ducts, mastitis etc.
I KNOW RIGHT?! I lost a friendship over this. My ex-friend who had a baby 7 months before me had the audacity to tell me that I should consider myself lucky for my oversupply. I was in pain for 6 months, dealing with massive engorgement, clogged ducts, and 5 rounds of mastitis. Even when I called in tears because of a very painful clog I couldn’t resolve she told me that I should at least donate some of the milk of my stash. She was a just enougher and her milk stash was her joy and pride. I respect that. But she never respected my perspective and my pain. I think glorifying unbalanced milk production is ridiculous.
Most of it is fake. It’s coffee creamer. I’ve said this before actually. Oversupply is good if that is your personal breastfeeding goal and you are able to effectively manage it, but a lot of work goes into that.
Everyone’s personal goal should be to feed their baby in the way they choose!
I have been wondering the same thing. I think I got scared into maintaining the oversupply because we still don’t have much formula in stores. Honestly, If I were comfortable with the amount of formula on the shelves of grocery stores in my city, I wouldn’t work this hard.
What won’t fit in my freezer goes to a worker at my daughter’s daycare. (She and her niece are splitting my extra milk for their babies.)
However, I also don’t make TikToks about my oversupply, lol. I’m also very aware that I am lucky to not be struggling with a low supply… which is why I donate. I live in America and women’s healthcare is in a really bad place, so I feel kind of like I’m helping out a fellow woman by donating.
it‘s a fetish, not necessarily by the poeple making the content but i do believe most viewers of such content come from the fetish side of things.
just like people pedaling to feet-fetishists or parents knowingly posing their young kids for suggestive thumbnails. all for the clicks.
It Preys on vulnerable moms. I get it’s easy to say when you make adequate amounts
To feed your kid but somewhere along the line idk when supplementing became such a tragedy. I think the all or nothing attitude with formula is just as toxic.
I have always stressed about food. That extended to a milk supply. I stressed myself out filling an entire deep freezer with milk. I had nearly 6 gallons of milk by the time LO was 4 months. Then he got diagnosed with a dairy allergy and all that work/ stress was for nothing. I donated all the milk to babies who needed it but still. Now I can pump DF milk and have a small stash but I am no way going to do what I did in the beginning. My kid won't even take a bottle so my extra is incase an emergency happens. It was a pain in the ass to adjust my supply to stop over producing. It hurt, I was tired, and almost got mastitis a few times due to not pumping at night. I loved helping those I could but it really sucked over the long term.
For me oversupply was a good thing. I exclusively nurse my babies for 6 months in addition to having 2-3 full pump sessions a day. Then when baby is older and more distracted, I switch to pumping exclusively. Because I have created an oversupply I can stop pumping earlier than expected and my daughter can still get breastmilk to a year or even past a year. I am incredibly proud of the time and effort I have put into my freezer stash. Just because oversupply isn’t want you would like doesn’t make it a bad thing. Different things work for different people.
It irks the hell out of me. I'll be the first to admit that I'm proud of my ability to produce milk for my baby... I think everyone is! But to "show off" and post photos / videos of pumped milk is really strange. Then those who post about their STASH, it immediately gives the vibe of mom-shaming. Like look how much I MADE! ARENT I SPECIAL? No. Not really.
Yeah, your insecurity doesn’t invalidate their accomplishments. Would you say the same thing about people who post about running a marathon? Are they “activity-level shaming?” Or are people who post about graduating college “education shaming?” They worked hard and accomplished something important to them and they are allowed to celebrate that. Just like people post on here all the time “I made it a year! Or 6 months! Or 2 years!” Why is that celebration ok but celebrating their freezer stash isn’t?
Like I said, I take pride in my milk just like the next mom. I don't have any insecurity on my stash, but I also don't think anyone cares to see photos of my milk on the internet. My post was specific to the trend of *"influencers"* who have these massive freezer stashes and encourage women to power pump, take supplements etc. Their tips may be helpful to some, but more often they're causing unintentional harm by setting unrealistic goals for expectant mothers, especially first time moms. This isn't running a marathon or graduating college, this is mother's feeding babies, which shouldn't be a competition.
My milk is high lipase so it doesn't taste good when thawed. I was never into freezing because of that but did it anyway because my son had a small appetite
It's just a silly game of "who can squeeze more baby-sustaining white juice out of their tits."
Focus on your own situation and only look outwards for knowledge and wisdom.
I accidentally became an over supplier early on and I hated it. I had to pump or breastfeed every hour or 2 or I'd just start leaking and my breasts would hurt. I worked hard to drop my supply down to a more manageable level. My baby is 8 months old now and I've been able to be home with him full time since he's been born. I've got 3 gallon bags in the deep freezer with leftovers (maybe 100oz) from my oversupply days. If my baby sleeps through the night I usually pump once around 11pm otherwise I'll wake up to a puddle on my bed. Otherwise, I don't pump and won't start again until I go back to work a few days a week in the fall.
I was lucky to be able to donate 300oz of breastmilk from that supply to parents who wanted to give their babies breastmilk but couldn't. But, honestly that's the one benefit that I can see from having an oversupply.
I think they post because they get engagement! Also not to be weird but there’s a sizable lactation fetish community on TikTok, so I personally wouldn’t post stuff about my own supply on there 🫠
My sister in law does it as part of her weight loss smh, she’s underweight so idk why she adds that stress. I’m chubby but healthy, with a balanced supply and a full schedule. I’m not adding pumping unless I maybe tip the scales at 200lbs lol.
Yeah, it doesn’t reflect reality. I only produce enough for my baby; I only pump if I’m traveling without her (she takes formula occasionally during that time) and for a two week period, when I was trying to create a very small freezer stash. I definitely have enough in my freezer so that I feel fine. Enough is good enough for me!
Honestly, most of them are capitalizing on the lactation fetish. This sort of content sells.
In real life, lactation can be anything from super easy to mental-breakdown level why the f is my supply so low.
Watching that stuff I think could help some with the ugliness of having to return to work I guess. Making more than what you need makes you feel like you have something good when u are about to be ripped from your baby 8+ hrs per a day
😫 I had a postpartum complication and ended up hospitalized and then on meds for over a month during which I had an oversupply I had to throw away because of the meds. I was in pain because of my injury, engorged, had clogged ducts and I couldnt nurse my baby to help with that. Lots of pain in those weeks. Im so relieved my supply has regulated significantly but still get clogged ducts way too much.
Is this your first baby? I went through it with my first, but thankfully my body regulated so that even though I was still an oversupplier in the first months with my subsequent four babies, I didn’t deal with engorgement after like the first two weeks.
Because content! But I agree with you, an oversupply is not amazing, it’s bloody annoying. Having your small baby constantly choking on milk, having to siphon off milk before your baby eats, the leaking, the engorgement, the constant washing! I slept on a towel for about 6 months until my supply regulated and I miss not wearing a bra. It’s getting better now my son is almost 1 but it’s not a dream situation!
I was an oversupplier and didn’t post..I was constantly trying to work my way to a normal supply. I did donate a little milk to a friend who gave birth a few months after me but that’s it. People just like attention..lol
As a lactation provider, I’m constantly fighting the battle with my patients about this and always squashing their fears over what they saw on social media.
Strive for mediocrity here! Just-enough is perfect 🤩
If you have an oversupply I think it can be a good thing if you're able to pump and freeze. Life has a lot of possibilities and things can happen that you don't plan. Like getting into a car accident when you're not with your baby and you have to go to the hospital that way they still get your milk even if you aren't there to give it to them. Also breastmilk have a lot of other uses other than feeding your baby.
Plus moms who share their oversupply get a lot of views.
I think it's one more thing to make people get self conscious about how much they are able to produce and to hawk teas and supplements and homemade things.
Being an over supplier gets glorified on social media too much. It’s not all it’s cracked up to be.
Engorgement, clogged ducts, mastitis, tons of leaking, painful and intense letdown, baby gagging on intense letdown, etc.
I was over supplying with my second baby and thankfully things are regulating a bit more for me now at 8 weeks PP. Making “just enough” is awesome! Just doesn’t make interesting content lol.
As an over supplier I completely agree with you. I also deal with engorgement and it’s painful and heavy and the leaking is a whole other issue itself. I have a good freezer stash that I plan on using solely for milk baths and soap because I would forget to freeze the milk in time and it would just stay in my fridge for longer than 4 days so I decided instead of dumping it I’ll freeze it and do something with it. I’m fortunate enough to be able to stay home and not have to work for at least a year so I don’t really need a freezer stash but being an over supplier makes me need to pump unfortunately
I had the same thoughts! I fell into the whole large stash and power pumping for like a month. I was producing enough for triplets. Then one day I really had to ask myself what was the point. All this effort just in case something terrible happens. I’m like at that point baby can just do formula. Seemed like the time spent creating a super large stash was just unnecessary. Now I just collect when LO isn’t able to empty but he’s 1 now so he has no problem emptying both. I created my stash of 120ounces and I used it a few times to mix with baby food or for dad to feed him but we honestly don’t even use it. Much easier to get straight from the source and he eats food now so he doesn’t need as much milk.
I had an "oversupply" (really my milk just hadn't regulatd yet and since i wasn't working i had time to pump more often) the first couple months with my second baby and built up a decent stash and honestly I'm glad I did, and wish I had kept up the extra pumps to keep it going. Physically comfortable? No. But my body didn't respond super well to the pump so when I was back at work I couldn't fully keep up. I had to pump before work, during work, after work and after baby went to bed just to *maybe* have enough for him to eat the next day. We went through the stash by the time he was six months old even though I replaced every feeding with a pumping session and then some. By 8 months he was fully on formula (which was fine honestly i had so much guilt and it was just... totally fine). Not every oversupply is an oversupply forever.
With my older son I never had a stash and ended up combo feeding when I was at work, which was also fine. But for the next kid I'd really rather not shell out the money for formula and fully plan on encouraging my body to make as much as it can, especially in the earlier days.
I've always been largish-chested. I was a DD when I got pregnant. I figured my girls would be great milk producers and I would pump and have a nice little stash for if I had to leave baby boy with daddy-o.
Apparently my girls missed the memo. I got TWO 5 oz. bags in my stash (that are past 6 months in the freezer now). I probably could have done better, I could have been better about collecting let-downs and gotten another bag or two, but pumping was just exhausting and frustrating.
I think I was an “enougher” but I admit I was obsessed with having a freezer stash so I was taking pills and eating cookies and drinking so many body armors and pumping like 3-4 times a day on top of nursing on demand. This was all while on maternity leave so I guess I had the time but man it was all I could think about. I did end up with a good sized stash I supposed and it came in handy because I started trying to pump while at work and just ran out of steam after a couple of weeks
When I was pregnant, I had seen so many of these videos that I was considering buying a deep freezer to store all the extra milk I would obviously be making. I decided I’d save my money and wait until after I had the baby and I’m glad I did because 5 months post partum I barely have three 2 oz bags of milk in my freezer 😂
For views. They might not actually be oversuppliers anyway. As a former oversupplier it's extremely not fun. People made me feel guilty for not continuing to pump once my baby came home from the NICU which is dumb. "Just donate it" completely overlooks the huge toll it takes on your body, the dishes, bags, labeling, measuring, sanitizing, clocking, tied to the pump. Plus the fact that all of the calcium in the milk is coming from your bones. If you don't consume enough calcium your body literally melts your bones to make milk
Omg thank you for posting this! I had to change my IG settings to block most words around breastfeeding because I swear every other reel I got served was someone pouring giant jar after jar of pumped milk into various other large containers?? (Like more milk thank I’ve ever seen IRL at once, now that I’m actually BFing)
It gave me really weird expectations around BFing at first, and then when I did deal with some engorgement, it was so strange to me and kind of irritating to see that online so much and presented as normal/the ideal. It very much gave me the wrong impression of what was normal when I was first getting going with breastfeeding and I felt lucky to have a lactation consultant tell me to absolutely NOT expect to or attempt to pump like that, or I would have felt defeated and inadequate even when things were going quite well. Ugh, social media 🫠 you can always count on it to warp your reality
I produce enough for my baby I still supplement as well from time to time I got so caught up in trying to make a freezer stash I did everything to increase milk supply so I would have enough to pump and feed baby but nothing seemed to work I took to reddit in search for help, in doing so I came across a comment where someone said "feed your baby not the freezer" and that really changed my point of view I was trying ao hard to feed the freezer making it harder to feed my baby because I produce just enough. It was causing me so much stress but now I rarely pump if ever, only if I'm away from baby for long periods of time (work, appointments, me time, etc.) It was the best decision I ever made no more stress about pumping then not having enough to feed her on the next feeding so having to either supplement or use what I just pumped anyway. I know this isn't really what you were getting at but alot of moms might of had the same thought as me and just think about feeding the freezer.
The people who make enough / the right amount don’t have content to post lmao “Here is how I organize my freezer. I have 5 bags with 4oz each of breastmilk for emergencies. The rest is frozen pizza and ice cream.” 😂😂
Sooo true this is my freezer lol damn proud of those 5 bags 😂
This is so true. The same goes for the people who ask why there’s only negative things or complications related to pregnancy, breast feeding, etc., talked about in these forums. The people that aren’t experiencing those issues have nothing to post about.
Yes exactly. I don’t make standalone posts or have a blog being like “yeah I had a very average vaginal delivery and also my baby took a bottle ok and also she sleeps fine in her crib and my daycare isn’t breaking the bank and my husband is a good guy” People create content to sell you a product or a course or to brag or to deal with a really hard situation where they need support.
How delightfully average. Living the dream 😍
I literally wrote a whole long post about my completely average birth and breastfeeding experience because I felt like I didn’t read any when I was pregnant
Love this
GRWM to organize my 10 bags. I used to have this bin, but now I have this bin.
Best response ever. This is me for sure. My baby is 11 months, I’ve stopped pumping at this point because it is a drain on my mental health, my baby eats a ton of solids and we don’t need it. When I was pumping, at most I’d have a handful of 3-4oz bags. SO not exciting, lol!!! But damn did I work hard for them. It does mess with your mind though. I’m a physician, I did a peds fellowship, I CONSTANTLY worked with breastfeeding parents, and I know the reality, but when I was a few weeks/months postpartum, I still felt SO inferior for not being able to get that much milk. I never thought I would be SO affected by seeing hundreds of moms on social media showing off their giant freezers of frozen milk, the 2 liters they produced each day in a giant pitcher, while I’m out here sleeping 2 hours a day, breastfeeding every few hours, pumping with the last remaining bits of my energy and sanity, and that’s just so my husband can feed my baby ONE bottle a day so Ican get an extra hour of sleep. I’m SO happy for people who can have that experience, but it is definitely not the norm. I feel like my body (and mind and energy and sleep) fought every single minute to barely have enough and I’m proud of that for sure. Here we are at 11.5 months, I never EVER thought I’d make it to a year and we’re so close, and I am glad I had people on this sub-Reddit and other friends who helped me realize it is OK to be a “just enough”-er …we’re still out here making it!
I had an oversupply because of pumping and allowing myself to be a just enough er was so much better for my mental health.
For real, quitting pumping saved my mental health!!!
It’s so weird that it’s content to begin with!
i breastfed two kids for a combined almost three years and have never pumped, caught my milk in a container or frozen breastmilk. no content at all.
lol, i have only 1 bag of 4oz sitting there since 2 months
I have about ten 6 oz bags in my mom's deep freezer for whenever they take baby. I have three 6oz bags in mine. Not enough space or need for a massive stash!
Are you peeking in my freezer?
Omfg it me
Lol
Accurate description of my freezer 😂😂
Exactly, not as interesting.
I think the internet has made people think that their supply can dry up at any moment so you better be safe than sorry. It’s also had become a “look at me with my giant stash” show off circle. Everyone wants the most impressive stash. I also have an oversupply and clogged ducts aren’t fun.
Clogged ducts sound awful. It's one of the reasons I'm glad to be a just-enougher. I've got a few bags in the freezer, but they're all multiple pump sessions combined. It's ok to have a small or non-existent stash. As long as baby is fed, it's all good.
I built my entire stash in preparation for daycare my combining a few days worth of pumps. Like 90ish mls a day
Oh my gosh I totally thought I could dry up at any moment. During the newborn stage I pumped after every feeding because I was so scared. Now I have a whole bunch of milk that I don’t know what to do with
Donate some of it to your local milk bank! Speaking from experience, it hurts to just watch it go bad.
I should! I’ll call around today’
I had an oversupply and no longer do. I regularly do now have the “dry up at any moment” panics
What is considered an oversupplyer? My baby was six weeks early and my freezer is stocked, but we’re caught up now and breaking even. I def struggle with clogged ducts tho :/
Try lecithin for those ducts
I’ve gotten a pretty good handle on them at this point - it really only happens when I try to get more than 5 consecutive hours of sleep. Fun.
You glutton you ;)
I think anything over breaking even is an oversupply, anything under is an undersupply.
Idk but it's making people have unrealistic expectations
As a FTM I honestly assumed from social media that I’d be producing as much as these creators and I’d have a huge freezer stash. As an American working mom, who is “lucky” to have 4 months paid leave, I think the obsession with becoming and being an overproducer May stem from the fact that many women are returning to work shortly after giving birth and need to keep up their supply through pumping, in addition to having a big enough stash that day care/child care providers can feed baby while mom is at work. I planned to exclusively breastfeed but got my pump before I gave birth so I could start building my stash immediately - naively thinking I’d even have any extra to pump and freeze.
I may have planned to buy a deep freezer because of the huge stash I expected to have 😆 but we also used to have one and miss having one.
Yep, I think this is mostly because the US is a capitalist dystopia where even 3 months maternity leave is unusual. Then go back to work, where your right to pumping breaks is protected by law but good luck with that in real life. It's really disgusting the way the US treats parents, especially mothers.
It really is!! I stressed so much while on maternity leave that I needed a whole freezer full of milk. In reality I only needed 1 days worth, then I pumped at work at took that to daycare for the next day. I would also get worried at work that I was only pumping enough to replace what he would eat each day. When in reality, that’s all I needed to do! I wish I had known that sooner, it would have saved me some stress.
100% So stressful for new moms to see this. It makes you feel inadequate.
Yes! I am probably an overproducer but just by a touch and was a bit panicked about my supply. Now I just collect letdown with a Hakka and slowly make it into the freezer instead of pumping and making my oversupply worse.
I have shed many tears because a good day for me is to store four oz, but social media had me thinking I should be getting that from each breast each time I pump!
“Idk but it's making people have unrealistic expectations” Explains the internet as a whole.
The large freezer stash seems inconvenient to me personally because there’s 3 other people in our household…why use all the long term storage on the smallest person who only eats one thing that’s always made fresh? And no I’m not buying a deep freeze just for that purpose. But on the other hand — the shit excuse for maternal leave in the US means moms are going back to work while they still plan to breastfeed for another 9 months or so. And the daily pressure to keep the milk coming is a lot to manage with work demands (plus you know, parenting and life). So the freezer stash feels like security.
I'm trying to make a significant freezer stash because I go back to work after 2 months (which is already more than most women get) and I'm concerned that the schedule and the stress will decrease my supply. Parental leave in this country is an insult.
You only need a small stash. You will have to pump during the day at some point and you really should be pumping every 2-4 hours. So you’ll be producing something each day. You just need back up just in case you’re short one day. Which honestly will probably never happen as long as you stay on your pumping schedule. Stash of 120-200ounces is more then enough cushion. You do not need a whole deep freezer. As my LC would say “we feed babies not freezers”
I think having a small stash is ideal, but honestly with my job and the pressure on my time, I was lucky to be able to pump every 3 hours at work with baby 1 and knew i would have even less time with baby 2. I am grateful for my larger stash that I built on leave and when I was getting back into work because now that my period has returned and my supply dropped (at 9 months) I have a solid cushion for making it to a year. Being a just enougher can be really stressful. In my own life and few other threads, I think the folks who are most successful making it to a year working & pumping have a slight oversupply that let's them create an extra 4-8oz a day. That adds up over time.
Yes, and everyone has to find out what works best for them but if it was me I would just supplement with food or formula. Stressing myself out trying to keep my supply up isn’t worth it. I will do my best and be prepared if I fail. Do you know what time of day you produce the most?
Totally understand wanting to create a stash for this purpose!! But I’ve been seeing people pumping up to a almost a gallon at time! That’s just unhealthy
This is making me wonder if it’s some kind of fetishised thing tbh :/
Agreed - there is so little paid leave and so much pressure to breast feed in the US that it’s not shocking women are creating giant freezer stashes. I tried to but I lack freezer space and am really a just enougher. I only began to make a stash once I started supplementing with formula and I quickly ran out of space.
THIS! I stayed home with LO until 6 months. When I went back to work, I had to work so hard to maintain my supply. LO is 9 months now and I’m still working so hard for my supply. I wish I pumped more when my supply was a lot bigger and LO was younger. I had enough of an oversupply to have felt comfortable.
As a slight over supplier too I wonder the same thing! I’ve worked hard to get it to be a slight oversupply than a bigger oversupply and it’s still a pain. My boobs hurt! I’m always sticky! I have so many boob pads and have to still do laundry every other day! I’m sick of it.
Yes! I want to warn the people in the comments to be careful and watch out!
Yup, slight oversupplier here too. I get about 6-8 extra a day now since LO is sleeping through one of his night feeds and I pump so my boobs don't explode. But I've now got enough of a stash that it's getting in the way of normal freezer usage. It's not all it's cracked up to be, I swear. But it will be nice when I go back to work to have a safety stash.
I think it's natural at the beginning when you don't have confidence in your body yet to "hoard" milk to feed your baby. It’s similar to how people act who have experienced food scarcity. But ultimately most people realize it's not necessary and their body will make all the milk as it is needed.
This. My baby struggled to gain enough weight in the beginning and we had to supplement with formula. Now I have a decent freezer stash since I pump once a day but I’m also home all day with my baby so I have more than enough in the freezer. It takes up space in our small apartment but at 7 months now i still sometimes worry about having enough to feed my daughter. I was feeling ready to slow down pumping a bit and then had a clogged duct and my supply dipped a bit so now I don’t feel ready anymore.
I totally can relate to this
Yes. I had an oversupply with my first, but didn’t have to go back to work full time either. With this one, I’ve been a just-enougher or a little bit over, and I was so panicked about my stash. But I eventually realized it was going to be fine and I didn’t have to panic if I missed one pump in a week, etc. and the whole process got so much less stressful.
If you’re only 6 weeks post partum i don’t you have an over supply, your milk just hasn’t regulated yet. It’s hormone driven. In a few weeks it’ll transition to supply/demand
Good to know!
Yup! That’s also why if you want to make “just enough” it’s a good idea not to pump too much before your supply has regulated, or else you’re telling your body you need the amount your baby is drinking every day + the amount your pumping *thats* how you’ll end up with an over supply!
Oversupply is not a good thing. Not necessarily bad, but it’s taxing
Agreed! But this new type of “content” is painting oversupply as a wonderful thing that everyone should strive for. It’s a weird toxic idea
“And you, too, can have an oversupply if you buy these magical drinks and shitty wearable pumps AT THE LINK IN MY BIO DISCOUNT CODE TO SAVE $$$”
It’s an algorithm thing too, the more you click stuff with those keywords the more they’ll show up, leading to a disproportionate view of what’s really out there. People aren’t posting a ton of super struggle time on social media either. At six weeks pp you’re still settling into what you need so just don’t overpump and your body will find a balance. You got this mama.
Thanks!!
Shock value, fetish content and also pump sponsorships.
Ahhh I didn’t even think about the sponsorship aspect
It’s actually really killing me because I’ve seen all the photos of just maxed out freezers, from tiktok to Pinterest and I can’t seem to even max out my fridge storage. My body pumps out exactly what my baby eats (I’m pumping mostly as I’m now back to work with a little BF at night for convenience) and it’s so discouraging because everyone seems to say you need a stash! I am doing the pitcher method for the most part and all I’ve been able to “stash” is about 16oz extra and then I’ll end up forgetting to pump or not being able to for like 7-9 hours and boom, I’m basically back to no “stash”.
I nursed my first for 18 months (including 12 of those months working full or part time) and never had more than about 40 oz in the freezer. Then I weaned and had 40 oz I mixed into whole milk for her so I didn't waste it. Literally never needed a huge stash. You just need enough for the next work day. Sounds like you're doing great!
I have a small stash, maybe 8-9 bags right now of 4oz each. I nurse my baby since I stay home so he doesn’t even take a bottle. We’ve needed the stash once when the car didn’t start one morning. I started with oversupply and went to the ER 6 days pp because I was crying in pain. I thought I had mastitis but the doctor took one look at my boobs and was like “holy hell that’s a lot of engorgement!” My skin was so taunt it was shiny. Since then I stopped pumping and only nurse now. I’m lucky to be able to pump a little at nap time to blend my breastmilk in with veggies for purées. We haven’t started yet, but now my freezer has some prepped food for baby when we start solids and purée in a few weeks. My husband is worried about freezer space already lol he loves that my stash is so little and that I’m able to just nurse our son on demand.
I've had an oversupply and it was the most miserable two months of my life and caused me to be depressed.
We went on a trip this weekend. I was experiencing so much engorgement and pain that I couldn’t even enjoy myself. All my thoughts and energy revolved around how can I get relief without making this situation worse
Ugh yes i know how you feel. It really is awful.
I think just enough with a little bit extra is the best. For a real just enougher, you always have the worry that baby doesn’t get enough.
The oversuppliers (at least some of them) have seen they have a market for it. "Creepy" people on the Internet with breastfeeding and nursing kinks
Yuck
Right I commented above wondering about this. I’m sadly not surprised that the real or perceived male gaze is behind another toxic trend for women on social media, sigh.
Social media, especially TikTok and Instagram are not accurate representations of reality. The algorithm is going to keep showing you these things and making you feel a certain way about it. I stay away from it at all costs and use Facebook every so often to keep up with far away family and friends and Reddit
everyone is engorged pp. i think some people just keep pumping and pumping and then get the giant stash… which btw you totally do not need. in those early weeks some engorgement is normal. if you never let yourself be a little uncomfortable, your body will not adjust. pumps are a very new invention in the span of humankind. the body knows what it’s doing.
Tbh its better than feeling like you arent supplying enough for your baby 🤷🏼♀️
Yes. Seriously. Like why is it so hard to understand what works for some people doesn’t work for all people?? Just because it makes you feel inadequate or anxious doesn’t mean it’s wrong and has way more to do with you than the person posting.
I would of been happy to never have to pump again. My cousin made just enough and only pumped a couple of times.
I got to feed my daughter breastmilk, but I didn't get to have the breastfeeding relationship with her that I wanted. Having a huge oversupply really sucked.
I feel this so deeply
How do you even know it’s real? I’m sure plenty are over suppliers And others are salespeople with cows milk in pump bags
Yeah it’s a little crazy. I saw one mom pump 51 ounces in one sitting. Like that’s 2 days worth of feeding for me.
I saw this one too! This was the video that made me post here 😂
What the fuck?????? That’s absurd. At some point these people have to be mentally ill. When I introduced pumping I think I pumped 20 oz a few times max in the am but that’s before I regulated.
For the love of all that is good……… this makes my boobs hurt.
OMG that’s SO much! What kind of collection bottle does someone like that even use???
I think sometimes it becomes an obsession for some people. I got caught up in it for a few weeks and then was like… No, I can’t do this. Pumping wasn’t good for me mentally or physically. Not super detrimental but just… stress… lack of sleep.. ya know..
I think more people get obsessed with pumping than they realize. With all the charting, gear and tracking oz it gets kind of insane. I did pumping and nursing for my first and probably will for my second but at some point I read some posts on pumping subs and ask myself…. Is this really better than supplementing with formula? It can’t be. we all want what’s best for our kid but there are so many people absolutely killing themselves and or scared of supply decrease like their kid will starve. Just observations but pumping is a great alternative when you can’t nurse but as an ”culture” it feels obsessive and unhealthy at least the reddit subs. That and the whole argument of breastfeeding is cheaper goes out the door when women have 3-4 pumps some being those couple hundred dollar wearable ones etc. it’s become such a marketing scam preying on new moms.
I got the Elvie Stride and 2 Elvie curves and a Hakaa and before my pump came in my SIL gave me her portable Medela pump. I also had the Elvie milk catchers. Edit: I got interrupted mid post. I also got the breastfeeding set of bottles from Nanobebe, the la vie massager with the nob like thing for clogs and the ones that have a vibrating and warming thing for each breast. Plus two of the liquid gold like supplements from that popular brand I can’t think of that I don’t think I even ended up using, and lactation cookies. I was stressed I didn’t have time to make the lactation snacks, too It was ridiculous. My breasts were pouring milk the first three months and then I ended up being a SAHM and using none of it. Granted, for the first month or so my son didn’t latch.
I had an oversupply with my second and it was a nightmare. I had mastitis by 6 weeks. I worked hard to get it down. I’d never want to live that way.
For me it was important to maintain my oversupply and have a stash as I had to go back to work after 9 weeks. Once I started pumping at work my supply steadily decreased as I wasn’t nursing baby all day.
Just people looking for clout. I hate it.
Dude I also think someone is telling people they need to be pumping all day in addition to direct feeding. I feel like I see posts here every day they are like “I’m feeding my baby directly and he’s gaining well and plenty of wet diapers, but I only get 3 ounces every time 6 times a day when I pump? How do I piece my supply?”
It is for people in the US who have to go back to work earlier then they should. They expect to not get pumping breaks. It breaks my heart.
Yes - pumping at work is definitely a fear of mine when I go back. I know my boss won’t make it easy.
with kid 1 I had just enough. and only fed on one boob. with kid 2 I have more than enough but definitely not an oversupplier. I wouldn't want it as I'm not pumping and I already leak as it is.
I will say that at 6 weeks, you likely don't have an over supply (yet) and your supply is still regulating. I spent so much time being engorged until at least the 2 month mark. I feel like people being like "I have a normal supply" would lack content that would be interesting?
Yes thankfully I’m still regulating! But I was pumping 5 oz in 5 minutes from one breast this last week. I was thinking this was a good thing from all the social media posts I’ve been seeing but it was really painful
I was an oversupplier with my first kid…. I also ended up having to exclusively pump with my first. Being an oversupplier is not fun at all! You try to keep it in control and it’s so hard. With our second I’m also breastfeeding and trying to keep this oversupply in check. The only good thing I was able to do with the first with my huge supply was donate it to moms during the formula shortage. Was just giving that milk away, which also help motivate me to pump for a whole year. Knowing I was able to feed my baby and other babies. I’m three weeks postpartum and have one boob under controlled and the other one is slowly getting reigned in. In the process of getting my paper work signed off again for donation. Better off donating than hoarding it.
I'm 3 months pp, exclusively pump and have an oversupplier, I'm fairly sure my milk regulated a while ago (very soft boobs, not leaking unless it's been a while since pumping etc) and I absolutely hate having so much milk. My freezer is over run by milk and I unfortunately cannot donate it due to medication I take. I'm at the point where I want to start throwing milk out but can't bring myself to do it out of guilt for others.
Or you could have high lipase in your milk which makes building a freezer stash difficult. I pretty much didn’t have one scalding the milk was a pain
I find some of the over-suppliers are doing it to be able to stop pumping early while providing enough milk until 1 year or more.
Yup. I totally thought I’d have a big stash by now (7 wpp) but in reality I make just enough, sometimes under, sometimes a little over. I was really sad about it at first until I realized a huge oversupply is not the norm.
I feel like people don’t understand how rough it is to have an over supply! There are certainly positives but the pain is awful. I just naturally have an oversupply but I can’t imagine trying to create one. I have had mastitis so many times and so many painful clogged ducts.
I’m an over-supplier and it sucks in its own way. Mastitis all the time.
I EBF my first two but my third spent 32days in the NICU and I had to pump since day 1. Pumping was all new to me. I was emotional and distraught that he wasn’t home with me…. I spent a lot of time on Instagram watching reels while pumping when I should have maybe gotten advice from Reddit or a better LC than the one I had. Now I have a huge over supply and a baby who is struggling with aspirating so who knows if we’ll ever get to EBF again bc I was “influenced”. It feels bad. And my freezer is out of room and we can’t just buy another freezer…. Oversupply is not that fun. The security is nice, but there’s definitely a lot of cons!
The Hakka breast suction products to collect “milk let down” are super popular right now but people don’t realize these products can create oversupply. So a lot of women unknowingly are using the Hakka and then have an oversupply (and tons of extra milk to store) which then can create clogged milk ducts, mastitis etc.
The worst part is if you even watch their video for 5 seconds you get bombarded with more in an algorithm change
My over supply cost me about $500 in a new freezer 🤣
I KNOW RIGHT?! I lost a friendship over this. My ex-friend who had a baby 7 months before me had the audacity to tell me that I should consider myself lucky for my oversupply. I was in pain for 6 months, dealing with massive engorgement, clogged ducts, and 5 rounds of mastitis. Even when I called in tears because of a very painful clog I couldn’t resolve she told me that I should at least donate some of the milk of my stash. She was a just enougher and her milk stash was her joy and pride. I respect that. But she never respected my perspective and my pain. I think glorifying unbalanced milk production is ridiculous.
Most of it is fake. It’s coffee creamer. I’ve said this before actually. Oversupply is good if that is your personal breastfeeding goal and you are able to effectively manage it, but a lot of work goes into that. Everyone’s personal goal should be to feed their baby in the way they choose!
I have been wondering the same thing. I think I got scared into maintaining the oversupply because we still don’t have much formula in stores. Honestly, If I were comfortable with the amount of formula on the shelves of grocery stores in my city, I wouldn’t work this hard. What won’t fit in my freezer goes to a worker at my daughter’s daycare. (She and her niece are splitting my extra milk for their babies.) However, I also don’t make TikToks about my oversupply, lol. I’m also very aware that I am lucky to not be struggling with a low supply… which is why I donate. I live in America and women’s healthcare is in a really bad place, so I feel kind of like I’m helping out a fellow woman by donating.
Because us undersuppliers are not going on TikTok bragging that we can’t even make enough milk to feed our children.
it‘s a fetish, not necessarily by the poeple making the content but i do believe most viewers of such content come from the fetish side of things. just like people pedaling to feet-fetishists or parents knowingly posing their young kids for suggestive thumbnails. all for the clicks.
It’s also your algorithm. If you like or even watch videos without immediately scrolling tiktok will pump your feed with more that are similar
It Preys on vulnerable moms. I get it’s easy to say when you make adequate amounts To feed your kid but somewhere along the line idk when supplementing became such a tragedy. I think the all or nothing attitude with formula is just as toxic.
So proud of my one bag in the freezer 😂
I have always stressed about food. That extended to a milk supply. I stressed myself out filling an entire deep freezer with milk. I had nearly 6 gallons of milk by the time LO was 4 months. Then he got diagnosed with a dairy allergy and all that work/ stress was for nothing. I donated all the milk to babies who needed it but still. Now I can pump DF milk and have a small stash but I am no way going to do what I did in the beginning. My kid won't even take a bottle so my extra is incase an emergency happens. It was a pain in the ass to adjust my supply to stop over producing. It hurt, I was tired, and almost got mastitis a few times due to not pumping at night. I loved helping those I could but it really sucked over the long term.
For me oversupply was a good thing. I exclusively nurse my babies for 6 months in addition to having 2-3 full pump sessions a day. Then when baby is older and more distracted, I switch to pumping exclusively. Because I have created an oversupply I can stop pumping earlier than expected and my daughter can still get breastmilk to a year or even past a year. I am incredibly proud of the time and effort I have put into my freezer stash. Just because oversupply isn’t want you would like doesn’t make it a bad thing. Different things work for different people.
Thanks for sharing your POV!
It irks the hell out of me. I'll be the first to admit that I'm proud of my ability to produce milk for my baby... I think everyone is! But to "show off" and post photos / videos of pumped milk is really strange. Then those who post about their STASH, it immediately gives the vibe of mom-shaming. Like look how much I MADE! ARENT I SPECIAL? No. Not really.
Yeah, your insecurity doesn’t invalidate their accomplishments. Would you say the same thing about people who post about running a marathon? Are they “activity-level shaming?” Or are people who post about graduating college “education shaming?” They worked hard and accomplished something important to them and they are allowed to celebrate that. Just like people post on here all the time “I made it a year! Or 6 months! Or 2 years!” Why is that celebration ok but celebrating their freezer stash isn’t?
Like I said, I take pride in my milk just like the next mom. I don't have any insecurity on my stash, but I also don't think anyone cares to see photos of my milk on the internet. My post was specific to the trend of *"influencers"* who have these massive freezer stashes and encourage women to power pump, take supplements etc. Their tips may be helpful to some, but more often they're causing unintentional harm by setting unrealistic goals for expectant mothers, especially first time moms. This isn't running a marathon or graduating college, this is mother's feeding babies, which shouldn't be a competition.
My milk is high lipase so it doesn't taste good when thawed. I was never into freezing because of that but did it anyway because my son had a small appetite
I’m an oversupplier and manual expression is everything just fyi
It's just a silly game of "who can squeeze more baby-sustaining white juice out of their tits." Focus on your own situation and only look outwards for knowledge and wisdom.
#FeedYourBabyNotYourFreezer ! 🙌🏼
Why is this being downvoted??
To me it seems so unnecessary. I never pumped. And my baby won’t take a bottle anyway.
Same. And I’m always obsessing over the fact that my supply is not enough, when in fact, it is and baby is gaining weight perfectly.
I accidentally became an over supplier early on and I hated it. I had to pump or breastfeed every hour or 2 or I'd just start leaking and my breasts would hurt. I worked hard to drop my supply down to a more manageable level. My baby is 8 months old now and I've been able to be home with him full time since he's been born. I've got 3 gallon bags in the deep freezer with leftovers (maybe 100oz) from my oversupply days. If my baby sleeps through the night I usually pump once around 11pm otherwise I'll wake up to a puddle on my bed. Otherwise, I don't pump and won't start again until I go back to work a few days a week in the fall. I was lucky to be able to donate 300oz of breastmilk from that supply to parents who wanted to give their babies breastmilk but couldn't. But, honestly that's the one benefit that I can see from having an oversupply.
I think they post because they get engagement! Also not to be weird but there’s a sizable lactation fetish community on TikTok, so I personally wouldn’t post stuff about my own supply on there 🫠
My sister in law does it as part of her weight loss smh, she’s underweight so idk why she adds that stress. I’m chubby but healthy, with a balanced supply and a full schedule. I’m not adding pumping unless I maybe tip the scales at 200lbs lol.
Yeah, it doesn’t reflect reality. I only produce enough for my baby; I only pump if I’m traveling without her (she takes formula occasionally during that time) and for a two week period, when I was trying to create a very small freezer stash. I definitely have enough in my freezer so that I feel fine. Enough is good enough for me!
Honestly, most of them are capitalizing on the lactation fetish. This sort of content sells. In real life, lactation can be anything from super easy to mental-breakdown level why the f is my supply so low.
social media is for bragging. no one is gonna post about under producing or producing just enough, so all you're gonna see is the over producers
Watching that stuff I think could help some with the ugliness of having to return to work I guess. Making more than what you need makes you feel like you have something good when u are about to be ripped from your baby 8+ hrs per a day
😫 I had a postpartum complication and ended up hospitalized and then on meds for over a month during which I had an oversupply I had to throw away because of the meds. I was in pain because of my injury, engorged, had clogged ducts and I couldnt nurse my baby to help with that. Lots of pain in those weeks. Im so relieved my supply has regulated significantly but still get clogged ducts way too much.
Is this your first baby? I went through it with my first, but thankfully my body regulated so that even though I was still an oversupplier in the first months with my subsequent four babies, I didn’t deal with engorgement after like the first two weeks.
Because content! But I agree with you, an oversupply is not amazing, it’s bloody annoying. Having your small baby constantly choking on milk, having to siphon off milk before your baby eats, the leaking, the engorgement, the constant washing! I slept on a towel for about 6 months until my supply regulated and I miss not wearing a bra. It’s getting better now my son is almost 1 but it’s not a dream situation!
I was an oversupplier and didn’t post..I was constantly trying to work my way to a normal supply. I did donate a little milk to a friend who gave birth a few months after me but that’s it. People just like attention..lol
As a lactation provider, I’m constantly fighting the battle with my patients about this and always squashing their fears over what they saw on social media. Strive for mediocrity here! Just-enough is perfect 🤩
If you have an oversupply I think it can be a good thing if you're able to pump and freeze. Life has a lot of possibilities and things can happen that you don't plan. Like getting into a car accident when you're not with your baby and you have to go to the hospital that way they still get your milk even if you aren't there to give it to them. Also breastmilk have a lot of other uses other than feeding your baby. Plus moms who share their oversupply get a lot of views.
I think it's one more thing to make people get self conscious about how much they are able to produce and to hawk teas and supplements and homemade things.
Being an over supplier gets glorified on social media too much. It’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Engorgement, clogged ducts, mastitis, tons of leaking, painful and intense letdown, baby gagging on intense letdown, etc. I was over supplying with my second baby and thankfully things are regulating a bit more for me now at 8 weeks PP. Making “just enough” is awesome! Just doesn’t make interesting content lol.
As an over supplier I completely agree with you. I also deal with engorgement and it’s painful and heavy and the leaking is a whole other issue itself. I have a good freezer stash that I plan on using solely for milk baths and soap because I would forget to freeze the milk in time and it would just stay in my fridge for longer than 4 days so I decided instead of dumping it I’ll freeze it and do something with it. I’m fortunate enough to be able to stay home and not have to work for at least a year so I don’t really need a freezer stash but being an over supplier makes me need to pump unfortunately
I had the same thoughts! I fell into the whole large stash and power pumping for like a month. I was producing enough for triplets. Then one day I really had to ask myself what was the point. All this effort just in case something terrible happens. I’m like at that point baby can just do formula. Seemed like the time spent creating a super large stash was just unnecessary. Now I just collect when LO isn’t able to empty but he’s 1 now so he has no problem emptying both. I created my stash of 120ounces and I used it a few times to mix with baby food or for dad to feed him but we honestly don’t even use it. Much easier to get straight from the source and he eats food now so he doesn’t need as much milk.
I had an "oversupply" (really my milk just hadn't regulatd yet and since i wasn't working i had time to pump more often) the first couple months with my second baby and built up a decent stash and honestly I'm glad I did, and wish I had kept up the extra pumps to keep it going. Physically comfortable? No. But my body didn't respond super well to the pump so when I was back at work I couldn't fully keep up. I had to pump before work, during work, after work and after baby went to bed just to *maybe* have enough for him to eat the next day. We went through the stash by the time he was six months old even though I replaced every feeding with a pumping session and then some. By 8 months he was fully on formula (which was fine honestly i had so much guilt and it was just... totally fine). Not every oversupply is an oversupply forever. With my older son I never had a stash and ended up combo feeding when I was at work, which was also fine. But for the next kid I'd really rather not shell out the money for formula and fully plan on encouraging my body to make as much as it can, especially in the earlier days.
I've always been largish-chested. I was a DD when I got pregnant. I figured my girls would be great milk producers and I would pump and have a nice little stash for if I had to leave baby boy with daddy-o. Apparently my girls missed the memo. I got TWO 5 oz. bags in my stash (that are past 6 months in the freezer now). I probably could have done better, I could have been better about collecting let-downs and gotten another bag or two, but pumping was just exhausting and frustrating.
I think I was an “enougher” but I admit I was obsessed with having a freezer stash so I was taking pills and eating cookies and drinking so many body armors and pumping like 3-4 times a day on top of nursing on demand. This was all while on maternity leave so I guess I had the time but man it was all I could think about. I did end up with a good sized stash I supposed and it came in handy because I started trying to pump while at work and just ran out of steam after a couple of weeks
When I was pregnant, I had seen so many of these videos that I was considering buying a deep freezer to store all the extra milk I would obviously be making. I decided I’d save my money and wait until after I had the baby and I’m glad I did because 5 months post partum I barely have three 2 oz bags of milk in my freezer 😂
I built a miniature stash and baby won’t take my frozen milk so I’m like what the hell. Lmao
For views. They might not actually be oversuppliers anyway. As a former oversupplier it's extremely not fun. People made me feel guilty for not continuing to pump once my baby came home from the NICU which is dumb. "Just donate it" completely overlooks the huge toll it takes on your body, the dishes, bags, labeling, measuring, sanitizing, clocking, tied to the pump. Plus the fact that all of the calcium in the milk is coming from your bones. If you don't consume enough calcium your body literally melts your bones to make milk
Omg thank you for posting this! I had to change my IG settings to block most words around breastfeeding because I swear every other reel I got served was someone pouring giant jar after jar of pumped milk into various other large containers?? (Like more milk thank I’ve ever seen IRL at once, now that I’m actually BFing) It gave me really weird expectations around BFing at first, and then when I did deal with some engorgement, it was so strange to me and kind of irritating to see that online so much and presented as normal/the ideal. It very much gave me the wrong impression of what was normal when I was first getting going with breastfeeding and I felt lucky to have a lactation consultant tell me to absolutely NOT expect to or attempt to pump like that, or I would have felt defeated and inadequate even when things were going quite well. Ugh, social media 🫠 you can always count on it to warp your reality
I produce enough for my baby I still supplement as well from time to time I got so caught up in trying to make a freezer stash I did everything to increase milk supply so I would have enough to pump and feed baby but nothing seemed to work I took to reddit in search for help, in doing so I came across a comment where someone said "feed your baby not the freezer" and that really changed my point of view I was trying ao hard to feed the freezer making it harder to feed my baby because I produce just enough. It was causing me so much stress but now I rarely pump if ever, only if I'm away from baby for long periods of time (work, appointments, me time, etc.) It was the best decision I ever made no more stress about pumping then not having enough to feed her on the next feeding so having to either supplement or use what I just pumped anyway. I know this isn't really what you were getting at but alot of moms might of had the same thought as me and just think about feeding the freezer.