Negativity from breast feeding

I’m an over supply mom. My freezer is full of my milk and there’s no space left. I wanted to buy a new mini freezer to store my milk.. however, my in laws rejected the idea saying it will waste electricity. They then threw away my stash of milk(1 month old) due to no space. I didn’t confront them about it but just burst out in front of my husband.. pumping is a lot of effort. If you have too much gold but no space to store, will you throw your gold away? To me my milk is my gold.. yet they threw it away as if it meant nothing. All my efforts gone to waste. I suffered a lot of pain from pumping and clogged ducts. I then suggested to donate my milk instead. My in laws again, rejected the idea due to traditional mindsets. My mom seeing how depressed I am, used my milk for facial and to soak her feet so that there is at least some use of my milk. It did make me feel better but space is still an issue. They’ll still throw my milk away when there’s not enough space. I feel very discouraged to pump anymore. How should I overcome this? Or communicate to my in laws about this issue?

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It is never easy when not family members are supportive. But seems like your mum is supportive at least. How about you buy a mini freezer at your mum's place and transport the extra frozen milk over? You can also donate the milk from your mum's address if the frozen stash gets too much. I feel that donating your breastmilk is a personal decision as it does not affect your family directly. I also stay with my mil and sometimes educating older folks' mindset is a very long and slow process although not impossible. When it is not life and death matters, sometimes avoiding the conflicts might save ourselves more headache. Just what I feel. Hope it helps.

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Are you a SAHM? Or are you working? If you are working, tell them you’ll need a mini freezer and pay a small amount of the “extra” electricity used. Or better still, offer to pay $50-$100 of the monthly electricity usage. I cannot stand these kind of in-laws seriously. And what’s worse is husband is useless when it comes to these kind of situation. Is your husband not going to say anything about the fact that they threw away your baby’s food - although your baby has more than enough? Buy a mini freezer and put in your room or mum’s place? Offer to pay a small amount of electricity at least.

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4y ago

Agree with this! I pay for the damn electricity.

maybe you can try buying a mini freezer and placing it in your room? I hate to be dishonest but sometimes white lies can help, for eg you can explain that your friend gave you this as a present so in order not to waste it, you'll use it to store your milk 😜 btw I totally feel you. it's so tiring and sometimes painful to pump, plus you have to keep washing the pumps etc. when my baby couldn't finish, I was already feeling the heartache for a long time. not to mention if people threw unused packs of milk away... all the best though, hope it works out well soon!

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I think there is no need to tell them what to do with your milk. It's yours and you have every right to be angry about them throwing your milk away. Pumping milk is exhausting. Yes, a lot of time and effort are put in. Donate is a very good idea! There are many mums who are in need. Or, you can use them for your baby's bath. Atleast it will not go to waste. It's also good for your baby's skin especially if your baby has rashes.

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You can either use it to bathe your child or yourself or bless them away. You went through all the difficulties in breastfeeding so to keep or to bless it should be your say, not your in laws. Hugs to you mummy, please know that you are doing great. Don’t let other factors deter you from breastfeeding your child since you are an over supply mum. I am a low supply mum who has to turn to formula.

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I feel your pain and it really is hard to be around people who don't support you. Hope you can endure and stay strong..I used to make pancakes for my boy or put inside his weaning food. I'm sure that if they did breastfeed their child or understood the challenges of pumping, they won't throw the milk so easily. So the best thing to do is think about your baby and sacrifice for love!

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Do talk to your husband, he should manage your in-laws. Milk is yours and you have every right to decide what to do with it. I wonder what’s her concern and rationale behind your MIL’s traditional mindset of not allowing you to donate the BM away. We mums totally understand the pain and effort for every pump, hope you can put all your liquid gold into good use. Jiayou.

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Oh no… my heart goes out to you… it’s really painful to throw away the milk you painstakingly pumped… donate it. A lot of babies will really benefit from your kindness and generosity. U may temporarily store it with your mum and ask the milk bank to collect from your mum’s place

TapFluencer

I understand it's a lot of effort. you should let your husband know your feelings and let your in-laws know that they should not throw the milk without letting you know. For the extra milk, could do milk bath or donate it so it's not wasted.

I feel for you, dear. Breastfeeding is hard and every drop equals unparalleled effort. Having the idea to donate your excess stash is very sweet and selfless. You can help many babies :) Hope your in-laws come out from the jurassic ages