I know this sounds crazy to many people. But this is what i found out and hope it helps someone.

I had to start pumping by the time i discharged from hospital. My duaghter was under light therapy and we had to give her supplement on the second day. With the nipple damage and my tear i couldnt continue breastfeeding. Initially i used to pump 20 mins every 3 hours and was barely meeting her needs. Then i learnt that my breast need to be emptied to boost supply which was taking 40 mins. Since its a long period i decreased my pumping sessions to 3 instead of 8. I aas ablebto meet her needs.

Now she is 3 months old, my supply started falling due to nipple damage( i am still trying to breastfeed and sometimes she refused to latch properly and i still let her go since i love her breastfeeding). Reached out to a lactation consultant, she advised i pump only 20 mins. So, here came the problem, my breasts never emptied when i pump for 20 and max there would be only 3 onces combined when she drinks 3.5oz.

I tried lanolin and air dry( top free while sleeping) for 2 days. Today i thought whynot try pumping 40 again and guess what, my left breast had let down at 33 mins and gave out an extra 2oz.

Few things i learnt:

1. My breasts need long time to empty

2. My breast shields had scratches from using thongs which caused abrasion on nipples

3. I need less speed and more suction on breast pump. I use medela symphony, i found out that the speed is set during first phase and suction in second phase. So i decrease dial initially and increase when it moves to second phase.

4. Anything from bottles, values, breastshields could cause a thumping sound in tunnel and hurt your nipples.

5. Lubricating the breastshields helped reduce chaffing of my elastic nipples.

These might not be the way, but these worked for me. Hope this helps some mama.

Remember every ounce our kids gets from us helps them and never be disappointed on how much we produce. Its ok to supplement. We being happy is going to help them more than how much we produce.