MOTN pumping

stephzrn · August 2013

I EP and I return to work tomorrow :-( I generally pump at 8:30pm and head to bed by 9pm. My DH does the 11pm feeding. My LO was then waking up at 3 to 3:30 and I would pump again and my DH would feed while I'm pumping. Lately, (past couple days) my LO has been sleeping until 5AM!!!!!! So excited. When I work I have to leave the house by 6:30am, so I am thinking of pumping around 5:30am but wondering if that is too long between pumps?? If I pump at my normal time at 3am, by the time I get back to sleep I would have to be up again in about an hour. Should I just wake up about 1 or 2am and pump? Would you just push the MOTN pumping even longer or still get up once at night to pump?

stephzrn · August 2013

One more question. How long does everyone go between pumping in the MOTN? TIA

kelly422 · August 2013

I also EP and don't push it more than 4.5 hours between pumps at night. I'm too afraid to hurt my supply if I space it out! It's a bummer because she sleeps 9 hours and I'm still waking up to pump!

AllieAGame · August 2013

I was thiiiis close to stopping EPing because it just takes up all my time (as you all know), so I've been slowly increasing the time in between pumps and my supply has stayed pretty consistent, It actually all started when LO started STTN 7-9 hours at a time and I felt like I was making a huge mistake by not also taking advantage of that- everyone ended up being rested except for me!

Now I pump as soon as I wake up while Husband is feeding LO before he goes to work (usually around 7:00 am, sometimes we have to wake her up to eat!). Then I pump sometime between 1:00 and 2:00, again between 6:30 and 8:00, and finally right before bed between 11:00 and midnight. My goal is to eventually cut it down to 3 pumps if I can.

My "trick" was to just not stop pumping until I got the amount of milk I needed. I pump until I get 11 oz in the morning, then 8 oz at the other pumps. If it's starting to hurt or I need to tend to LO, then I unhook, but get back to it as soon as I can. It took me about 2 weeks to go from pumping every 2-3 hours to this new schedule.

My boobs are pretty rock hard in the morning, but I spend about 40 minutes pumping to get them nice and empty. Each pumping session takes longer than before, but all in all, I'm a happier person.

Oohgurl · August 2013

I BF but DH gives a 10pm bottle. I pump then and BF LO at 530ish when he wakes up. No supply issue. So if i were you i would pump closer to 1100, maybe 1030 and again at 530.

john5111 · August 2013

I EP and I recently took out the nightly pump and Im fine. The first few days were horrible though..my boobs were rock hard and took time to go back to normal. I didnt notice a decrease in the amount I am getting..you may like people are saying have to pump a little longer in the morning..I can sometimes fill 1.5 bottles on each side or completely fill it. I was going to give up bc it hurt so bad but now Im happy and more rested too! I also have been pumping out higher amounts during the day too.

CNJ4EVA · August 2013

If it were me, I'd pump at 1am. This way there won't be longer than 4 hours between pumps. I believe going longer than 5 hours is when supply begins to be effected, though there are several women here that have stated they go longer with no adverse effects.

Personally, my supply is on the low side to begin with, so I'd be really nervous about going too long between pumps.