How many times a day do you pump?

musicalsilver

I feel like this has probably been asked before, so forgive me if it has - I've only recently started lurking here!

I just started back at work this week, and was pretty much exclusively feeding LO on demand at the breast, so I'm still trying to get the hang of how of often to pump, and LO is still trying to decide if he really wants to eat at daycare or not ;-)  As of today and yesterday, I'm pumping about twice as much as LO is eating, even just pumping every ~3 hours.  I don't mind building a freezer stash, but at some point it's going to get ridiculous!  

So - how many hours do you work and how often do you pump?

ebp913

I pump twice a day but I should be pumping 3x a day.  If I were you I wouldn't pump for so long each time.  I worry you could end up with major oversupply in the longrun but for now you could just build a freezer stash and then taper off.  

financialdiva

I pump three times a day, one for every missed feeding.

I had a large oversupply when I first went back to work. It regulated and I now pump exactly what DS2 eats.

82Sonia

I pump 3 times a day.  My supply has dropped slightly since getting back to work.  Yours might do the same. 

musicalsilver

ebp913 said:

I pump twice a day but I should be pumping 3x a day.  If I were you I wouldn't pump for so long each time.  I worry you could end up with major oversupply in the longrun but for now you could just build a freezer stash and then taper off.  

I'm hoping my supply will chill out like some PPs have said - after I've been back at work for a while.  I only pump for 10 minutes, 15 max (mostly just for my first pump of the morning when I'm rather engorged) - and I don't think I should go any lower than that!  

youenjoymyself

At work, I pump 3x a day. 10, 2, and 4. I nurse DD on my lunch break. I pump nowhere near what she needs at daycare-maybe 1/3-so she gets formula too. Bummer, but it is what it is.

shannm

I was able to pump twice a day up to one year. The first six months, I had a surplus, the second six months, I was not keeping up so that is when the earlier surplus paid off.

jnnfrrose6

I started by pumping when LO was getting a bottle (10am and 4pm, I nursed at 1 and worked 8am-5pm).  When his schedule changed with solids picking up around 6 months, I still pumped the same times even though he got 1 bottle at that point because I was stocking up for a trip that took me from him for 4.5 days.  Now I still pump twice a day, but that just gets me enough for one bottle at DC the next day.  2.5 weeks left until his birthday and I'm looking forward to not pumping at work anymore (we'll still nurse at home, and probably still at lunch, but I'm ready to leave the pump at home!)

aglenn

For both kids I pumped 3x per day and did end up getting a lot more than they took in bottles.  I just froze the extra because I was paranoid about having a supply dip later.  I was lucky and did not, so when we started getting close to the 1 year mark I started donating some of my stash.