Pumping

chilady12

Hey ladies, I have a question about pumping. I got a PJ Comfort Plus hospital grade pump from work (my only option) and it takes me nearly an hour to pump 5 ounces (pumping both sides). My LO is 12 weeks old and I'm going back to work soon. I've been trying to build up a freezer stash but I'm worried about pumping when I go back to work - it's going to be hard to pump 3 times a day for an hour. I'm trying to decide if it's my pump and I should rent a Medela Symphony from the hospital or if it's just a me problem? I've tried to just ignore the fact that I'm going back to work because it gives me anxiety but now I'm worried that the baby won't have anything to eat if I can't pump enough during the day Any advice would be much appreciated! Does it typically take you all that long to pump? Have you switched pumps? 

FutureMrsCaesar

How much do you get in the first 15-20 mins?  If you get 3-3.5 oz in that amount of time and then it takes 45 mins to get the remaining 2 oz, I might suggest that you pump 4 shorter sessions instead of 3 long ones.  I don't get 5 oz when pumping unless it's one of the first couple morning feeds.  It can be hard to keep up with their demand at daycare by pumping, a lot of people (myself included) have to add in a pump session before bed or let baby feed off one side first thing in the morning then pump the other to keep up with baby's appetite. Sorry I'm not much help with the pump thing, I've always used a medala freestyle, but if you are using a hospital grade pump and having letdowns then your pump is probably not the problem. 

srecupido

An hour seems like a really long time.... Have you checked your flange size? Have you ever replaced the membranes? Are you able to relax when pumping? ( I know that was is really hard!!) do you look at pictures of your little? I don't know that it's a 'just you' problem if your baby is eating and gaining normally you must be producing enough. I would try to tweak a few things but it couldn't hurt to try another pump either of you're able. And if you do have to supplement PLEASE don't feel bad about it. You love your baby and are doing al the best things!! 

jarob747

I use a Medela As well. I had to switch from a "Purely Yours" that ins covered from my pharmacy which was also $250 because it took so long and wasn't cycling fast enough to produce a good letdown. So now I have a Medela freestyle and it takes me about 10 minutes to get 1-2 oz out of each breast. I usually pump both at same time although I also pump on one side sometimes when baby boy is nursing on the other side. Yes relax... I know the first time I pumped I got like 1/4 oz and then walked around the house crying my heart out thinking if my LO woke up that I would have no milk to feed him. I learned since then about the whole supply and demand thing. I don't know how I'm going to do when I go back May 11 with relaxing though. It's hard to get your body used to a cold hard plastic flange instead of a sweet warm cuddly hungry baby, it takes practice and I'm still learning too. You should have no more than a quarter size around your nipple being sucked into the flange and the pump should cycle 40-60 times a minute. I hope this helps BTW I have serious anxiety about it too. Hang in there, we will get through it

chilady12

Thanks for the advice! The PJ pump has silicone flanges instead of a hard plastic so maybe I'll try the Medela just to see if there's a difference. It does seem like a long
time to pump, especially since it's not
a great hands free pump! 

Topits

Don't know if this will help, but I got a medela one through my insurance and even paid to upgrade to the fancy model (freestyle I think). I couldn't get the medela to work at all! I tried for like two weeks. I was about to give up on ever being able to pump. I randomly got a PJ pump, like you have, from my husbands work, and out of desperation tried it. It worked way better than the medela. I always thought the medela was "the brand" to get, but the PJs actually worked best for me. The hard plastic on the medela did nothing for me.

Do you have both dials turned up equally? The top one and the vaccum one? Is the silicone cone area have enough of your breast? I also lean forward and let gravity help. 

My LO ended up having a milk and soy allergy, so we had to switch to formula, all that work for nothing haha!

VitaLuna

Is there at "letdown" button on yours? As soon as the milk stops flowing, I push that button to stimulate anther letdown and more flow (your body would get there eventually by itself, but the letdown button speeds the process up).At work, I push it at least 2, sometimes 3 times and usually pump for 15-20 minutes. 

Like PP said, how much are you getting in the first 20 minutes? For some people, it's just harder to get the higher pump outputs, even when you have adequate supply. The breast just doesn't empty for a pump quite like it does for baby. I added an early morning and weekend pump session to keep up with LOs bottle needs while I was at work. 

ETA: try doing breast compressions while pumping, too. That will help a little bit. 

kinnonam

I switched from an Avent to Madela. The Avent had the silicone also and I wasn't getting nearly as much since I've switched. I was concerned about having milk going back to work. I read that when your pumping at work your pumping for the next day. So Monday pump for Tuesday and Tuesday for Wednesday so on and so forth. Took some of the stress away from me trying to build a freezer stash. Hopefully this helps remember to relax.

mommyloni

I tend to "milk" myself as I pump.  I use a Medela, and haven't had any problems.  One the milk stops coming out quickly,  I compress all different parts of my breast.  I get an extra half ounce to ounce from doing the compressions.

Also, pump as often as you can.  After going back to work I noticed my supply seemed to go down down a bit.  I drink mothers milk tea in the morning, and try to pump every 2 hours while at work.  Then also pump after every feeding (even though I only get about an ounce after feeding).  It tells your body to produce milk more often.