Pumping question??

yssej7

Is it normal for your nipples to turn kinda purpleish while pumping,and have a white tips?Also it seams like my nipples are dried out,maybe thats why they are white?

Anyone else know why this is happening or experienced this?

Also whats the average amount of milk you get when pumping? On one side I get about 2oz and on the other I can most of the time get about 3oz.. And sometimes I barley get any milk even after pumping for like 20 mins or so..

All comments welcome..

THANK YOU!!

Bethbsn06

Some women's nipple turn purple easier than others. Often the purple/white means that the suction is turned up too high on your pump. Your flanges could also be too small. You can talk to an LC to see if your nipples are too large for the flange. I found that my nipples were purple after about 7-10 minutes no matter the suction setting and my flanges were determined to be appropriate sized. You can play with the suction settings, but it could also just be your body's reaction to the pump.

If your nipples are dried out try using lanolin on them. This time of year with the heat running and drier air, it is harder on your nipples.  You definitely do NOT want them to crack. I found that the lansinoh brand was too thick to rub onto tender nipples, so I bought the medela brand online, but a LC in your area should also know where to get some if they don't have any. The medela is often distributed only through LC's, but it is sooo much thinner and easier to apply, IMHO.

As for pumping output, they say 1 oz per hour is "normal". So if it's 10am, and baby last fed at 6am, you should get about 4 oz total. Some women have one breast that produces more, my Left breast was for me. 

GL! 

Indiechixor

I agree with the flange size/purple nipple relation. Thankfully I had an awesome LC at the hospital, and she happened to have a flange that was sized up to a DD size, otherwise I would have had to buy my own.

I always seemed to have to keep it a bit lower suction at first, then once I got the letdown I needed I would turn up the suction.