Can I give up my middle of the night pumping session?

festivus · December 2011

While I had planned to BF, my premie twins never took to it, so I have been pumping and supplementing with formula (as my supply was never enough for two!) since birth. Currently I pump 6 times a day, including once in the middle of the night, usually about 1:30 or 2am. My boys have started STTN (knock on wood!) most nights, although occasionally they'll still get up between 3 and 4am to eat. The last several nights, they've slept about 7pm to 5 or 6am. I would LOVE to give up my middle of the night pumping session, but how will that affect my supply? Can I give it up and move to just 5 pumping sessions during the day without losing a significant portion of my supply?

ETA: My bottom line concern is losing a significant potion of my supply by giving up my middle of the night pumping, as I get about 1/4 of my daily total during this session. I know I can stop the middle of the night session, but is there a way to avoid losing so much of my supply?

meg193 · December 2011

I EP'd and gave up my middle of the night pump around 3 months. What I did was pump immediately before I went to bed, set my alarm for 8 hours in case my LO didn't wake me up and pumped immediately when I woke up. I would get a ton of milk in my morning pump (at least 16 ounces). I also made sure to pump for a few minutes after the milk stopped coming out both at night and in the morning. If my son woke up in the middle of the night, I would go ahead and pump so that I could turn my alarm off. I don't remember it having an effect on my supply. hth

festivus · December 2011

16 ounces??!?!? Yowza. My supply has never been great, so I'm lucky to get 24 ounces over the course of a full day! That's why I'm so nervous about giving up my middle of the night session, as I usually get 5-6 ounces.