Lately I've been giving LO a bottle or 2 of expressed milk a day. Somedays it's been more. The days when I've been away for a hours and LO has had more than one bottle his poops have been green. Usually I pump for about 15 minutes and get anywhere from 3-4 ounces per side depending on how long it's been inbetween feedings or time of the day. But, I'm wondering if I'm not getting enough of the hind milk. Should I completely empty the breast or stop after 15 minutes?? Could the green poop indicate something else??
Re: How long do you pump??
Green poop isn't necessarily indicative of a foremilk/hindmilk imbalance. In fact, it's not necessarily indicative of a problem at all. If it was an imbalance issue the poop would be really frothy and green and your LO would be extremely uncomfortable due to gas.
To answer your question though I pump for 10-15 minutes depending on how fast the milk flows. I get anywhere between 6 and 8 oz. total. I also pump right after the first morning feeding when I'm fuller.
When you're done pumping look at the milk you collected...does it have a yellow or golden hue to it or does it look more blue or grey? If it's yellow/golden then you've got the hindmilk, if it's blue/grey keep pumping you have mostly foremilk. You can also tell if you got hindmilk after the milk has sat in the fridge for an hour or two and a thick layer of fat accumulates on top.
I pump until I dont see anything else coming out. Then I will massage my breast and try again for a couple of minutes to see if I can get anything else out.
I take forever to pump! I have multiple letdowns, so as soon as I think I am ready to stop, I start gushing again. It can take up to half an hour.
FWIW, regarding the green poop, it doesn't necessarily mean that anything is wrong with your milk. One of my girls has green poop and the other has the typical yellow seedy ones. They eat about the same amount and both get pumped milk.