Pumping at work

mcanant · September 2012

I am on week two. Everyday, pumping 3x a day, I can get my 12-13 ounces which is what I need everyday for daycare. Today, with tons of water, no stress (looking forward to the break!) and nothing changing from last week or yesterday, I barely got anything at any session. It's ok, I'll get 10 and supplement from stash, but my question is- i thought output gets better with time? it seems everyday i get right at 12 or 12.5 no matter what. will i ever be able to get more? I don't want to take fuengeek (sp?) because my daughter has enough stomach issues and I already eat cookies. I just want to add to my stash at some point and right now, the only way to do that is to add sessions during weekend. Baby nurses non-stop when i get home and when i tried to add pumping session two days, nothing changed in total. If i usually get 3 or 4 combined, i got 1.5 to 2 combined 2x.

mom2babyvitz · September 2012

I am actually really interested to see what others post. I am actually in the same boat as you except I pump 4 times a day at work. I get between 10 to 14 oz a day. I want to have some to free too.

jlsimon56 · September 2012

It takes longer than 2 days to see an increase. Wait a week. Make sure you are pumping long enough, as well.

If your LO eats more at home on a given day, then you may pump less the following day.

mcanant · September 2012

my biggest issue is adding a session doesn't get me any more. I have hear oatmeal can help (my lactation recipe has oatmeal, brewers yeast, and flaxseed in it). I can eat oatmeal every morning for breakfast?

mcanant · September 2012

its been 10 days

jlsimon56 · September 2012

mcanant:
its been 10 days

Sorry, I read the part where you said you added pumping sessions for 2 days and didn't see an increase.

Are you a one-boober or a two-boober? I nurse my LO on both sides, every time. So one pumping session to me is one nursing session. For one-boobers, one pumping session is two nursing sessions.

I pumped 4x at work, every 2 hours, and then a fifth time at home once LO went to bed, just to get the 12oz my LO ate each day. Once I was consistent, and pumped at the same time every day, no skipped sessions, tons of water, oatmeal for breakfast EVERY day, and I made sure to pump for 25ish minutes (I get my 2nd letdown at the 20ish minute mark), THEN I saw an increase. I was able to drop the nighttime session. Then I skipped one of the 4 workday sessions a week (so 4 days, I pumped 4x, one day, I pumped 3x). Etc. HTH.

mcanant · September 2012

I am going to try pumping one more time at home. My LO is a one sider. I will also eat oatmeal everyday the rest of this week and next. I cant go 4 times at work. it takes me about 25 min from start to finish and 3x is about what my manager will tolerate. I attempt to get second letdown at wound 15 min but it does add much more than another half ounce. Water and I are best friends - 100+ ounces at work

mcanant · September 2012

jlsimon56:
mcanant:
its been 10 days

Are you a one-boober or a two-boober? I nurse my LO on both sides, every time. So one pumping session to me is one nursing session. For one-boobers, one pumping session is two nursing sessions.

Sorry. At night I am both sides. So i wont have much left after she goes to sleep

I am Marla Singer · September 2012

I have been pumping a ton to try and build a stash. I have been very diligent about my schedule and have started to see an increase only recently. It has been several months since I started my 4x a day routine. I was consistently getting 12 oz a day and LO takes 8 since I feed her at lunch. This is more than enough to build a stash but I wanted a bigger cushion. I pump after the very first feed of the day between 3 and 5 and then at 10, lunch breast feed , double pump after that at around 1 and then again at 3. I have been getting 14 to 16 oz per day but it took forever to work up to that.

mcanant · September 2012

Ok. I pump the side she does not eat on in the morning. Maybe i will try to do both after the morning feed. Then I do 930, 1230, 330-4

I guess it just takes time. Its stressful to worry everyday. I will add a session today sometime after I get home

jasminelorraine20 · September 2012

I've been BF for 3 1/2 months and this has been a normal occurance for me. I'll be doing really well getting 15 oz. at work, and then suddenly my supply would drop. This has happened to me twice, and the only thing I did was drink tons of water and it would go back to normal.

mcanant · September 2012

"It is stressful to worry every day. So I stopped..."

It's hard because I only have about 50 ounces in stash right now. I realize that 2 oz of using that sitll gets me a good month... I will try to not worry at my 330 session

JWSchwarz · September 2012

I've been pumping at work for 5 months, EBF for 8.5 months. I have found that sometimes i pump a couple oz less, and sometimes i have these freak days where i pump more. I attribute it to hormones and if LO ate more or less that morning. I pump about an hour after i feed DS in the morning so I can make it until my firs pump break. I get a lot from then so if it's an option, try pumping earlier in the day.

Blasianlove · September 2012

Most of the time I get around 13-15oz and only pump twice at work.

I have read that is very common for you to fluctuate in milk. For a mom who only nurses, she may not notice. But mom's who pump, do. Try not to worry, some days are more than normal, some are normal and some are less. I would just make sure to always double pump, no matter if you just fed LO on one of the sides. Another suggestion was to pump within 5 mins after feeding LO, it "tricks" the body into thinking LO needs to eat more. It looks like you already know about the teas, oatmeal and extra pumpings. I hope things work out for you.

Good luck!

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