Pump only twice a day at work?

legalbeagle1 · February 2013

Does anyone only pump twice a day at work and not have supply issues on weekends with LO? Today is my first day back and I am already nervous about how to make the pumping thing work with my job. I fed L around 7am and then pump afterwards and got 5 oz. I pumped today at 11am and got 5 oz. I pumped at 3pm and got 5 oz. I should be able to feed him at 6:30 before he goes to sleep.

And as an aside, if I have to give up pumping at work has anyone able to continue nursing morning and night at least?

danabsd · February 2013

I did when I first went back to work and my supply took a huge dip. It took a lot to get my supply back to wear it was.

superned · February 2013

I only pump twice a day and do not have supply issues. I nurse DS at 6:30am, pump at 11am (get ~10oz) and 4pm (get ~6oz). DS takes 15oz while at child care.

I will have to add a morning pumping session once he starts STTN...whenever that happens.

mexicolombiana · February 2013

If your baby is only 4 months old there is no way you can stop pumping at work yet and only feed nights and weekends. You have to keep reminding your body to make milk every few hours for quite a while.

My baby is 13 months old and honestly, yesterday and today are the first days I've felt ok with dropping all pumping sessions at work. But there is a huge difference between my 13 month old and your 4 month old that is only having breastmilk for nutrition. My 13 month old eats SO much food!

I pumped 2 times a day at work as soon as I went back to work until my baby was about 9/10 months old then I switched to once a day. But I always had a really good milk output. I never had issues keeping up. BUT with my first DD I did have issues keeping up and had to pump in the middle of the night. It sucked but it got us by.

Honestly, you probably have to keep pumping 2 times a day at work for several more months. But then you'll have freedom soon!

Good luck, pumping is awful. Also while I was pumping 2 times a day I was also pumping (like you) as soon as I finish feeding the baby in the morning and before I left for work, and feeding the baby immediately when I walked through the door from work.

bellelamb · February 2013

I was able to pump once a day at work, and suplement with formula one bottle a day and still only bf on days off. Ds did reverse cycle so he ate every two hours all night so my body still had tons of nursing time. Before work, after work and twice before bed.

kross605 · February 2013

I pump twice a day, always. I noticed that I get about the same total ounces whether it's in two larger output pumping sessions or three smaller output ones. I also quite pumping when dd1 was a year old and was still able to keep up nursing morning and night until she self weaned. But as pp said, it might be too early for your body to adjust to that just yet.

legalbeagle1 · March 2013

Thanks! This is all really helpful. I'm going to try to do three times a day at work for now and maybe only do two times if my day is insanely busy. I only pumped for ten mins each time today bc I used to have terrible oversupply and I don't want to start that again but maybe on the two times a day at work I could pump longer. I'll still keep the morning session.

jennyelf · March 2013

I had oversupply and when I returned to work at 8 weeks, found myself pumping way too much in 3 sessions a day. So at 12 weeks I dropped to just 2 during work. I get ~12-14oz at 10am and 6-8oz at 2 pm. LO takes 16-20oz at daycare, so this is perfect for me. I have a huge freezer stash from my oversupply days that I've been rotating through and LO is almost 10 months now, so if I'm a little short, I don't really worry. I calculated I have enough to supplement from the freezer for up to 10oz a day to make it to the year mark before we transition to WCM.

Meanwhile, LO nurses at 6am and once or twice in the evening (either 6pm and 8pm or 7:30pm) and STTN.

I don't have any issues with nursing on weekends at all. LO nurses every 2-3 hours and never appears upset about a lack of milk.

Pump only twice a day at work?

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