Ok EPers talk to me about pumping frequency

BootsOrHearts · March 2014

From the beginning I pumped whenever he ate which was every 3 hours in the NICU. When he came home I pumped whenever he are when we fed on demand. When he started sleeping 5-7 hours at night, I only pumped when he ate or if I woke up and was uncomfortable. Then I went back to every 3 hours during they day and every 4 hours at night.

He's now 3 months old and while my supply has increased, it's still not enough. Today I started pumping every 2 hours and plan to do every 3 hours at a night to try and up it again.

My question is for long term EPers, am I doomed to pump every 3 or 4 hours at night indefinitely to keep up my supply? It's really starting to drain me and it sucks that baby is sleeping and I still have to get up.

I would like to pump for as long as he needs milk, I guess up to 24 months or whenever he self weans if that's earlier. But mama needs some damn sleep!

I pump 3.5-5 ounces now, when pumping every 3/4 hours.

JJ1973 · March 2014

After getting the go ahead from my lactation consultant, I recently reduced the frequency of our pumping sessions. It seemed like my supply was well established so I started going longer in between sessions (3-5 hours depending on the time of day and other variables). I wish I hadn't done that now as my supply has taken a big nosedive to the point that I have had to supplement with formula. I am now back to increasing the frequency in hopes I can switch back to all breastmilk. I was not an exclusive pumper with my firstborn, but I did pump at work full time. What I noticed then is that it became easier for me to decrease the frequency at work gradually over time, with the same yield (say from 3 months when it was harder and I required a higher frequency to when my LO was 12-18 months). So I would assume the same holds true with a mature milk supply and "trained" pumping situation for full time pumping. This is all a bit new to me, too, so I will be interested in what others recommend.

Naena · March 2014

I stopped pumping in the middle of the night around 3 months and it didn't hurt my supply, but I still pump 8 times during the day. I take Blessed Thistle and brewers yeast pills. Good luck!

Brummy14 · March 2014

I have also cut back on frequency of sessions - now 4-5 hours (and even, at times, 6 hrs). But, like pp, everytime I cut back, my supply took a slight dip. Now it's fine as I'm deliberately trying to increase the time between sessions and slowly (very slowly) wean from the pump over the next 4-6 months. At my peak, I was pumping 50-55oz/day (I have twins), which still wasn't enough to keep up with them and required some supplementation -- now, I'm down to ~35ish oz/day, if I had to guess, but most days that's enough for both of them, now that they're taking in a ton of regular food and drinking water occasionally.

At my peak, I would pump 10-12x a day, with at least one power pumping session. Now, I'm down to 5-6 times a day. I plan to wean the MOTN pump over the next couple of months. I've had a couple of run-ins with mastitis, so I'm trying to wean slowly and deliberately -- as that junk is no fun.

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Ok EPers talk to me about pumping frequency

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