Breast not feeling empty?

TheAnalyticalMommy · May 2014

Hi everyone!

My question is: When pumping at work, should I continued pumping until my breast empties? I don't want to further increase my supply. As it is, the milk i pump on Thur and Friday goes straight to the freezer because I pump a little extra on Mon-Wed.

Some background:

So i posted a few days ago about pumping at work. I was pumping a couple ounces extra each time (in excess of what my son drinks at daycare). The consensus was that I should continue pumping 3 times a day. After hearing how others pump, I also upped my pumping sessions from 15 minutes to 20 minutes and found that I had been stopping just before I'd get a second let down.

Now i pump between 16 and 19 ounces a day and he drinks 12. He also recently started sleeping more (about 6-7 hours a night) so in the morning, he doesn't completely drain my breasts. In fact, he usually drinks most of one at about 4 and then most of the other around 6:30.

In any case, today I found that even after pumping 20 minutes at 9:30, my right one still doesn't feel empty even though the flow slowed considerably. If i were nursing, I wouldn't pump after the baby is done to empty it normally so... should I be worried that it's not empty now?

I've been lucky so far and haven't gotten any clogged ducts and I'd like to keep it that way!

Thanks!

babymama619 · May 2014

I was in a similar situation. Have you noticed and increase, or are you holding steady at the current production? If you're holding steady can you just freeze the extra? I did and ended up with 100+ oz every month. I was fine with that because it was not increasing my supply just holding it steady. Now I feel good about my freezer stash and I was able to donate some and use it for starting her solids.

If you are noticing your supply increasing maybe you should pull back to the 15 minute mark. You might not feel empty for a few days but gradually your body will figure things out, or that you want it to make less milk.

FWIW I only pump for 12-13 minutes. When I was working baby fed off of one side in the am and I pumped both. Then I pumped both at lunch. I usually got about 20oz per day and sent 15-16 to daycare. When I got home I fed her on one side, then at bed on the other side.

TheAnalyticalMommy · May 2014

Thanks! I think it's holding steady. I did pump the most i had yet yesterday but it was only an increase of 1 ounce and this morning I pumped less than I did yesterday morning so i think it was just a fluke (but then again, who knows...)

I'm happy to keep putting more int he freezer. We have a chest freezer downstairs so there's room.

I also like pumping a little extra because I haven't seen AF yet and he's still not quite STTN so i figure if either of those causes a dip, I won't be in trouble.

I just really want to avoid getting clogged ducts

babymama619 · May 2014

I haven't had any yet either, thankfully!!! And because i typically feed one side at a time, if dd one got up once at night one side might go 12 hours without any action. Now because she is STtn I pump right before bed and both go 10hours. So clogged ducts are not guaranteed if you go long. I suggests king sure you're massing though while pumping to make sure the flow is coming through all ducts.

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