Pumping- What do you consider emptying the breast?

kwitt22 · November 2014

I just went back to work last week. I am pumping 3 times a day for my LO. I was curious what do you consider "emptying the breast" while pumping? I try and pump for 15 min or until I see very little milk flow. I almost always get a tiny bit even after 15 min or when my breast seems empty. Is this technically emptying the breast?

Loue0709 · November 2014

I'm curious too. I usually stop pumping when milk flow slows down but not completely. It just takes too much time to completely drain and I have twins to look after. I've been getting plugged ducts every day, different spots so wondering if I'm not draining enough. I am mostly pumping and nursing once or twice a day. Getting my supply up was more important than trying to nurse my boys who weren't latching properly and has very poor sucks.

mommatotwo2 · November 2014

Most of us seem to pump about 20 minutes which is usually 2-3 letdowns. Your breast will never be 100% empty and you will continue to get drops out for a really long time. If 3-5 minutes went by with mostly nothing, I usually called it quits and that was somewhere between 15-25 minutes for me. Make sure you are using massage and compression while pumping to break up clogs. It is important that you don't consistently cut off pumping while milk is still flowing, because that's doing two things- you're signaling your body that you need less milk and you're sometimes not allowing for the fatty hindmilk to come out, which is important for baby.

clwheel · November 2014

I agree with PPs. I've been back to work for about 12 weeks and I go about 20 minutes (longer in the morning since I'm fuller and DD only nurses one side before daycare).

Peanutz21 · November 2014

i max myself out at 20 minutes. usually if i'm lucky i will have had 3 letdowns by then

Kfran84 · November 2014

Wow! I would only pump 10-15 minutes and get one let down. I could never get more than one. I pumped until the milk flow slowed, then I hand express to make sure the breast is soft all over. I'm very prone to clogs and blocked ducts so I try to be proactive in getting all the hard spots out before they become problems.

blue_elle · November 2014

I get a letdown around 17-20ish minutes in, so I pump to 25 min as long as I have time. If I'm rushed to get to a meeting or something I do whatever I can, even if it's just 10 min.

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