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How much should I be pumping?

biancakozbiancakoz member
in Breastfeeding
My son is 3 weeks and 3 days old.  Yesterday I started pumping so we could introduce a bottle and to start building a stash for when I go back to work in a few months.  I pumped after one of his feedings in the morning and got almost 3 oz.  My husband feed him that bottle at 9pm and I pumped while he got the bottle.  I only got about 2.5 oz at that session.  This morning I pumped again after a morning feed and got about 3 oz again.  Does this seem right?  I thought with my daughter that I was getting more than this.  I was actually thinking I had an oversupply and was expecting to pump more because of that as well.  I nursed my daughter for 13 months and at one point had a stash of almost 600 oz that lasted another 3 months after we were done nursing.  I was hoping to have the same experience this time around, but I'm worried that it's not starting out good.  Any help would be appreciated! :)
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Re: How much should I be pumping?

  • marijaa333marijaa333 member
    3oz after nursing is great! I also saw my output continue to increase through week 5, so you could see more in the coming days. 
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  • lindseyc1983lindseyc1983 member
    I WISH I could get 3 oz.....my DS is going to be 1 month tomorrow. I use the nipple shield and I can see he's getting milk, however I have to supplement him with 2 oz of formula after I BF. I have been pumping after each feeding....and i'm lucky if I get 2 oz out of the right breast. The left I'm lucky if I get even an ounce a DAY (I had breast duct surgery a year and a half ago). I'm so frustrated. I am drinking a lot of water, taking fenugreek 2 tabs 3x/day, drinking mothers milk (2 cups a day), eating oatmeal at least once a day......I don't know what to do !!!!!
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  • kedbachkedbach member
    I pump after each feeding. I'm not able to exclusively breastfeed. Baby was in the nicu for 6 days and they exclusively bottle-fed her, I wasn't able to do skin-to-skin or even hold her until 3 days after birth, so she's having issues going to breast now. :( I'm really trying and not sure what else to do, but I pump after each feeding and yield anywhere from 2.5-5 oz each time (2.5 when I haven't had enough water!). They suggest pumping on your baby's feeding schedule to keep production up, at least that's what I'm told!
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  • Latina211508Latina211508 member
    That should honestly be fine. I personally had so much milk. I had to pump after every feeding which was every 2 hours because I had so much milk. I pumped like 6-8 oz each breast. My children would only eat 2-3oz at the age every 2 hours. Good luck mama.
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  • niespniesp member
    @biancakoz what did you end up doing with your 600 extra? I only ask because my son is 13 weeks, and eats 30-35 oz a day (I EP), and I pump 40-45 ounces which means I am freezing 5-15 oz a day extra. My tiny freezer is already so full and I have taken bags to the deep freezer as well. I am overwhelmed at the amount I am getting but scared to stop a session (5 times a day) because what if I don't have enough!
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  • MeganG216MeganG216 member
    If you plan on feeding infant cereal, you can use your extra milk for that. A friend of mine used to donate her surplus to a local milk bank, so if you don't think you'll use it all you could do that.
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  • corndogrobotcorndogrobot member
    niesp said:

    @biancakoz what did you end up doing with your 600 extra? I only ask because my son is 13 weeks, and eats 30-35 oz a day (I EP), and I pump 40-45 ounces which means I am freezing 5-15 oz a day extra. My tiny freezer is already so full and I have taken bags to the deep freezer as well. I am overwhelmed at the amount I am getting but scared to stop a session (5 times a day) because what if I don't have enough!

    I recommend buying (or renting) a small deep freezer. For about $200 we kept all the milk in one place and rotated the stock to use it within 3 months of freezing. I gave my baby breast milk for 3 more months after weaning. He was 15 months. We cut the breast milk with cow milk before we gave him 100% cow milk to help his tummy adjust. It was a smooth transition.
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  • niespniesp member
    Thank you for the suggestion!
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