Pumping / Breastfeeding
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I am exclusively pumping and being almost 2 months pp make about 42 oz a day. The number one thing is you need to pump at night (I know it sucks). You make a lot more milk at night and your breasts will literally fill up and stop making milk which will hurt your supply. Your supply will build slowly but you really need to pump every 2-3 hours to establish your supply. When I was 2 weeks pp my sessions were only 2-3 oz but as I kept pumping the amount of milk a session grew. It takes time. I didn't hit 5 oz a session consistently until 1 month pp. If you have questions you can reach out to me or there is a group on her called Exclusively Pumping that can help with questions too. I also got a lot of good information from YouTube and https://exclusivepumping.com/. If you are worried, lactation consultants can also help make sure you're using your pump correctly. Having the wrong flange size will hurt your output as well.
I’ve been exclusively expressing for 18 months now. I was very lucky to always have a big oversupply. What I believe help was drinking lots of water and I was expressing every single time my LO had a bottle, which was every 3hrs.
@Ana wow thats great
Make sure that you drink enough water, but also eat enough. I noticed a difference of 3 oz if I didn’t eat enough
I was in the same position when my daughter was born in August. She’s is now two months and I was able to build up a freezer supply. That did not happen until week 6. Basically I would do a large pump in the morning (about 45 minutes) then 20-30 min pumps every 3 hours during the day up to about 11pm. This helped put me a feed ahead of her. Then once my milk supply turned to white milk instead of that cream colored milk. I was able to get a day and half ahead of her feedings We also used formula for her night time feed. my doctor recommended it’s helps her sleep longer (keeps her full longer) and it helps with her weight gain. Pumping is a commitment. You just need to find what works for you so you aren’t stressed and are well hydrated to keep your supply up!
At this stage you need to be pumping every 2 to 3 hours including through the night, so if your baby feeds every 2-3 hours then that’s when you want to pump too. If found it fairly tough at that age as by the time I’d fed my daughter, changed her, put her down, pumped, and washed up, it was nearly time to go again, but it does get easier x
If you don't pump over night in the first few months you won't be able to in my experience. Golden window is between 2 and 5a.m.. Have two pump sessions between there and watch your supply jump. That's when your body will be producing the hormone for milk in the highest quantity of the day.
Also you may need to buy different flanges as your nipples will change during postpartum and what fits now may not be effective later.
@Chrissy one can also get inserts, which is usually cheaper. I got a set with a measuring ruler for $10 from Amazon.
I do. I set an alarm and pump every 2-3 hrs including overnight. And when I'm trying to up the volume, I pump 10 mins on each breast so it's pulling after I'm not releasing anything too. I found that I produced enough for her in 24 hrs but not in each window of her wanting to eat in the beginning. So I keep a stock in the fridge too that I can warm when I don't immediately have enough.