Nursing Mommies Who Pump, I Need You!

Hi! I am currently nursing (and pumping!) with my 2nd child. I would recommend pumping more frequently if you can. Try not to watch the clock while you're pumping, but instead look at pictures of your baby and do whatever it takes to help yourself relax (your let-down reflex will work better & you'll produce more/faster). Pump for a couple minutes after you feel "empty" if you need to increase your milk supply. You can do it!! Hope that helps!

I can appreciate your concern, as I'm one of those that needs longer pumping sessions to get enough milk. During working hours, I'm never able to replenish as much as my young one eats. (I usually notice that I can get let downs through to about the 30 or 35 min. mark.) As such, even though my boy sleeps through the night, I wake up at 3:30 or 4 every morning to pump. During this time, I'm usually able to get at least a full meal. Not only does this allow me to replinish the milk my boy eats everyday, I've slowly been building stock in my freezer for those times I need to be away for longer periods. Many would say that I'm absolutely crazy, but it works for me. Despite taking the herbs, drinking my root beer and eating oatmeal to the point I don't want to look at it anymore, I just don't have the same luck pumping that others do. (One word of caution ....now that I pump in the early morning, I can't miss the pumping session. I overslept once the other week, and my son got soooo much milk from his morning feed it was coming out both ends for the next few hours!)

I went back half time when my son was 4 months old. I pumped once a day, about 8 oz. sometimes more, sometimes less. I did so for 6 months without problems. I quit pumping when he was not interested in drinking milk without me around. He was fine with water and juice. Also, be sure to stay hydrated, water and gatorade in order to get more milk.

Good luck.
M.

My lactation consultant also mentioned to me that moms have the most milk in the morning. Is that how you got 8oz? And, especially if you hadn't nursed for 6-8 hours, you had lots of milk built up. And then, later in the day, you did it twice, but got less milk?
Good luck.

I had this same issue with a diminishing supply. I went to Vitamin Cottage and they suggested something called Mother's Milk or something similar. You take this all natural supplement 4-5 days a day and my supply came back within 4-5 days. I just kept pumping every couple of hours and after I nursed (while at home) and then pumped. It's work and the pill doesn't taste that great but anything is better than switching to the expensive and not as good for baby, formula.

Good luck :)

You've probably gotten a lot of responses... pump every 3 hours for 10 minutes. If you're stressed out at work you may not be having good let down. You can stimulate let down by starting at the base of your breasts and lightly running your finger in circles around your breasts up to the nipple, then massage your breasts from base to nipple, then lean over so your breasts are hanging and then shake them slightly... it all sounds kind of weird but those were in a handout I got from Parker hospital. If you are newer to pumping, it might be good to do that. You can also use lanolin to put on your nipples and stimulate them like that. I went back to work at the beginning of March and I did that whole routine I described above for awhile; now I get good let down without doing that. My job isn't stressful though, so that is one thing to consider. Do some deep breathing to relax. Drink lots of water. Another thing you can do that involves some commitment is to pump for 10 minutes after one feeding during the week to help boost your milk supply. Keep any extra you get in the freezer to start building a supply. Its always good to try to build up a supply before you go back to work but since you can't do that now, then you could try the pumping Mon-Fri to help build a supply for Sat/Sun.
R.

45 mins?!?! You crazy girl! =)
I was told by my Le Leche League mother and other mothers to pump as often as I breast feed her to keep my milk supply up. Luckily I work in a 'mother supporting' work place. We even have a special pumping room! =)
So, for me, I pump every 2-3 hours that I'm at work because when I'm home with Hannah, she likes to feed every 2-3 hours. I realize not all jobs allow that.
Also my LLL leader told me to only pump for 10 mins. She said whatever you have at that point is 'all you'll get'. So, after 10 mis, if nothing is coming out, I stop.
Hope that helps =)

I pump in the morning and at night when my 2 month old goes to bed. I do this to get enough milk for my husband to feed him one feeding at night -- In doing so, I have found after about 1 week, my milk supply at these times is increasing -- so, if I were you, I would pump 10 minutes or so after each feeding to increase your supply and then when you are working, pump as much as your job will allow -- it might take you a week or so to increase your milk supply, but it will happen. Good luck

HI, I pumped for 7 months while working. The more often you pump, the more milk you will get, it's a reflex from the breast to the brain. There are some herbal supplements you can take like Mother's Milk Plus, too. Hope this helps! Keep it up!

I went back to work after three months, part time. I pumped in between feedings on the days that I was home to increase my production and get my body used to pumping. It helped increase the amount of milk that I produced on the days that I worked and also supplied additional milk on my days off. However, I noticed a lot of inconsistency. Just when I thought my production might be going down, the next week it would be back up. I never figured out the exact cause but I know a few times when I had a cold (even though I wasnt' taking any meds), my production would drop. Also, the classic is don't get dehydrated.

Dear ML 0,

Some ideas:

#1 - make sure you are getting enough sleep at night. I found the more I slept, the more milk I had

#2 - make sure you are eating enough. You need enough calories to make milk and if you aren't getting them, your milk supply will suffer

#3 - make sure you are drinking tons of water.

#4 - what kind of pump are you using? you may need a better pump - I had good luck with Medela pump-in-style, but you may need a commercial grade. how long have you had the pump? did you buy it new or get it used? pumps have a limited life. Used ones are normally past their useful life. And the size of the breast flange can make a difference. Have your breasts measured by an expert and make sure you have the right size flange - there's a store (I forget it's name) that sells bras and breast pumps across the street to the west of barnes and nobles by park meadows mall that could help you with this.

#5 - are you using a double pump or single? I had good luck with double because it is faster.

#6 - pump in the morning before you go to work, your milk supply is usually higher then. pump at work on the same schedule that your child breastfed at home. i know this is hard when you get less milk total, but be consistent about it and eventually you'll get your body back on schedule. If you pump less often, you'll produce less milk in the long run. pump at home on the other breast that your child isn't on.

#7 - sometimes the stress over whether you can pump enough or not isn't worth it. don't stress about it. papa can always supplement with formula if he has to... and sometimes it's better for him to just do this and not tell you so! (don't tell anyone from La Leche that I made this suggestion!)

#8 - remind yourself that you've done a great job so far! many women don't make it this long or even bother to try, but the benefits to you and your child are so worth it!

#9 - something to keep in mind ... i noticed that my milk supply started going down around 6 mths ... but at 6 mths, kids start eating solid food ... so they don't need as much milk. you are pretty close to that!

#10 - try Mother's Milk tea. I have friends that swore by it. Not sure where they got it. Probably Whole Foods or Wild Oats would carry it. Others swear by beer, but considering it dehydrates you, i'm not so sure ... but if you drank lots of water with it ... maybe?

Hope those are helpful! Better suggestions would probably come from your local La Leche League chapter. It's funny how you forget so fast, but I went through the same thing with my first and it was frustrating! I spent a lot of time crying over it (no use crying over un-pumpable milk!) I ended up on a business trip to Australia at 9mths and I forgot my pump ... let's just say i lost my milk, but it was ok ... my son switched to formula while i was gone and it was painless weaning! But he is still bright and happy today at 28 mths! But he was healthier when he was on breastmilk - no earaches until the moment he went to 100% formula/bottles!

I have a bigger challenge coming - we are expecting twins and i can't imagine how i'll pump enough at work for TWO babies! But you do the best you can and that's all you can do!

I wish you the best of luck and hope some of these suggestions help!

I would try to pump as often as possible and drink plenty of liquids as well. You could also adjust the speed and pressure suction of your pump and that might also help you. Keep a photo or voice recording of you baby or even a scented blanket or piece of clothing of the baby near by and that will help you let down easier.Good Luck!!!

I pumped for six months. I pumped about 20 minutes everytime my son was getting a bottle at daycare. At the end, I also pumped a few minutes when I got up in the AM and before I went to bed, as my supply was starting to diminish after we started solid foods.

Good luck. Pumping at work was the biggest challenge of being a working mom.