How to develop an ability to pump?

[ardenbird]

I've never been able to pump much -- the max I've managed in one sitting is 15mls (one half an ounce!), and that was a good 15-20min pump. Now, I'm going back to work, from home, in three weeks time when DD will be 4mo (currently EBF). Even though I'm working mostly from home, there will be a few meetings I'll need to attend and a few Skype conferences for which having a baby on my lap would not be appropriate.

My plan was to leave DH with maybe 1-2oz for each of those events, which might happen 1-3 times/week and should only last an hour or two, three at a max, so that he can satisfy her hunger until I can get back and nurse. I was thinking, well, even if I can only pump 5-15mls at once, if I start now I can build up a stock, and keep that going with maybe half an ounce a day. But then I started wondering -- if DD takes, say, 2oz from DH on one day, shouldn't I be pumping 2oz that day in order to keep up my supply?

Is that true? Will my supply suffer if I don't pump as much in a day as DD takes from a stock? And what can I do to try to be able to pump more in a sitting? I have hope that I might be able to, as the last time I was pumping I was very stressed, with a failing to thrive baby who eventually turned out to have posterior tongue-tie. Now that's fixed and she's growing fast, but my pumping ability still seems to be low (I got 15ml total from two 10-minute sessions yesterday).

I don't think you need to worry about sometimes pumping 1-2oz less than your DD takes, at the frequency you are talking about. I think there's probably some normal variation in how much babies take from one day to the next, and your supply copes with that. Even if not, your DD will easily be able to increase your supply if necessary by just feeding a little bit more the next day. You may find, though, that you find it easier to express when you've skipped a feed, than you do when you're trying to express in addition to doing all her normal feeds.

From the amounts you are getting, my guess would be that you're not getting a letdown for the pump? Some women find thinking about their baby, perhaps looking at a picture or smelling some of their clothing might help. Others find pumping works best if they don't think about it at all - maybe watching TV or reading a book. There were some good tips on another thread yesterday which might help. Some women express from one side while feeding their baby on the other. This is not something I ever seemed to have enough hands to do, but if you can work it out, it means the baby does a lot of the work of triggering a letdown. Lastly, try not to worry as your DD will be fine for such short spaces of time with the amounts you are getting, so while it might be convenient to be able to pump more, it's not a problem and you'll all be ok!

As stupid as this may sound but you can only do your best!

Some people pump with no problems others (like me) get nothing!

Have you tried hand expressing? I don't express often but have found this fairly effective. On day one I can generally get 2oz per attempt, try twice a day, but by day 3 or so I can get 3 and a half to 4 oz per attempt.