Pumping

[espoleta]

Hi ladies

I am away from my ebf daughter this weekend and I'm pumping to ensure my supply doesn't drop.

I've gone onto Kelly mom and I know I need to pump 750ml per day for the average. Could I do this in three sittings (eg morning noon and night) to hit the 750ml or do I need to do the normal 7/8 feeds? One thing to note is that she normal only takes one boob a feed rather than two. So I would be doing effectively 6 feeds just in three sittings is that makes sense?

Thanks

Hi op!

I (almost) exclusively pump. How old is your dd as I think it sort of depends on how established your supply is?

It seems to be different for everyone, but my ds is 8 weeks and I usually pump about a litre of Breastmilk over 4-5 sessions of about 30 mins each per day. I use a hospital grade, double pump for that. It would probably be different if I was using a manual or something.

I think it will have to be trial an error, but since you are EBF, to me it would make sense to mimic what your dd does at the breast as much as possible and see how it goes.

I know babies are meant to get more from the breast than a pump would, so you may have to pump longer than your dd would normally feed iyswim to get the same volume of milk.

In my case, fwiw, the reverse is true and I can usually only empty my breasts at the pump. My baby can’t seem to do it except once in a blue moon, (dodgy latch from day 1, hence all the fecking pumping )!

Thanks she's 4.5 months so supply is established.

Thanks for the advice. That's a lot of time pumping. DD feeds only last like 7 minutes so pumping feels like a lifetime!

When I was working and pumping I would express for about 30 minutes at lunch and got enough for 2/3 feeds, depending how much DS had drank that morning. But it took a few weeks to work up to that, and DS was older so having solids as well.

If possible try a 'dry run' at home before you go so you have a better idea of yield, how much baby takes, how baby gets on with bottles etc.

As long as over the day your producing the same amount I don't think one weekend will effect supply so it's more about your comfort. If I left it more then 6 hours I would feel ready to bursts but it will vary depending on your boob capacity.

That's a lot of time pumping

It is! It was even worse to begin with, as I was told to pump a minimum of 8 times a day . I don’t think I ever managed 8 in a day and was just lucky that my supply was quite good so I didn’t have to. Obviously the plan was to bf, but it just hasn’t happened (yet - I keep waiting for a eureka moment when everything will fall magically into place )!

Thanks everyone. I've pumped and dumped over a litre of breast milk so far. I find the pump doesn't drain it like a baby does and that I'm still full up! Looking forward to popping DD on the boob tonight!

@DarkRoomDarren
We had a tough start breastfeeding (bad TT, like 1/3 is my nipple fell off, shallow latch, nipple shields) and we one day everything fell into place. It does happen and I hope it happens soon for you! Good luck.
You're also pretty amazing that you've been pumping like a trooper!
Xxxx