‘Freezers full of milk’ - how!!?!

[Suprima]

5 weeks pp with what I thought was a great milk supply. Baby feeds well, full breasts, pumping twice a day so her dad can do some night feeds- but I literally only have enough for her basic needs for the day and night.

How do people create such a stash of milk? What trick am I missing?

I have lots of family support and will be lucky to have babysitters who I trust for when I feel ready to leave her for an evening- but I’m so worried about her being hungry and wanting more than the couple of bottles I leave.

I agree. I could never pump that much.

In the end I got wise and used formula for top ups and for when we went out. It was fine. It was quite a relief to be honest that it didn't have to all be on me.

Glad to hear I’m not uniquely unfruitful on the milk front. I don’t understand how that much can be produced!!!

I’m not ideologically opposed to formula (fed is best!), but just wary as I have a very content non-gassy, non-colicky happy baby and we have a good thing going on. Reluctant to take the risk right now.

5 weeks PP is very early days still. I struggled to get an ounce then. Now if I’ve not fed for a while I can easily pump 4-5 ounces each breast (I’m 16 weeks pp now). Your supply will increase if you keep at it. I decided not to bother much with pumping until I got to about 10 weeks and was able to pump a decent amount.
Honestly, I thought the same as you to begin with, and now I have a freezer full of milk without too much effort!

It's once they start dropping feeds, either sleeping through or weaning.

You shouldn't, but I saved milk from dc1 to give to dc2 in the early days. They were close together and dc1 wouldn't drink it.

Some people can pump easily and some people can't pump at all but can feed easily - I was closer to second group. With ds2 I consistently pumped an extra feed from ds being a couple of weeks old- which after 6 weeks or so dad gave as a bottle at around 11pm -so I was always a little bit ahead but never a packed freezer.

I used to express extra after ds had finished feeding - initially to give him top-ups/extra but once we were happy with his weight gain (he'd been demonstrating "catch down" growth as he adjusted to his correct growth curve), I froze the extra. I also used to use an Avent storage cup thing (can't remember what it was called ) on the non-feeding boob to catch any leakage.

It did mean that for a while I felt like I was continually feeding (he was a sloooow feeder ) or expressing

Once he started dropping feeds (especially the 10pm feed), I used that time to express and freeze.

I think it's luck really. I used to pump about 10oz a go and store in two bags. I think I pumped once a day. I always had loads. Used a manual pump too. It was like opening the floodgates.

I pumped easily with DD1, not at all easily with DD2. Sorry that doesn’t help you, but it probably isn’t anything you can change. I agree formula is the way forward (not that I would have countenanced it with DD1, such was my obsession with EBF).

Hakaa! Use it on opposite boob every feed and you'll end up with a bit of a stash. I can get anywhere from 30-60ml a boob just from letdowns while baby is feeding on other breast.

I could only ever pump successfully first thing in the morning, the earlier the better unfortunately. I used to do it after an early morning feed and I usually got enough for a bottle. Nothing any other time of day though!

It's just luck of the draw. I had leaking from 16 weeks pregnant and could collect colostrum easily. After she was born I could pump 150ml in a matter of minutes and she would only feed for 5 minutes and be full. Nothing I did, just luck.

Not all plain sailing though, I did pump a freezer full but ended up with oversupply, engorgement and if I missed a feed would be very uncomfortable and prone to plugged ducts.

Fuck knows! I’m still feeding DD2 who has just turned 3 although I have little supply now and I’ve been been able pump. Yy to combi feeding this was always my ideal. I vaguely considered a 3rd child so I could combi feed.

5 weeks is still early.I have been pumping for months and my volume peaked week 16.Currently have over 50 litres in the freezer to be used when I'm back at work.
It's all supply and demand.The more you drain the more you will have (obviously there is a max,mine is 1.5l a day with little one drinking approx 850 )
I exclusively pump due to nursing problems.

I agree with PPs, don't worry about pumping loads extra now. I ended up with oversupply due to that. Morning is a good time to try pumping. Eating porridge or oat products can also help. This is an American site, but I found the resources very useful:

kellymom.com/hot-topics/pumping_decrease/

I had an oversupply and bf was hard until DD was 5 or 6 months as a result. I could pump 180ml in under 5 mins. High lipase though so a PITA to do anything with so I pumped and dumped to relieve pressure if things got really uncomfortable.

Your supply will still be increasing. I never pumped until my son went on a nursing strike as he had tonsillitis. Turned out I was basically a dairy cow. He was about 1 at the time and I was shocked at what I could produce. As they get bigger you produce more but our neighbour with a child the same age wasn't able to produce as much. My son is basically a leech though so I wonder if it's about how much they feed as well. I would say that I know many women can't express as much-as in the infant is much more efficient at getting the milk that a machine.

Use the Haakaa every feed. It doesn't just catch your let down (like I thought), it stimulates supply.

Pumping tips I picked up to get more out in a session:

• Use a warm compress and massage breasts both before and during pumping (this makes a huge difference both to the fat content of the milk and milk availability)


• Buy duck billed valves on amazon and replace the valves on your pump with these (made a HUGE difference for me)


• Make sure the breast flange is the right size for your nipple (there are guides online)


• Pump once during the night, and/or right after baby's first feed of the morning (ideally around 3/4am). Milk production is highest in the early hours of the morning, then gradually tails off throughout the day.

I could have pumped enough to fill a freezer in the end after finding it really hard to even pump 50ml originally (I didn't start until 8 weeks pp).

I never managed to express more than 1oz, despite successfully feeding my child for nearly 2 years. On the plus side, I didn’t leak or accidentally squirt all over the place with an over enthusiastic let down. Swings and roundabouts.

The how is less important than the why?

What's the point in having a freezer full of milk, and risking oversupply/mastitis/engorgement? Then ending up having to keep pumping because your body has learned to make more milk every day than your baby can drink?

Making exactly the amount your baby drinks is the goal, and the biological norm.

Having litres and litres of milk in the freezer isn't a goal in and of itself unless you have a purpose for that milk - do you have to go overseas for three weeks/have chemo/plan to donate to a milk bank.

For lots of women it stays in there for years, too precious to throw away, representing hours of work, but with no use.

Your baby is always going to get more milk out of your boobs than a pump, period.

I know some people can have an "over supply" and some people "power pump"

Personally I found the time and effort it took to pump wasn't worth it. Like at all. Plus the feeds at night are actually valuable and important to supply.

I found the first 3 months really hard and the 3 months after that marginally less hard, then once we began doing BLW things got ever so slowly easier and easier. She didn't start eating properly until 9 months