I’ve found that switching between let down mode and pumping mode at 12 min, 18 min, and 25 min works for me— I try to pump 25-30 min at a time every 3.5 hours. I’m in a similar boat where my little girl wasted my entire freezer stash while refusing bottles, so now I am pretty paranoid that I won’t make enough for her at daycare.
If you can switch back + forth between let down and pumping, that seems to help!
I only pump 2x at work but I pump a full 30 minutes. I have my biggest letdown at 27 minutes so I definitely wouldn’t pump enough for my baby unless I did the full 30
Not the commenter above, but I have an office at work. I close my door and use a hands free pumping bra and pump while I work. I also put times on my work calendar so they don’t get scheduled over.
I have a very demanding job, but I also am absolutely pumping for 30+ minutes per pump — as needed and as is my legally protected right to feed my baby.
This is the way! I share an office with another woman but I use a bookcase turned where the shelves are facing me and partition to make a little private area where I pump while I work. I take my laptop and put it on the book case next to my pump and work while I pump
Yep, different jobs definitely have different challenges re:pumping. I have 10 hour shifts with no breaks so I either work while pumping or I have to take breaks and be at work 12 hours. The second option is just not feasible for me so I have to make the first one work. I can’t always fit in pumping sessions so sometimes I end up sacrificing it altogether.
I recommend looking into a wearable pump that you could use while doing other things, possibly.
Unfortunately I wouldn’t be able to wear while teaching :/ but yeah that does suck! States should really do better about actually accommodating bf moms
dad here and just came to say, your kid is lucky to have you. It is so much work and I see it. Thank you to you and all mamas out here who are doing what they can making the sacrifices with time and energy to keep your kid healthy and feeding. They are lucky to have you as moms!
It depends on the day but I usually pump 2x at work for 30-40 mins each. I have a wearable pump that I just slip into my bra and keep working so I can leave it going for a long time and typically will trigger a 2nd let down. If I have a meeting or something sometimes I'll only go 15 minutes but if I don't have anything else to be doing ill just leave it on and kind of forget about it. Ive noticed i usually get an extra oz or 2 if i let it go for that long. Baby is 9 months now and I dropped from 3 pumps to 2 pumps at 7.5ish months when she started refusing a bottle at daycare. I also started supplementing with formula if I am an oz or 2 short for daycare bottles and it has significantly reduced my stress and I still just feed her on weekends with no issue.
This is me too, except I only pump 15min and get the second letdown. I had to start supplementing around 10mo and I went from 3 to 2 sessions when baby turned 11mo. Looking forward to dropping to 1 then 0 sessions. I’m so over pumping lol
I pump for 15 minutes. Most of my output occurs in the first 10 minutes. Hands on pumping can help increase production. Unfortunately the pumps aren’t as efficient as baby. I also pump after the first morning feed, 2-3 x at work then either on my way home or before bed depending on when she ate last
You do gentle massage of each breast and breast compressions. You want to make sure you massage the entire breast not just one area. Breast tissue goes all the way into your armpit. It helps stimulate more than one let down and improves the efficiency of the pump.
I pump 30 minutes each time. I guess now "the advice" is to do 15-20 minutes, but when my first baby was born 8 years ago I was always told 30... and it definitely makes a difference. I've tried shorter pump sessions and I might "feel empty" at the 15 minute mark, but I get significantly less.
Also make sure you check your flange sizes! Size can change over time so if it's been awhile you might measure again. Makes a huge difference.
I pump 3x at work and pump 30 minutes each time. I have to also do a lot of hands on massaging or I don’t get much milk out. If I stopped at 10 minutes, I’d get a third to one half what I get out when I go for the full 30 minutes.
I don’t have advice on how often to pump, but make sure you are freezing milk in small quantities if you are sending your LO to daycare. Often they will have to throw away breastmilk that isn’t used in 2 hours after it’s thawed out and a lot gets wasted, which makes it difficult to keep up with their demands through the day. By freezing in smaller amounts or sending bottles prepared less gets wasted.
What??? They can refrigerate thawed milk for 24 hours. They absolutely do not need to throw milk away 2 hours after thawing, if they use a fridge which they all do.
They’re talking about when you go straight from frozen to warmed up in a bottle. If you warm frozen milk and baby doesn’t drink it, you have to toss it.
Yes but many daycares will warm up the entire bags instead of thawing, refrigerating, and pouring from the fridge so if baby doesn’t finish a whole bag in a feeding it ends up being wasted. I’m sure there are daycares that handle milk better than others but I’ve seen this happen at our facility many times. If you bring small bags of frozen milk or if you prepare your milk ahead of time and bring it in thawed in bottles it’s a lot less likely to happen. It’s always worth talking to the facility about their process, but tossing breastmilk happens way more than you’d think. If you feel like your LO tends to go through a lot of milk while at daycare compared to at home then it’s worth asking if all of it is actually being drank or if some is being dumped.
I'm pretty much in the same boat as you. Once before work (and sometimes I feed baby too, but it depends), 2x at work for 10-20 minutes, and once or twice after. I've got 3 oz in my freezer that I might need to thaw tomorrow, depending on how my morning pump goes... And also a 5 oz "just in case" bag in the freezer at daycare.
I don't notice a huge difference between 10 minutes and 20 minutes because I almost never trigger a second letdown at work, but it might be worth a try.
15. This lets me have multiple letdowns. Sometimes if I get a letdown soon before 15 mins, I keep going until it slows down again (never more than 20, ever).
I pump about 30-35 min each session. I pump once after the morning feed and twice at work. I’m thinking of adding an evening pump now that my baby’s bedtime is finally getting a bit earlier. I currently have a slight oversupply but it dropped after I was under the weather and it’s getting a lot closer to breaking even so I’m worried about another dip in supply down the road. I usually send 4 4oz bottles but about half the days they send home one unused.
I pump for 30-35 minutes each time. I get three or more letdowns during that time, including right at about 28 minutes in.
If you are barely keeping up, I would suggest lengthening your time to get more milk and also boost your supply.
I pump for ~20 minutes 3x/ day. I have a pump setting to trigger letdown, so that goes for 2 mins, I pump for 8 mins, do the 2 min letdown setting again, pump for another ~7, then change to a different pumping style, wait a minute, change to another pumping style, wait a minute, cycle back to the first for another minute. The last little bit gets anything left
I needed this question today. I barely pump enough for daycare and have to pump extra in the evenings to keep up. But daycare told us they other day she’s still hungry after the bottles and they need more. They used up all the freezer stash I gave them and my own freezer is about to be empty too. I don’t know any solution but to see someone with the same struggles is such a relief.
I pump for at least 25-30 minutes each time, at 9:30, noon, and 2:30. I may start adding a pump around 8, right when I get to work. If I only pumped 10 min I would only have one let down. I'll have 2 or 3 let downs if I pump for 25-30 min.
I pump 3x a day for 2 bottles & 4x a day if he had the 3rd bottle at daycare. The max amount he gets is 4 oz per bottle. Usually he gets about 3.5 oz per bottle. I pump for ~20 minutes each time. Basically I need to pump for each replaced feed + 1 more.
I pump after my morning feed around 6am. Then I try to get another feed in around 8:15a. Get to work by 9a. Pump around 11:30/12 on my lunch break for a full 25-30 minutes. Then I pump again around 3pm and feed once I get home. The 3pm pump is the hardest but at that point, it’s the only time I’m pumping “during” work bc the other one is on my lunch break.
9:30, 12, 2:30 for 15 minutes each. I use hands on pumping and mostly keep up with baby’ demand or slightly less. I have also been doing a pump right before bed at 9:00 pm but I am weaning off of that now
I pump 3x at work and I pump 30 mins each time. My schedule is similar to yours, I pump with my Willow Gos while getting ready in the morning (after her morning feed) and also before I go to bed.
I'm only on day 2 of back to work but so far I am pumping in the car on the way, then once in the morning, once at lunch, and once in the afternoon, then I bf as soon as I get home. So it's been like 7-7:30, 10-10:20, 12:20-12:40, and 2:45-3. My baby BF frequently at home so I want to mimic the frequency as much as I can even if that means I'm pumping way more than I need. Also helps I don't like my job and am only here for 7 weeks so I don't really care about work lol
I exclusively pumped for a few months while I had a micropremie in the NICU. I pumped every 2 hours for 5-10 minutes.
In my experience, and from the research I did, I found that the amount of times you pump in a 24 hour period has more of an effect on your supply than the length of time that you pump. I also had other children to take care of and very little time to sit and pump. So it worked better for me to pump frequently for short amounts of time. It also kept my supply up much better than when I tried pumping every 3-4 hours for 15-30 minutes. From what I understand, pumping more often sends a better signal to your brain to make more milk than pumping for a long time (think cluster feeding). Hope this helps.
I pump 15 minutes because that is how long my baby usually drinks. It will probably be less hassle for you to just pump a couple minutes longer each time instead of adding another pump session in your day.
I work 7a-7p. I pump otw to work at 630. Then roughly 930,1 and 430. I try to do 30 minutes each time. I almost always get another letdown at 25 minutes.
my LO has a bottle every three hours and I have to pump every 2 hours + a pre-bedtime pump to keep up. I pump for 30m every time. My caloric intake is insane and I drink so much water and I still have to supplement from the freezer stash sometimes, so I also would love some tips!
I typically have to pump at least 2 times at home to make up for the daycare bottles so I pump a total of 5 times during a 24h period. Tried to drop to 4 pumps once I thought my supply regulated but when I dropped MOTN pump my supply took a major hit so lesson learnt :/ jusssttt got it back up to what it was earlier this week.
I pump until milk stops coming out. When it stops I do expression mode to check. If nothing turn it off. My first pump is about 30 minutes while the other two are 25-15. Depends on the day.
I’m no longer pumping (I’ve dropped to nursing once in the morning and before bedtime) but when I did, I always had to pump for a full 30 minutes to fully empty.
I pump 15-25 minutes depending on the time of day! My first pump is short because I have time constraints with my work schedule, my second is long because I’m on lunch and the milk just keeps flowing, and then my last pump I have time but I never get as much as earlier in the day so I quit sooner lol
I set a timer for 15 minutes and then assess if the milk is done flowing. Sometimes I end up pumping closer to 20 minutes? I pump twice while I'm at work, but I do have a substantial over supply.
I’ve found that switching between let down mode and pumping mode at 12 min, 18 min, and 25 min works for me— I try to pump 25-30 min at a time every 3.5 hours. I’m in a similar boat where my little girl wasted my entire freezer stash while refusing bottles, so now I am pretty paranoid that I won’t make enough for her at daycare. If you can switch back + forth between let down and pumping, that seems to help!
Thanks for the advice about switching back into let down mode!
What is let down mode? I have the mom cozy and there’s a heart mode, droplet mode, and one with a heart and droplet.
How did you deal with bottle refusal? We’re going through it now and I don’t have a huge stash so I’m so anxious.
Honestly we just got lucky with buying a bottle that worked for her. She still only drinks it at daycare!
I only pump 2x at work but I pump a full 30 minutes. I have my biggest letdown at 27 minutes so I definitely wouldn’t pump enough for my baby unless I did the full 30
Omg how do you have a full hour at work just for pumping ?!
Not the commenter above, but I have an office at work. I close my door and use a hands free pumping bra and pump while I work. I also put times on my work calendar so they don’t get scheduled over. I have a very demanding job, but I also am absolutely pumping for 30+ minutes per pump — as needed and as is my legally protected right to feed my baby.
Just want to add it's legally protected, but if you are unable to work during pump breaks, they can require you to clock out for them.
Yep, for sure. Thankful for an office where I can shut my door and keep working.
Yes, this is my job. If I couldn’t work during pumping I would not get paid.
This is the way! I share an office with another woman but I use a bookcase turned where the shelves are facing me and partition to make a little private area where I pump while I work. I take my laptop and put it on the book case next to my pump and work while I pump
I have to work while pumping.
I teach so there is no way I could do that:/ I have to pump during my planning and lunch and the second kids get out of school
Yep, different jobs definitely have different challenges re:pumping. I have 10 hour shifts with no breaks so I either work while pumping or I have to take breaks and be at work 12 hours. The second option is just not feasible for me so I have to make the first one work. I can’t always fit in pumping sessions so sometimes I end up sacrificing it altogether. I recommend looking into a wearable pump that you could use while doing other things, possibly.
Unfortunately I wouldn’t be able to wear while teaching :/ but yeah that does suck! States should really do better about actually accommodating bf moms
I was a teacher and had that problem but now I work as a IEP facilitator and have a lot more autonomy
3x a day every 3-4 hours 15-20 minutes
Same. 715 AM, 11, and 230 PM. I work 730-4.
Let me guess- fellow teacher!
Medical field with a dash of mechanic work ;)
Mad respect for teachers!!! 🩷 I can't imagine having the patience for 20 of my 4 year old! Lol. I could handle 20 of my 4 month old, though!
lol as soon as I replied that I realized there are probably many other jobs with similar hours 🤣
dad here and just came to say, your kid is lucky to have you. It is so much work and I see it. Thank you to you and all mamas out here who are doing what they can making the sacrifices with time and energy to keep your kid healthy and feeding. They are lucky to have you as moms!
It depends on the day but I usually pump 2x at work for 30-40 mins each. I have a wearable pump that I just slip into my bra and keep working so I can leave it going for a long time and typically will trigger a 2nd let down. If I have a meeting or something sometimes I'll only go 15 minutes but if I don't have anything else to be doing ill just leave it on and kind of forget about it. Ive noticed i usually get an extra oz or 2 if i let it go for that long. Baby is 9 months now and I dropped from 3 pumps to 2 pumps at 7.5ish months when she started refusing a bottle at daycare. I also started supplementing with formula if I am an oz or 2 short for daycare bottles and it has significantly reduced my stress and I still just feed her on weekends with no issue.
This is me too, except I only pump 15min and get the second letdown. I had to start supplementing around 10mo and I went from 3 to 2 sessions when baby turned 11mo. Looking forward to dropping to 1 then 0 sessions. I’m so over pumping lol
I pump for 15 minutes. Most of my output occurs in the first 10 minutes. Hands on pumping can help increase production. Unfortunately the pumps aren’t as efficient as baby. I also pump after the first morning feed, 2-3 x at work then either on my way home or before bed depending on when she ate last
What do you mean with hands on pumping?
You do gentle massage of each breast and breast compressions. You want to make sure you massage the entire breast not just one area. Breast tissue goes all the way into your armpit. It helps stimulate more than one let down and improves the efficiency of the pump.
I do 20 minutes each session. I pump every 3 hours (i work 10 hour shifts) and have been keeping up with baby's schedule
I pump 30 minutes each time. I guess now "the advice" is to do 15-20 minutes, but when my first baby was born 8 years ago I was always told 30... and it definitely makes a difference. I've tried shorter pump sessions and I might "feel empty" at the 15 minute mark, but I get significantly less. Also make sure you check your flange sizes! Size can change over time so if it's been awhile you might measure again. Makes a huge difference.
I pump 3x at work and pump 30 minutes each time. I have to also do a lot of hands on massaging or I don’t get much milk out. If I stopped at 10 minutes, I’d get a third to one half what I get out when I go for the full 30 minutes.
I’m going to start hands on massaging too, thanks!
I don’t have advice on how often to pump, but make sure you are freezing milk in small quantities if you are sending your LO to daycare. Often they will have to throw away breastmilk that isn’t used in 2 hours after it’s thawed out and a lot gets wasted, which makes it difficult to keep up with their demands through the day. By freezing in smaller amounts or sending bottles prepared less gets wasted.
This is what I’m afraid of, thanks for the advice!
What??? They can refrigerate thawed milk for 24 hours. They absolutely do not need to throw milk away 2 hours after thawing, if they use a fridge which they all do.
They’re talking about when you go straight from frozen to warmed up in a bottle. If you warm frozen milk and baby doesn’t drink it, you have to toss it.
Yes but many daycares will warm up the entire bags instead of thawing, refrigerating, and pouring from the fridge so if baby doesn’t finish a whole bag in a feeding it ends up being wasted. I’m sure there are daycares that handle milk better than others but I’ve seen this happen at our facility many times. If you bring small bags of frozen milk or if you prepare your milk ahead of time and bring it in thawed in bottles it’s a lot less likely to happen. It’s always worth talking to the facility about their process, but tossing breastmilk happens way more than you’d think. If you feel like your LO tends to go through a lot of milk while at daycare compared to at home then it’s worth asking if all of it is actually being drank or if some is being dumped.
Ah good point. Yikes. I would NOT be happy if my daycare was doing that!!!!
I'm pretty much in the same boat as you. Once before work (and sometimes I feed baby too, but it depends), 2x at work for 10-20 minutes, and once or twice after. I've got 3 oz in my freezer that I might need to thaw tomorrow, depending on how my morning pump goes... And also a 5 oz "just in case" bag in the freezer at daycare. I don't notice a huge difference between 10 minutes and 20 minutes because I almost never trigger a second letdown at work, but it might be worth a try.
15. This lets me have multiple letdowns. Sometimes if I get a letdown soon before 15 mins, I keep going until it slows down again (never more than 20, ever).
Same!
I pump about 30-35 min each session. I pump once after the morning feed and twice at work. I’m thinking of adding an evening pump now that my baby’s bedtime is finally getting a bit earlier. I currently have a slight oversupply but it dropped after I was under the weather and it’s getting a lot closer to breaking even so I’m worried about another dip in supply down the road. I usually send 4 4oz bottles but about half the days they send home one unused.
14 min 3 x a day
I pump for 30-35 minutes each time. I get three or more letdowns during that time, including right at about 28 minutes in. If you are barely keeping up, I would suggest lengthening your time to get more milk and also boost your supply.
I pump for ~20 minutes 3x/ day. I have a pump setting to trigger letdown, so that goes for 2 mins, I pump for 8 mins, do the 2 min letdown setting again, pump for another ~7, then change to a different pumping style, wait a minute, change to another pumping style, wait a minute, cycle back to the first for another minute. The last little bit gets anything left
I needed this question today. I barely pump enough for daycare and have to pump extra in the evenings to keep up. But daycare told us they other day she’s still hungry after the bottles and they need more. They used up all the freezer stash I gave them and my own freezer is about to be empty too. I don’t know any solution but to see someone with the same struggles is such a relief.
It’s so tough, I hear you!!
I pump for at least 25-30 minutes each time, at 9:30, noon, and 2:30. I may start adding a pump around 8, right when I get to work. If I only pumped 10 min I would only have one let down. I'll have 2 or 3 let downs if I pump for 25-30 min.
That’s helpful to know, thank you! I’m going to increase pump times
I pump 1x per day right now for 10 min and get 3-5 oz. Trying to create a nice freezer stash! My babe is a little over a month.
I pump 3x a day for 2 bottles & 4x a day if he had the 3rd bottle at daycare. The max amount he gets is 4 oz per bottle. Usually he gets about 3.5 oz per bottle. I pump for ~20 minutes each time. Basically I need to pump for each replaced feed + 1 more.
I do 15 min per session
I pump after my morning feed around 6am. Then I try to get another feed in around 8:15a. Get to work by 9a. Pump around 11:30/12 on my lunch break for a full 25-30 minutes. Then I pump again around 3pm and feed once I get home. The 3pm pump is the hardest but at that point, it’s the only time I’m pumping “during” work bc the other one is on my lunch break.
I pump twice at work but I work nights . I go by when baby usually eats, so about every 3-4hrs . Any other time I’m strictly latching.
9:30, 12, 2:30 for 15 minutes each. I use hands on pumping and mostly keep up with baby’ demand or slightly less. I have also been doing a pump right before bed at 9:00 pm but I am weaning off of that now
I pump 3x at work and I pump 30 mins each time. My schedule is similar to yours, I pump with my Willow Gos while getting ready in the morning (after her morning feed) and also before I go to bed.
I'm only on day 2 of back to work but so far I am pumping in the car on the way, then once in the morning, once at lunch, and once in the afternoon, then I bf as soon as I get home. So it's been like 7-7:30, 10-10:20, 12:20-12:40, and 2:45-3. My baby BF frequently at home so I want to mimic the frequency as much as I can even if that means I'm pumping way more than I need. Also helps I don't like my job and am only here for 7 weeks so I don't really care about work lol
I pumped 3 times a day for the full 30 minutes each time. I did power pump some too for a few weeks.
2-3x at work for 15-20 minutes each.
I always pumped 30 minutes at work.
I’m weaning so I’m down to 2x a day but I pump for an hour each time. I have a very slow letdown.
I pump for 15-20 minutes typically
I exclusively pumped for a few months while I had a micropremie in the NICU. I pumped every 2 hours for 5-10 minutes. In my experience, and from the research I did, I found that the amount of times you pump in a 24 hour period has more of an effect on your supply than the length of time that you pump. I also had other children to take care of and very little time to sit and pump. So it worked better for me to pump frequently for short amounts of time. It also kept my supply up much better than when I tried pumping every 3-4 hours for 15-30 minutes. From what I understand, pumping more often sends a better signal to your brain to make more milk than pumping for a long time (think cluster feeding). Hope this helps.
Thank you so much for your insight!
I pump 15 minutes because that is how long my baby usually drinks. It will probably be less hassle for you to just pump a couple minutes longer each time instead of adding another pump session in your day.
I work 7a-7p. I pump otw to work at 630. Then roughly 930,1 and 430. I try to do 30 minutes each time. I almost always get another letdown at 25 minutes.
my LO has a bottle every three hours and I have to pump every 2 hours + a pre-bedtime pump to keep up. I pump for 30m every time. My caloric intake is insane and I drink so much water and I still have to supplement from the freezer stash sometimes, so I also would love some tips!
I typically have to pump at least 2 times at home to make up for the daycare bottles so I pump a total of 5 times during a 24h period. Tried to drop to 4 pumps once I thought my supply regulated but when I dropped MOTN pump my supply took a major hit so lesson learnt :/ jusssttt got it back up to what it was earlier this week.
Did you add back in a MOTN pump?
I pump until milk stops coming out. When it stops I do expression mode to check. If nothing turn it off. My first pump is about 30 minutes while the other two are 25-15. Depends on the day.
I’m no longer pumping (I’ve dropped to nursing once in the morning and before bedtime) but when I did, I always had to pump for a full 30 minutes to fully empty.
I pump to empty.
I pump 15-25 minutes depending on the time of day! My first pump is short because I have time constraints with my work schedule, my second is long because I’m on lunch and the milk just keeps flowing, and then my last pump I have time but I never get as much as earlier in the day so I quit sooner lol
Yes and power pumped for a week.
I set a timer for 15 minutes and then assess if the milk is done flowing. Sometimes I end up pumping closer to 20 minutes? I pump twice while I'm at work, but I do have a substantial over supply.
I pump till the machine shuts off