How Much Should I Be Producing When I Pump Milk?

I think Jenny said it best....Fenugrek, lots of water (I am drinking 3-4 L per day), good sleep, more frequent pumping and try not to stress. It is a state law that your job needs to allow you adequate time to pump at work. I think the law is on The La Leche Leauge website.
If you have a madela pump get a car or battery adapter. I find that I can use my cover (boob tent as my husband calls it) and pump while I drive to and from work. This gives be two extra pumps.
When you do find time to pump at work are you worried about getting back to work? This might be hindering milk flow. Try to relax as much as possible.
My son is 7 months old but when he was 4 months I was pumping between 3-5 ounces 3 times at work and 1-2 ounces 2 times in the car and 4-5 ounces at night after he is asleep.
Pump as much and as long as you can. After you have pumped let the pump continue to suck for an extra5 minutes. This stimulate more milk production. It all works off supply and demand. The more you pump (or baby sucks) the more milk your body will make. I always stress about not having enough too but it always seems to work out. I remember when he went from eating 4 ounces at a time to eating 6 ounces. I thought for sure I would run out but my body just produced more. Also soon your little one will start eating cereal, fruits and veggies. You will need less milk then. Follow the steps above and remember to breathe and everything will be fine.

It sounds like you are really going to have to find more time to pump when you're at work. To keep up your supply you should really be pumping every two hours.

One tip I read that helps tremendously with pumping is that when you think you've emptied the breast, squeeze and massage it to get the last milk out. Sometimes I've gotten out another .5 oz. or more on each side doing this. Pumps are just not as efficient as babies!!

Good luck!

My son is 12 months old and I am still breast feeding. I work fulltime so I am pumping during the day as well. Basically I pump twice a day, at my lunch break and right before I go home at 4:30. At each sitting I usually get 5-6 oz. In the evening, I breast feed him before he goes to sleep at 8pm, about 4 oz. and in the middle of the night still, about 2-4 oz. On the weekends I sometimes pump to build up by supple by putting the baby on one breast and then pumping the other. This was the easiest way for me without taking away from the little guy. After keeping this routine for a few days, if I even missed a feeding or pumping by a couple of hours I was feeling it. My suggestion would be to drink lots of water, do not eat or drink anything with caffeine (coffee, soda) as this depletes your supply, and be diligent with pumping even on the weekends when its the hardest.

I think you should pump more often - going 5-6 hours (did he nurse in between then?) without stimulation is a long time. It's so hard at work! You could pump more often to try to get your supply back up and then taper back. I am pumping every 3-4 hours (so twice while at work) and then my son is nursing at night (we co sleep). Now that we're going to try to stop night nursings, I will probably pump an extra time during the day just to be safe. Try nursing first thing when he wakes up, before you go to work, and then right when you get home from work, and then at bedtime. Good luck!

It took my daughter 6 weeks to even suck and until about 5 mo to really breast feed. You need to pump the same time everyday and I think you are waiting too much time inbetween. At first I pumped every 2 hours and then when I came to work I pumped at 6:30, 8:45, 11, 1 & 3 and then when I would get home if needed. Then after she turned about 7 mo I now pump 6:30, 9, 12, 3, 6pm just because now she is drinking more than I can pump. Since hes only four months but each women produces different, I would get 4 oz each pumping or so now its more like 3 oz since she is 8 mo old I have found my milk supply has gone down after 6 mo.
Good Job!!!
T.

I, too had trouble producing much milk when I pumped. I used the "pump in style" from Medela, but I usually only pumpled 1 ounce when I used it. I agree with the other comments that using your hands to express milk after pumping will help.

Fenugreek capsules helped ALOT with my milk production, much better than any "mother's milk" tea I tried. Your skin may smell like maple syrup, but it is totally worth it!! My milk production more than doubled when I started taking the capsules.

If you haven't done so already, contact a lactation consultant - they tend to have great advice about how to increase production.

Good luck!

When my son was that aged and I was pumping at work I got about 4-5 ounces every 3 hours. Make sure you are eating and especially drinking enough. It is tempting to try hard to lose the baby weight but I always erred on the side of caution and ate a little extra so I would be sure I would have enough milk supply for my baby. By 6 months I was down to only 10 pounds above my pre-baby weight so I didn't sacrifice completely, just always wanted to be sure I had enough calories to produce the milk.

I also agree that you should pump more often. I always tried to mimick my sons schedule, so if he was eating every 3 hours at home, I would pump as close to that as possible. Then as he got older and his feedings stretched out, I changed my pumping routine to match his schedule.

Good luck. Pumping is a huge commitment but it is worth it.

It’s great to hear that your son is latching on now! Kudos for working so hard to make that possible.

If you’re serious about increasing your milk supply, I suggest finding ways to pump more often, even though your son doesn’t feed that often. Your body will adjust and supply more when there is more demand. Initially, I could only produce half an ounce from each side in one pump session. I was recommended Mother’s Milk Tea and More Milk Plus tablets, but those didn’t seem to work for me. I tried Fenugreek capsules, and within a week, I started producing more. Within a month or so, I was producing 2-3 oz/hour per side, and I didn’t need to take the supplements anymore. Since my child didn't latch on well, I pumped every 2 hours for 15-20 min. It's double the work, but it was worth it because I finally had "extra" to store in the freezer by the third month. It takes a while, so don't give up!

I’d also drink lots of fluids and increase your intake of water. Try not to stress over how much your pumping. I realized that the more nervous I was about production, the more difficult it could be. Just relax and wait for it to come. I’d pop in a DVD and watch in 15-min increments while my son was in bed during those pumping sessions at night.

Sometimes the difference can be in what type of pump you have. A hospital grade pump has greater suction and can help increase your supply. Call the hospitals to see if you could rent an electric pump for 2 weeks, and you might notice an increase in your supply. I was recommended the Medela Classic from the hospital and was able to get just as much from the Medela Pump n' Style afterward. Hang in there, mama!

Hi Dana,

If you're concerned about your supply it wouldn't hurt to contact a lactation consultant. Your pediatrician should be able to refer you, and depending on your hospital they're probably available pretty easily.

When my son was that age I pumped just twice a day, just before I left for work and then once in the middle of the work day. I usualy pumped 3-4oz from each breast in the morning and 6oz from each at lunch, so about 20oz a day and that's what my son would drink the next day. That was more than my son would take the next day while I was at work (I continued to nurse him in the evenings and at night) so I usually had some avalailable to give him a bottle or two on the weekends.

The only thing I can think of that made me have more pumped milk was that I had a hospital grade pump. i could adjust the suction level and it really did just pull it out of there :-P(I also pumped both sides at the same time so it didn't drive me crazy sitting still that whole time).

Good luck with this.
T.