Are you an exclusive pumper with a baby past the newborn stage? Here’s everything you need to know about exclusively pumping for an older baby (over three months old).
This post may contain affiliate links, which means if you click a link and purchase something, I may make a small commission at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products I love! More information here.
How often should I be pumping?
This depends on how old your baby is, how long you think you want to pump, and what your supply situation looks like.
Your baby’s age
The younger your baby, the more important it is to remove milk from your breasts often. As time goes on, you can drop pumping sessions and consolidate the time you spend pumping.
For reference, here are the number of times I pumped each day with my son at different ages (here are some sample pumping schedules):
- 3 months: 5 pumping sessions per day (6am, 9am, noon, 3pm, 10pm)
- 6 months: 4 pumping sessions per day (6am, 10am, 2pm, 10pm)
- 11 months: 3 pumping sessions per day (6:30am, 2pm, 10pm)
- 12 months: 2 pumping sessions per day (6:30am, 7pm)
- 13 months: 1 pumping session per day (7pm)
- 14 months (and pregnant again): weaned
That’s just my experience though – there is no one correct answer.
How long you want to exclusively pump
The farther out your pumping goal, the more conservative you want to be in dropping sessions.
So if your baby is three months old and your goal is to pump for a year, you may want to drop sessions more slowly than if your goal was six months.
Your milk supply
Evaluating this is similar to your pumping goals. Anything can happen when you drop a pumping session – your supply can go down, stay the same, or even go up.
If you’re an undersupplier or worried about milk supply, you may want to be more cautious in dropping pumping sessions.
How long should my pumping sessions be?
If you are exclusively pumping, you should be pumping for two hours or 120 minutes per day as a minimum guideline.
To determine how long you should be pumping for, divide 120 by the number of times that you’re pumping and set that as your goal.
So if you’re pumping 6 times per day, you should pump for 20 minutes at a time; if you’re pumping 4 times per day, you should be pumping for 30 minutes.
How much should I get each time I pump?
Ideally, you’d get enough each day to feed your baby; most older babies drink between 24-35oz per day, with 27-28 ounces being the average (you can see more details about this here).
There’s no magic number that you should be pumping. Two women can pump the exact same amount, and one can be an oversupplier while the other is an undersupplier.
If you’re not making as much as you’d like, there are some methods you can try to increase your milk supply.
However much you get, you are doing great!
How can I pump with my baby around?
My biggest struggle with exclusively pumping for an older baby was that it was difficult to do with him underfoot – he would always want to play with my tubing, or a bottle would get spilled, and it was basically a stressful disaster.
My best tip with an older baby is to put him in a high chair and sit next to him with some toys or solids to keep him entertained while you pump.
Here are other tips how to handle caring for an older baby and pumping at the same time.
Does it matter if I don’t pump at the same time every day?
There’s no research about this that can give us a definitive answer.
We know that nursing babies do not eat on a strict schedule – while a baby may generally eat every three hours or so, sometimes a nap will go long and he might eat at 2pm instead of 1pm, for example.
As a result, it seems reasonable that minor variations in the time lactation occurs are likely fine, which means it’s okay to move a session up or back a bit as necessary.
My suggestion is to test it out for yourself, and pay attention to whether or not you see any differences when your pump times need to vary a bit. If you don’t notice a difference, it’s probably fine to vary the times.
How long do people usually exclusively pump?
Everyone has a different goal. Some moms want to pump for three months, some for six months, some for a year or more. Personally, I exclusively pumped for 14 months.
A comprehensive study of exclusive pumpers found that the approximate mean duration of pumping is 8.3 months.
Is it worth continuing pumping if I’m only pumping X amount?
You are the only one who can weigh the trade-offs of continuing versus stopping.
No matter how much you’re pumping, it’s awesome for your baby to get some breast milk. However, that breast milk does have a cost – your time and your mental health.
In my opinion, a happy mom is more important than breast milk.
Think about the pros and cons of your individual situation and decide what you want to do. If you’re still not sure, try dropping one pumping session and reevaluate how you feel.
If you do decide to wean, more information on that here.
Need help with exclusive pumping? Use EPUMP30 for 30% off
What should I watch out for with regard to milk supply while exclusively pumping?
One common question that I get on instagram is some variation of “does milk supply automatically drop around 6 months when you’re exclusively pumping?” (Sometimes the question will say 7 months, or 8 months, or 9 months – you get the idea.)
There is no magic time at which milk supply can become an issue. However, there are a few things that can impact your milk supply later on.
Menstruation
As time goes on after you have your baby, it’s more and more likely that you’ll get your period back. Menstruation can affect milk supply.
Here are some things that you can do if you find that your period has decreased your milk supply.
Pregnancy
As your fertility returns, it’s also possible that you will become pregnant again.
Pregnancy can also have a negative impact on milk supply.
Birth control
I would suggest avoiding contraception that contains estrogen, and it can affect your supply.
Stick to your schedule
Make sure to keep up a schedule of 120 minutes of pumping per day to protect your supply long-term.
Medications
Check any medications – both prescribed and over the counter – you need to take to make sure it’s safe for breastfeeding and won’t affect supply.
Sudafed is an example of a medication that can negatively affect milk supply.
Do you have any tips on exclusively pumping for an older baby? Share them in the comments!