Today’s first question is about getting started exclusively pumping and supplementing with formula in the early days, before your milk comes in.
I am new to exclusive pumping and I feel like everything I find when researching it is different than what the hospital told me. My baby is three days old. They immediately had me start supplementing with formula. So now I’m unsure how often to give her formula. Also if after 15 minutes of pumping and I am still getting milk, do I continue pumping until it stops? I just started to get 7-11 mls per session.
To start with your second question, if you’re still getting milk after 15 minutes, then yes, I would continue pumping if you can. It sounds like your supply is starting to build up (which is awesome!) and you want to encourage it to continue. However, if you’re exhausted or your baby is crying or there’s a different reason to stop pumping, then that’s fine too. If you have a few extra minutes, though, I’d keep going until the milk stops flowing or you need to stop.
As far as how often to give formula, here are some tips for pumping and supplementing with formula. In short, if you are exclusively pumping, then one way to do it is for every feeding (8-12 times a day), you would give her whatever pumped milk you have on hand and then follow it up with a formula “chaser” if she’s still hungry. Another option is to wait until you have about enough pumped milk for one feeding, and then make that a breastmilk-only feeding and others formula-only feedings. That might save in bottle washing.
If you are triple feeding (nursing, pumping, and bottle feeding to increase supply), what I did was the following – nurse, feed the pumped milk and a formula chaser if it wasn’t enough, and then pump. So my baby got maybe an ounce or two of formula “chasers” each feeding in the early days until I got my supply up.
Here is some more information about exclusively pumping when you have a brand new baby.
I am celebrating six months of exclusive pumping this week. I’ve dropped down to four pumping sessions and have not seen a decrease in supply. Same thing happened when I dropped from six to five pumps. My body seems to make about one ounce an hour regardless of how often I pump thus far.
I guess what I’m wondering is, for the pumping schedules you listed, what did your supply look like with each schedule? Did it stay the same until a certain tipping point, or did you notice a decrease with each drop? I know everybody is different, but I am curious to know how things went for you.
Congratulations on making it 6 months!
My supply did stay pretty much the same until I got my period back. (I was at three pumping sessions per day and nine months postpartum when this unfortunate event occurred.) After that, it was a slow slide down to weaning – I lost maybe three ounces a month. I would lose the supply when I got my period, and then it never fully recovered like it’s supposed to, so that each month I pumped a little less. But before that, dropping pumping sessions did not decrease my supply, though I was careful to keep the total pumping time per day the same.
A few more bonus questions from the search engines:
Exclusively pumping different flange for each nipple?
I had never considered this, but I don’t see why you couldn’t get different sized flanges if you have different sized nipples. Just buy one of each size and then you have two sets that fit you! Perfect.
I smell of fenugreek and no milk?
How long have you smelled like maple syrup? Usually it kicks in within 24 hours of when you start to smell. If it’s been longer with than this, unfortunately, I think this might mean that fenugreek isn’t going to work for you. Check out some other options here!
Can you walk around while pumping?
It depends on your pump! Some pumps, like the Freestyle, have a battery pack and can by clipped on to your clothes (or put in a large pocket). Other pumps (like the Pump in Style) can’t be taken out of the bag they come in and therefore aren’t easy to walk around with. With the Willow pump, you can do pretty much anything.
Please feel free to add any suggestions or thoughts in comments!
Ann Marie says
March 6, 2018 at 3:03 pmHi,
My little one is going to be five weeks on Thursday. I exclusively pump then bottle feed her the milk due to poor latch. Right now I produce between 45-50oz a day and just dropped from 7 pumps at 20 mins to 6 pumps at 20 mins 3 days ago and I am currently averaging the same supply. My little one constantly wants to be held and interacted with, do you think I could cut down to pumping 4x daily and if so for how many minutes would to recommend? My goal is just to produce about 36 oz a day.
Amanda Glenn says
March 8, 2018 at 11:56 amHi! I think you can definitely do this, but I might wait a few weeks to go down to 5 (at 25 minutes) and then a few more to go down to 4. At 4 sessions per day I would do 30 minutes. However, if you are planning on weaning in the 3-6 month range, I think you could do it now – I’m making this recommendation more in thinking about long-term supply. (I know that sounds strange when you have a such a great supply, it’s just that supply is really unpredictable and you can see bigger drops than you might think from changes. For example, you get your period back earlier than you otherwise would have because you aren’t lactating as much and your supply tanks.)
This might (or might not) be helpful for you with regard to pumping and having your baby around:
https://exclusivepumping.com/pump-and-take-care-of-a-baby-at-the-same-time/
Helen Ounifi says
September 17, 2017 at 3:45 pmHi
I have been on so many forums I completely forgot I asked on this one.. (how rude- I am sorry!)
I still am confused. I went to 2 hours and still wasnt increasing the supply. I was also getting a bit stressed at the amount! I was advised to go to every 6 hours! which was great and I fit in my NICU visits- shopping- work! My supply was the same over the 24 hour period. It has recently gone down a bit which I am beginning to freak out about! 6 weeks of pumping now and I am getting 25-50ml per 6 hours. I have never felt a ‘letdown’ and my boobs are never hard. I have always had enormous breasts- I am not if that makes a difference to anything!
Should I start again and do every 2 hours….. and would that be 2 hours from when you started or from when you finish?
Amanda Glenn says
September 17, 2017 at 9:14 pmHi! It’s two hours from when you started. I don’t know how long you were doing every two hours, but it can take some time to see a difference – like a week or so. I think feeding your baby only breast milk will be hard to do with a newborn if you are pumping every six hours, but it depends on your life – it sounds like that fit pretty well into your life. Only you can decide what’s right for you!
Helen Ounifi says
August 17, 2017 at 11:26 pmMy baby was born at 35/4 weeks and she is in NICU. I have been pumping now for 2 weeks and I am still only producing on average 1.5 oz total from both breast. I was pumping every 3 hours but not in the night. I have now increased to every 2 hours and sleeping for 6 hours. Is this the normal amount for this stage?
Also when you say every 2 hours does that mean 2 hours from the time you finished the last pump or from when you started pumping?
Help! Google isn’t helping!
Amanda Glenn says
August 19, 2017 at 8:33 pmHi Helen! It’s 2 hours from when you started, which is exhausting I know.
For supply, trying fenugreek might not be a bad idea – have you considered it?
Ashley says
October 7, 2016 at 9:27 pmHello. So my baby is 3 days old and won’t latch on at all so I have been pumping to get milk. I want to exclusively pump and started pumping every 3 hours today and my breast are starting to get engorged. What should I do? Pump more often and longer than 10 mins ( the lactation consultant told me that long)?
Amanda Glenn says
October 10, 2016 at 2:13 pmI would pump for 15 minutes. 🙂
Christina (Ensconced in Lit) says
November 6, 2014 at 8:45 amAs usual, terrific post! I just wanted to mention that I do have different sized flanges for different breasts because of their size and shape. I actually now have Pumpin Pals that comes in 3 sizes, so like you say, I now have two sets of flanges — one for work and one for home, without having to buy more.