If you pump breast milk, understanding how letdowns work is really important for your milk supply. Here is everything you need to know about how letdowns work, including what a letdown looks like, how to boost milk supply when pumping by getting more letdowns, and what to do if you have a hard time getting a letdown when you’re pumping.
What is a letdown when breastfeeding, and why do I care?
A letdown is when your breasts release milk for your baby (or, if your case, your pump) to eat.
Obviously, you don’t go around spraying milk all the time (leaks notwithstanding). Most of the time, the milk stays in your breasts until the breasts are stimulated, by a baby or a pump. This then signals the milk letdown hormone, oxytocin, to release the milk from your milk ducts, which is called a letdown.
What does a letdown look like while pumping?
If you’ve just started pumping, it’s not always clear why sometimes you spray milk and sometimes you’re not getting anything. Here’s how letdown works:
- When you start pumping, most pumps will begin in the “expression phase” – which is lighter and quieter – for about two minutes. During this time, before you letdown, you might see milk dribbling out your nipple, and just a few drops going into the bottles.
- When you have a letdown, you will see milk start to spray into the flange and flow more quickly into your bottles. What does a letdown feel like? A lot of moms feel a sort of pins-and-needles sensation in their breasts. Some women experience something more painful. If your baby is very young, you may also feel cramping in your uterus.
- After some time (in my experience, 5-10 minutes), milk flow will stop, and you’ll be back to just a dribble, if anything.
Letdowns and how to boost milk supply
So how are letdowns related to how you can boost your milk supply when you pump?
One way that you can pump more milk is to try to get second or third letdowns during your pumping sessions. How many letdowns you should aim for depends on the length of your sessions – if you’re pumping for 20 minutes, many women are able to get two; if you’re pumping for 30, you might be able to get three.
How much more milk will this get you? Everyone is different, but my output for subsequent letdowns was generally about half of the previous letdown. So, for example, if I pumped 3 oz in my first letdown, I might get another 1.5 oz in my second letdown, and .75 oz in my third. That’s an extra 2.25 oz than if I had thought I was empty, and just stopped pumping after the first letdown!
Another reason that letdowns are important for milk supply is that if you’re waiting and waiting for a letdown, you can end up either wasting a lot of your pumping time waiting for a letdown (so that you’re not able pump long enough to get a second or third) or you end up pumping for an unsustainable amount of time. Some women I’ve talked to have had to pump for 40 minutes, and they were doing that eight times per day!
How to get a faster letdown
If you struggle with getting a letdown quickly enough, you’ve probably read a lot of strategies like looking at a picture of your baby, holding something that smells like him or her, etc. These will often work much better for nursing women than for exclusive pumpers, because letdown is a conditioned response. Nursing mothers are conditioned to let down when they are looking and smelling at their baby; exclusive pumpers – especially those who switched to pumping early – do not have the same conditioning.
So, what might help you get a faster letdown instead?
- Hand Expression. Some women have much better luck getting a letdown with hand expression versus a pump. What you can do is get everything ready to pump and hook yourself up on one side, then try to hand express on the other until you get a letdown. Then, you can quickly hook yourself up to pump on the other side and let the pump take it from there. (Here are some videos on hand expression to help you learn how to do it.)
- Lactation Massager. Some women find that the vibration from a lactation massager will help get milk flowing and get you a quicker letdown, especially when you are dealing with engorgement. Some women who have painful letdowns have noted that it helps with that, too. Additionally, if you find that hand expression works for you, the lactation massager might also be effective, but with the added benefit of not tiring out your hands.
- Relaxing. If you don’t really like pumping (does anyone really like pumping?), it can be stressful. Try to make pumping as fun as possible for you. Make sure you’re warm enough (versus being topless and freezing), and try to do something that you enjoy, like watching Netflix or reading a book. If you get anxious about supply, cover up the bottles with a blanket or nursing cover and try to focus on something else if you can.
- Heat. Sometimes heat can help trigger a letdown, so a warm compress might help. Either a warm washcloth or Booby Tubes are good options.
If you have any other tips for getting a faster letdown, definitely add them in the comments!
References- Australian Breastfeeding Association. “Let-down reflex (milk ejection reflex).” https://www.breastfeeding.asn.au/bf-info/early-days/let-down-reflex
- Perles, Karen. “Coping with Painful Letdown.” https://www.care.com/c/stories/4411/coping-with-painful-letdown/
- Cherry, Kendra. “What Is a Conditioned Response?.” https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-conditioned-response-2794974
I sometimes experience letdown when not pumping.when i pump after 30 min why am i not getting milk immediately since i already had a letdown even before pumping.has anyone experienced this?
This is totally normal (and really frustrating)! Leaking when you’re not pumping only to NOT get a letdown when you are pumping is really annoying.
This can happen because letdown is controlled not by how full your breasts are, but by your brain. Letdown is a conditioned response, like Pavlov and the dog. That doesn’t really explain why you brain decides to let down when you’re on a bus versus trying to pump – unfortunately it doesn’t work perfectly. It does get better as your baby gets older and leaks because much more infrequent.
Yes. I used to have a let down atleast every 40min. No matter where I was or what i was busy doing. Then i realised whenever I made myself a bath and thought about going to the tub and opening the taps, I’d get a letdown. Also weirdly enough, during sex I also got a letdown everytime.. I had to get those boobs silicone cups you put in your bra because of all the let downs all the time. But sometimes when I sat down to pump… No letdown.
Today i tried wahl hot nd cold massager.ssems to be helping with let down.i got the amount in 25 min which usually needed 45 min of pumping.i need to check if its consistent
That is great!
What works for me is closing my eyes and visualizing the milk starting to flow again. That kind of goes along with your tip of relaxing, but I almost meditate, try to block out distractions, and really focus on feeling the let down. It usually works in less than a minute.
Great tip!
If you’re not in the same location as your baby, try watching videos of them, listening to recordings of them crying, looking at pictures of them, or smelling a clothing item that belongs to them to help trigger your brain to allow a letdown.
For me, restarting the “expression fase” will trigger a second letdown. I’ve been exclusively pumping for 4.5 months and any time I forget to restart the expression part (at about 10 minutes in), don’t massage or am stressed I get a little over half as much milk! Doing it this way I have gotten as much as 18oz in a single 20 minute pumping session! My average with this routine is 9-12oz a session
That is awesome!!! How many time do you wait from one to another session?
Your milk depends on your anxiety and stress level. So keep yourself calm and try to have enough sleep to keep you stress free. Increase your water intake and try drinking “Healthy Nursing Tea”. It’ll definitely work!
That 3oz on the first let down is awesome! I only get a total of 3oz for a 30min pump (1.5oz on each breast). I try to relax but still the same. So frustrating! When my let down starts, count for 10seconds and it’ll stop. I really need tips like this! Hopefully, I can pump more milk.
This was super helpful. I used pump for a ridiculous amount of time not realizing I could get more let downs with the button right on my pump. It’s nice to be more educated now.
Has anyone tried lactation cookies ? Do they work?
I think that they work about as well as nursing teas? That’s what I’ve found for me personally. (Which is to say there is a difference, but it’s small.)
Just a little confused is it ok to go longer than the 30 minutes when pumping? Some other articles I read before this one said it wasn’t good.
Hi Courtney! It’s fine to go longer than 30 minutes. I’m not sure where that recommendation comes from.
I’m glad I stumbled upon this! I’ve been getting less and less during pumping sessions, and I’m willing to try anything at this point to get that milk out for my baby (working mom here). I will definitely have to pay more attention to my letdowns and try to get multiple ones in a session. I have been doing a lot of hand expressing, but it does wear out your hand!
Awesome advice! Another trick I like to use is to turn the pump off after I feel empty. I wait a minute or so, and turn it back on. This restarts the stimulation phase of the pumping, and tends to get me some extra in the next let down phase
Making sure the flange is the right size make a huge difference. You want to stimulate like the baby nursing on your areola. If you are just tugging on the nipple, you won’t get as much if any milk out. That is just a waste of time. Make sure the flange is large enough to pull some areola in as well. Your nipple should not be touching any of the wall of the flange. If it is, get a larger size.
The thing that helped me the most was watching videos of nursing babies or a pumping video of a let down. Seeing the Milk spray was key! Even reading about nursing or pumping, like an article on power pumping or nursing stories! Sounds weird but ALWAYS worked!
Question about pumping. So you start out with the lighter “expression” phase, then once you feel the letdown trigger, that’s when you switch the pump to the more intense (not sure what it’s called) phase? From there, you would stay on this setting until you feel your letdown is complete (and possibly start the process over 1-2 times in hopes for another letdown or two if timing allows)? Do I have this right?
I’ve never really been clear on this, but feel like this thread is working toward making it clearer!
You’ve got it! 🙂
I use the quick setting to begin the letdown, then the slow setting like normal. Then when I notice the flow stop, I repeat the quick setting and then the slow setting. I can get about three let downs in 20 minutes.
Hello! Before I went to the Lactation specialist last week I was pumping on the expression phase for quite a few minutes until my first let down. Then I would switch it to the slower pump to express the milk out. Once the let down was done I switched it back to the expression phase to try stimulating the breast for another let down. I was doing this back and forth for 30 minutes and pumping about 7 oz total. After I went to the lactation specialist she introduced me to a new pumping technique which is rather tidious; however, has increased my supply and increased each pump in less time. It’s switching back and forth every six seconds. It mimics how a baby stimulates the breast. I’ve experienced more let downs and I’m now producing around 12 oz in less than 20 minutes. It’s really worked well for me if you can stand pressing the button every six seconds or so. It’s actually made pumping go by a lot quicker for me because I just put on a show and click the button every six seconds. It also has made my nipples feel better because it’s switching back and forth rather than sitting on one setting for longer periods of time.
Hopefully that’s helpful! It was super helpful for me and I want to help anyone else out if they have pumping issues as well!
Interesting! I’m just now seeing this comment – perfect timing as I’m about to pump for the first time for my 3 week old. I’ll let you know if I have questions after. Thanks for sharing!
I’m a 1st time mom and started pumping 3 weeks after my LO was born. I average about 2.5-3 ounces per session at 30 minutes per session. I don’t feel my letdowns so I’m not sure how many occur each session. I didn’t feel my letdowns when we were trying to nurse either. Any tips for those who don’t feel their letdowns?
Additionally, since I’m trying to be an exclusive pumper is the amount pumped per session correct for my LO’s age (1mo 6days)? Or, correct for how long I’ve been pumping? I keep reading how much supply others have and I’m no where near the amounts I see!!
Hi T! How many times do you pump per day? I think 2.5-3oz at 1 month sounds normal!
Do you SEE letdowns, even if you don’t feel them? (The milk is just dribbling out and then starts to spray?)
Would it be normal to only have one letdown? I got about 6.5oz out of my first letdown (in ~10 min) but not seeing another letdown (only a few drops here and there) and I’m at almost 19 min.
I have found that if I drink hot tea (it’s usually my mother’s milk tea mixed with chamomile) while pumping, my let downs last longer and are closer together! Not sure if it’s just the drinking in general, or if it’s the warmth of the liquid.
Thanks for everyone’s comments and suggestions, this is my second go round with nursing and pumping and I really want things to go right! You guys are rockstars!