Today’s question is about having an oversupply while exclusively pumping. Is having an oversupply of breast milk always bad? And what should you do with excess breast milk?
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I’m exclusively pumping and have oversupply – I am making 20 oz more per day than my baby eats. (I make 45 oz, and she takes about 25 oz.) My freezer is full, and I don’t have anywhere to put all of this extra milk.
I want to reduce my milk supply so that what I make is more closely aligned with what she needs. Should I? And if so, how do I do that? If it matters, my baby is 8 weeks old. I pump 6-7 times per day.
Generally, if the primary issue is that you don’t have space for the extra milk you’re pumping, I would not recommend trying to reduce your supply.
This is for a few reasons.
Your supply may not have regulated yet
At some point in the first three months, your milk supply regulates, which means milk supply is completely determined by demand, and there is no extra hormonal “boost.” (You can read more about that here.)
Supply can change unpredictably when it regulates and the effect of the hormones goes away. Because of that, I wouldn’t recommend making any big changes (such as dropping more than one pumping session or intentionally reducing supply) until your milk supply is established.
Supply is unpredictable
It can also be hard to “calibrate” the reduction you’re trying for.
For example, you could aim for reducing your supply to 30 oz, accidentally overdo it a bit, and end up at 22 oz. (And then you may struggle to get it back up to where you want it to be.)
Your supply might not always be this high
Finally, later on, you might want the extra milk.
You could get your period next month and find that you notice a dip when that happens. Or your baby might have a few growth spurts and take more milk than usual.
It’s easier to maintain a milk supply than to increase milk supply, so staying where you are can be the safer choice.
Is having an oversupply always bad?
This depends on how you’re feeding your baby.
If you’re nursing, a large oversupply can cause issues like overactive letdown (where your baby can’t handle the force of the letdown) or foremilk/hindmilk imbalance. Therefore, nursing parents may want to limit the amount they pump to avoid this.
For exclusive pumpers, oversupply isn’t always as a big of an issue.
Your breast pump can handle whatever letdown you give it, and foremilk/hindmilk imbalance is usually less of a problem given that the milk is all mixed together in the bottle.
So what to do with excess breast milk when the freezer is full?
You have a few options. Some ideas:
Invest in a deep freezer
You can get a chest freezer like this one and store your extra breast milk in it.
If you want to, you can also wean earlier than you’d planned but still keep giving your baby breast milk.
Donate to a milk bank
Donating to a milk bank is a wonderful use for your extra breast milk!
Most milk banks are non-profits that provide breast milk to very sick premature babies. There are a few milk banks that compensate donors, but most do not.
Donate breast milk informally
I was taking medication that was safe for breastfeeding, but that disqualified me from donating to a milk bank. (They have pretty stringent requirements due to the often fragile health of the babies who will use it.)
Instead, I posted on a local Facebook group and found several moms who were looking for donor milk. Here’s more information on milk sharing.
Milk baths (and other random uses for breast milk)
Giving your baby a milk bath can be very beneficial for his skin. Milk baths can help with eczema, cradle cap, baby acne, dry skin, and more.
In addition to breast milk baths, there are other uses for extra breast milk including breast milk lotion, breast milk popsicles, and breast milk jewelry.
I still really want to reduce my milk supply – I just don’t like all of this extra milk/I’m having pain associated with oversupply. How should I do it?
If you decide you want to try to reduce your milk supply somewhat, I would recommend waiting until 12-16 weeks postpartum. This way, you can be pretty sure that your supply has regulated.
To do it, my suggestion would to drop a pumping session without adding the time back to your other sessions. (Normally, when you are exclusively pumping and drop a pumping session, you add the time back to your remaining sessions, unless you are weaning.)
So, if you’re pumping for six sessions a day for 20 minutes each session, you’d drop to five sessions per day that are 20 minutes each.
Monitor how it’s going and if your supply starts to drop more than you’d like, you can add some time back to your existing sessions or add the dropped session back in. Here’s how to drop a pumping session.
Do you have issues with pumping and oversupply? Tell us about it in the comments!
Comments & Chitchat
Thanks for the article,
i have oversupply and baby in her fourth month still doesn’t like drinking from my breast as it gets challenging for her.
I would like to pump the breast with oversupply more often which brings me to the following question: normally I get 70 Ml ( 2 oZ) within 5 min from one breast and I wouldn’t like to get more to avoid the wrong signal to my body. Does this 5 min and 70 ML already takes out formilk and hindmilk from my breast? Thanks for the answer.
20 min pumping for my breast becomes huge production
I have been struggling with oversupply and slow weight gain with my 15 week old. With direct feeding he will eat way too much and spit up a large amount and this is leading to a slow weight gain. I have a very fast let down, pumping 5 ounces from one boob in less than 3 minutes in the mornings. I really want to decrease my supply so i can try direct feeding again. Should i try pumping only 4 ounces with each pump even first AM one given thats how much my baby takes from bottle? how long will that take to correct oversupply? thanks!
Hi Kelly! How often are you nursing versus pumping?
Try feeding your baby while leaning backward. I have an oversupply and heavy let down and I found that leaning back or laying the baby across my body as I feed will allow gravity to slow my letdown. This allows him to pull off if it’s too much (it can get messy, so have a cloth close by) and just drink the milk during my letdown, and once it slows down, he’ll latch on well and suckle milk like in a traditional breastfeeding scenario. I had to do this with my first until about 6 months old, and then I was able to try other nursing positions. Hope it helps!
Hai. I’m currently 2weeks postpartum. This is my second baby. I EP’ing my first one for almost 2 years. I want to know, am i having foremilk hindmilk imbalance if i pumping 20minutes each session and getting almost 10oz (5oz each breast). I think its too much milk especially if i pump 5-6x per day, i’m getting almost 60oz. I worried my milk will be too much liquid and less fat content. I don’t have engorged breast, if i dont pump more than 5hours, i will have leaking. I just worried too much milk means less quality?
Hi Alyssa! More milk shouldn’t mean less quantity – but it could be that you’re not getting all of the fatty stuff out, since it is expressed last?
https://exclusivepumping.com/watery-breast-milk/
You could maybe try longer pumping sessions? But if your baby is growing well I wouldn’t worry about it. You could also ask your pediatrician. Good luck!
Hi! I am 6 weeks PP and exclusively pumping. My baby eats anywhere from 24-26 ounces a day and I’m practically doubling that. I have had recurrent clogged milk ducts and even mastitis once. I’m pumping every 2-3 hours for 15-20 minute sessions to relieve the engorgement.Could my clogged ducts be due to oversupply? Is it too soon to decrease my supply? I’m just terrified of getting mastitis again!
Hi Kristen! Have you tried lecithin at all? That would be the first thing that I would try. I’m so sorry that you’ve gotten clogs and mastitis!
I am 9 weeks PP now. I have been taking sunflower lecinithen 2 times daily since you recommended it. I am having less clogged ducts but they still occur. However I’m still producing at least 64 oz a day and dealing with frequent engorgement.I’m still having to pump every 3 sometimes two hours for comfort. I am returning to work in 2 weeks as an ICU nurse and I will not be able to maintain pumping as much. I’m producing more than enough for my baby, and I’m just not sure what to do at this point. I attempted to drop a session using some of your methods in a book i purchased but it just resulted in another clogged duct. I hate to end my pumping journey but I feel discouraged and I’m unsure what to do from here.
Hi! I am now almost 7 mos postpartum. This was my second pregnancy. First I had oversupply but regulated at about 16 weeks postpartum. With this 2nd breastfeeding journey at about 20 weeks pp I ended up dropping my nighttime pump session and pumped every 4 hours. I had mastitis FOUR times. I did have a wonderful doctor who is a pediatrician but also a lactation consultant. She prescribed me estrogen. It worked wonders. I went from 42+ ounces a day to 28 ounces. I maintained that just until this past week. I just stopped for personal reasons due to work travel BUT it may be worth discussing with your OB about a hormone estrogen pill. I was a very special case. My body just never seemed to regulate my milk until I introduced the estrogen.
Hi! I am now 20 weeks PP. I was exclusively breastfeeding but by week 2 PP the engorgement and clogged ducts were so uncomfortable my LC advised me to pump for relief. Relief was 8 ounces of expressed milk in 4 mins. I then tried to combo feed but it only increased my supply no matter how much Sudafed, sage, or peppermint I consumed. I have had mastitis 3x and one of those turned into MRSA. This road has not been easy but it’s been rewarding to give my baby BM. I currently express about 40-45 oz a day. I pump at 6AM, 10AM, 2PM, 6PM, 10PM. I dropped my night session at 12 weeks pp. I still experience clogged ducts and some engorgement in the morning but In the morning I pump for 20-25 mins and completely empty my breasts which is about 15 ounces of milk at 6AM. I found this post so helpful because many LCs will tell you pumping increases supply and to only pump for volume not time but for me pumping to emptiness was the only way I found true relief from the fullness
Thank you so much Mary!
I’ve been exclusively pumping since about a month postpartum due to issues with latch (and did the same for my first). I’m now about 5 months postpartum and producing around 50oz a day with 4 pumping sessions during the day. This is twice what my baby takes on average, so I have a chest freezer full of milk, have already been able to donate almost 400oz to a milk bank, plan to donate some informally to a mom as well, and want to continue donating to the milk bank as supply allows. My goal is to get to 1 year of pumping and donate any extra. So my question is: Do you have any insight into dropping to 3 sessions a day? My “storage capacity” seems to be quite high, so I think I can manage it comfort-wise, but I don’t really want it to tank my supply. I’d be ok with a slight reduction (down to 40 oz wouldn’t bother me much). But is pumping only 3 times a day supply suicide at this point?
Well, for what it’s worth for anyone reading, I decided to drop to 3 times a day, come what may. Thankfully, my supply has dropped some, but not too bad. It certainly didn’t tank the supply. I will add that I dropped the session slowly, and I have been doing mini power-pumping sessions at least once a day (24-30 minutes pumping, 5-10 minute break, 5-10 minutes pumping), mostly to make sure I fully empty. Things seem to be holding steady. Kinda makes sense to me – if I was nursing, my baby would eat about 5-6 times a day. Assuming one breast per feeding session, they would each be emptied about 3 times a day, right? Not saying this would work for everyone, but maybe someone can relate.
Hello,
I am 10 weeks PP and exclusively pumping 7-8x daily for 15 mins a session. My supply keeps increasing and I’m now at 55oz daily. My baby takes 25oz. I live in a city with minimal space and have already filled a deep freezer. The donation process near me is tricky and requires appointments which will be very challenging since I will be restarting work soon. I would like to decrease my pumping sessions so I can make it through the night and make my life a little easier – waking up to feed and pump can take over an hour by the time I get my baby back down. Can I drop a pumping session safely? I’ve gone up to 5 hours at night sometimes but end up leaking and engorged.
Hi Nina! congrats on your baby! Yes, I think it’s fine. The strategy I would use it to slowly push the night session back until you can make it (until whatever time you’re trying to make it to). That will allow your body to adjust. You might still leak (Davin and Adley makes a good breast pad for sleeping that doesn’t move as much because it covers both sides) but hopefully that will get better. Normally, I would add the time back from a dropped session, but it sounds like that may not be necessary for you. More here:
https://exclusivepumping.com/drop-middle-of-the-night-pumping-sessions/
Hello! I am exclusively pumping and have been since leaving the hospital. I am 12w pp and making 50-60+ ounces a day. Baby is drinking anywhere from 23oz-32oz. How do I reduce the amount of milk I am making? I am pumping 5x a day for anywhere from 12-25 mins depending on how long it takes for a let down to stop. I don’t know how to reduce the amount of time without getting engorged or drop a session for fear of clogged ducts, pain etc. I feel like I am in over my head and have no idea how to fix this.
Hi! My baby is 3 weeks old. I’ve been exclusively pumping since week 1 due to latching issues. I pump 6 times a day, approximately 10-13 min at a time, producing 50+ ounces a day. It also seems to be increasing each day. Baby is only drinking 19-24 ounces. I’ve pumped up to 15 minutes to empty my breast when I’ve felt lumps and extreme engorgement, but this is only making me produce even more. I’m trying to stay ahead of clogged ducts and mastitis (I’ve had both and it’s awful). I just don’t know what to do, as I’m currently producing way too much and am in pain as my breast are not completely emptying with each pump session.I would like to continue to provide milk for my baby for at least a year. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Makeda, this is a tough one. Given that your supply likely has not regulated yet, I’m really hesitant to advise you to reduce your pumping time. Honestly, I think it might make sense to do a virtual consult with someone who specializes in exclusive pumping. If it were me, I would probably increase my pumping to fully empty each time and start taking lecithin (to avoid clogs and mastitis) until my supply regulated and things calm down. Then I might drop a pumping session to see if that cut my supply. But you need individual help I think. Try @themilkmanual or @onewiththepump on instagram – if you click the link in their bios you can schedule something with them. I hope this helps!
Hello Makeda. I also produce too much milk for my baby but I pump as often as necessary to fully drain my breasts, which averages about six time a day. I was producing over 60 ounces a day when my husband suggested that we see what my body is capable of producing. I was willing to go along with this as I was also curious, so I agreed to take a Motilium (generic domperidone) pill, which is used to help increase milk supply. I was surprised that after taking only one pill, my daily production increased by about 10 ounces a day for a week until my production peaked at about 140 ounces in a day. I had to pump ten times a day to relieve the pressure of so much milk. But it was also exhilarating to see what my body could do. After a few more days my production slowed to about 80 ounces a day. As long as I pumped regularly and fully drained my breasts, I had no issues with clogged ducts and mastitis.
This is not advice for you to try the same thing. I just wanted to tell my story here on this forum. My child takes anywhere from 32 to 40 ounces a day so I have to store the rest. I am also considering donating my milk locally to those who might be in need.
My son was born premature at 34 weeks. Should I expect my supply to regulate 3-4 months after his actual birthdate, or his due date?
Hi Chelsea! I would expect it from his actual birthdate. 🙂
Hi,
I have an 8 month old baby. I have a deep freeze full of milk after donating a ton of it. I’m producing about 40-50oz per day while she takes about 30oz per day. I pump right before bed around 9pm and I breastfeed around 7am. I’m so full that I spray her, sometimes spray over her head lol, and I have to pump after she eats because I’m so uncomfortable- I’ll get 10-15oz in 5 minutes of pumping immediately after she has nursed. Then I pump while she’s at daycare around 10:30am, and 3:30pm and that’s it. Any ideas to help me reduce my supply, especially that early morning supply? My husband tries to let me sleep in some mornings but I end up in pain and soaking wet by 8am.
Hi Becky! How long is each pumping session?
Currently 11 weeks postpartum and been EP almost since the start. I have dropped down to 5x a day and go about 6-8 hrs at night and about 4 hrs during the day. I average about 38 oz a day which is about 15 oz above what gets eaten. I’ve started to build a freezer stash but now my freezer is full. I am trying to decide between buying a deep freezer or cutting down my number of pump sessions to 3x a day. Is it too soon to jump down to 3x a day? Could I still have an oversupply even with only 3 pump sessions?
Hi Chelsea! If you think you want to pump for more than a few more months, I would go with the deep freezer. Especially since your supply might not have regulated yet, I wouldn’t go to 3 unless you goal for pumping is in the next month or two. I hope that helps!
Hi, I’ve been exclusively pumping since I delivered and baby was in NICU for a little over a week. Right now, my baby is 6 weeks old and taking in about 24-25oz a day, but I’m pumping over 40oz a day (pumping 8 times a day for about 15 minutes each session). I want to know if I have an oversupply and if I should drop a session. Or if I should wait until after 12 weeks. I see other moms are over supplying with less sessions than me, so I wonder if I drop a session or two would help with my oversupply.
Hi Ying! Is the oversupply causing you any discomfort or issues other than having to store the extra milk?
My LO is 2 months old and I have thousands of ounces of milk stored. She never latched, so I’ve been EPing since the beginning. I get anywhere from 12-24 oz every 4 hours. I have already invested in a deep freezer and it’s almost half way full, and my fridge freezer is full. I choose to be grateful, but I’m having a hard time navigating how I feel about it. Most places aren’t a safe space to discuss because a lot of mamas have trauma around under producing. I’m overwhelmed. I have not yet been able to find a mom to donate to and don’t want to use a bank. I’m going to run out of room and don’t have space for another deep freezer. I don’t feel good about stopping pumping but need to somehow down regulate. I guess we’ll see what happens after 12 weeks
I am in the exact same boat! Everyone mentions over and over again that we shouldn’t drop until we regulate at 12 weeks and I’m just so confused. This wasn’t an issue with my first baby as I was able to nurse but have been unsuccessful with my 2 month old. Supply was never a concern when you breastfeed, this pumping has me at whits end. So now I’m just shoving milk in every nook and cranny, dumping 2-3 ounces that sat out for 4 hours. Unsure of what to do.
Hello,
I am currently pumping 4-5x a day and nursing my daughter 2-3x per day. I believe I have oversupply. I am concerned about this turning into problems – like clogged ducts, etc. In the morning I am able to pump for 8-10 mins and get about 7-9oz total, and then pump the same amount later in the day and pump 4.5-7oz. My. daughter is 12 weeks today. My question is, should I continue to pump for 10 minutes, or should I just pump the amount of milk needed for my daughter? I have only been pumping 4-5x per day over the last week, before that I was nursing my daughter 5-6x per day and pumping 1-2x and giving her a bottle.
Thanks so much!
Katie
I would not worry about the oversupply EXCEPT for how it will impact nursing. (I did a poll once and women with oversupply weren’t any more likely to get clogged ducts than those without.) So all I would worry about is whether oversupply would make it harder for baby to nurse at the times that you’re nursing.
When are you nursing and when are you pumping? Does baby seem to be struggling with taking in the milk at all? (For example, mine would stop nursing when my milk letdown in the mornings because it was like a fire hose, but then they would start again and they did fine.) Is baby growing and gaining weight okay? ❤
I’m an exclusive pumper because my LO was 2months early and had difficult time taking the breast, plus I have a big bust which made it hard for my LO. Since I started pumping I have always pumped from each breast 6-8 oz every pump. I was in the beginning, pumping 8 times per day, my LO is now 3months old and I pump 6 times per day, dropping the early morning pump. Now my 6am pump will get 16+ oz and every pump after that I will get from each breast 6-8oz and I have to pump for 30mins every time or else I get mastitis with fever, chills and body aches. I have way too much milk stashed in the freezer, i even have milk in family and friends freezer cause there’s no more room in my two freezer at my house. I really need help to reduce my milk supply. I’ve tried but I always get mastitis. Please help, advise is greatly appreciated.
Thanks
One desperate mom
Hi Chastity, what you have you tried before when you got mastitis? Thanks!
I am in this same boat, pumping over 100 ounces a day. I have tried everything, including Sudafed, cabbage, sage, birth control. Nothing has worked for me. I feel like I am going to lose it
I’ve pretty much been EPing since I got home from the hospital. I have so much extra milk. I dropped the overnight pumping session a few weeks ago and I noticed that my supply actually increased because my 6am session became huge. I pump between 375ml-500ml+ every morning. I had been drinking smoothies to increase production in the beginning, and eating oatmeal every morning. My deep freezer is already full and I started looking into selling my milk. I don’t recommend that, I’ve had nothing but scammers and one guy that wanted to meet up but didn’t want my husband with me. Red flag.
I will probably end up donating, hopefully they’ll accept it as I have been taking a blood pressure medication.
Ive been EP since 4wks pp and have maintained a healthy supply of 40+ oz a day. My freezer is full and ive dropped down to 4 sessions now at 6month pp. Im slowly weaning off the pump because ive already had 2 rounds of mastitis and days of blocked ducts but somehow still producing so much milk at 4 sessions. What weaning tips do you recommend as im trying to reduce pumping duration from 15mins to 10mins but i find lately my one boob consistently spray. Im afraid if i dont drain it enough ill get blocked ducts or worse mastitis again.
Hi Anny! Here is how I would suggest weaning. Definitely let me know if you have any questions after reading this! (And so sorry about the mastitis – that stinks!)
https://exclusivepumping.com/weaning-from-the-pump/
Thanks Amanda, i read through the other article and based on that i should focus on volume reduction. With this method should i stop pumping even if i still feel “full” or even a lump that isnt going away after each session? I assume im trying to trigger less milk production with fuller breast?
Is it ever possible to produce too much milk? My baby is 6 weeks, he eats 28-30oz a day but I produce 50+ ounces a day and it seems to be increasing daily. The past few days it’s been feeling like my boobs are constantly full. Right now I’m pumping 6x a day. I’m just worried that my supply will never regulate.
Hi Shaye! Congrats on your baby! Are you feeling discomfort? How long are you 6 pumping sessions?
Baby is 4 months old. I’m on track to have enough stored to get to 2 year 4 weeks from now. Could I go ahead and start giving him stored milk from the deep freezer and store what I’m pumping now? My thought was that if we start using the stored milk now it will be slightly more fresh than starting to use it later.
***To get to 1 year!!!
Hi Chris! Yes, that’s a great plan! Here are some tips on rotating your freezer stash:
https://exclusivepumping.com/how-to-rotate-your-freezer-stash/