When you’re an exclusive pumper, it’s important to make and stick to a pumping schedule in order to maximize supply and minimize issues like clogged ducts.
Figuring out a pumping schedule when you are exclusive pumping is a balance between your need to pump enough milk and the rest of your life. Think about how many pumping sessions you need in a given day, and then think about the best time to fit them in based on your life – whether you work, whether you are home with your baby, whether you desperately need more sleep or are doing okay.
Sample Pumping Schedules with a Newborn
With a newborn, most things that you read say that you should be pumping 8-12 times per day, because that’s how often newborns eat. I think 8 or 9 is a good goal to shoot for, with 7 as the lower limit and 10 as the upper limit. With many more than that, you probably won’t be getting enough rest or time with your baby. (I’ve written more about about how often and how long to pump for a newborn here.)
Below is a sample pumping schedule with eight pumps in 24 hours. A schedule like this will give you three and a half straight hours of sleep (from about 12:30am-4am, once you’ve finished pumping) – assuming your baby lets you sleep! These times can obviously be adjusted however you like.
7am, 10am, 12pm, 3pm, 6pm, 9pm, 12am, 4am
Below is a sample pumping schedule with ten pumps in 24 hours. This schedule will give you four and a half straight hours of sleep (from 7:30pm-12am), with the added benefit that if you have a partner he or she can care for the baby during this time before going to bed themselves.
7am, 9am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm, 5pm, 7pm, 12am, 3am, 5am
(Related: Finding pumping around the clock to be a challenge? Check out my pumping resources page for things that can make it easier!)
Sample Pumping Schedules with an Older Baby
Below are some sample pumping schedules for older babies. These aren’t rocket science, and you can adjust them to a schedule that fits your needs; I’m just including them as an example of worked for me as my baby got older. (Note: As you drop pumping sessions, you should increase the amount of time that you pump in each session.)
Six pumps in 24 hours (I used this from 10-12 weeks, until I went back to work and found the 6pm pumping session too difficult to manage):
6am, 10am, 12pm, 3pm, 6pm, 10pm
With this schedule you have eight hours of sleep in a row! Unless you are really working to build up your supply, I would recommend getting some sleep and dropping the middle of the night pump once your baby is three months old.
Five pumps in 24 hours (I used this from 3-6 months):
6am, 9am, 12pm, 3pm, 10pm
Four pumps in 24 hours (I used this from 6-11 months):
6am, 10am, 2pm, 10pm
Three pumps in 24 hours (I used this from 11-12 months):
6am, 12pm, 10pm
Two pumps in 24 hours (I used this from 12-14 months):
6am, 7pm
A one pump per day schedule is a supply killer for many women (including myself), so attempt it with caution if you decide to go this route. Between dropping to one pump per day (at 7pm) and getting pregnant again, my supply crashed to nothing at 14 months.
How Important is Sticking to a Pumping Schedule?
When you have a newborn, sticking to a defined pumping schedule can be a challenge – you are likely sleep deprived and busy, so it’s easy to forget to pump. Skipping a pumping session every now and then is not a big deal, especially if you are able to make up the time during a later pumping session that day or squeeze in a power pumping session.
If you’re finding that you’re missing pumping sessions regularly, there are a couple of tools that you can use to remind yourself. I got an Itzbeen as a gift when I had my first baby, and you can set an alarm with it (either a silent flashing light or beeping) to let yourself know it’s time to pump. Alternatively, the iOS Milk Maid app has a reminder function that allows you to enter your pumping schedule, and it will notify you every day at your defined pumping times.
With older babies (after 3-4 months), sticking to a schedule is less important. As long as you get your total number of pumping sessions (and pumping minutes) done in a given day, you should be fine.
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References- KidsHealth. “Breastfeeding FAQs: How Much and How Often?” https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/breastfeed-often.html
Abigail says
April 27, 2019 at 1:12 amI have exclusively pumped from the start. My baby is 6 months old. I pumped 7-8 times a day on a schedule until he was 3 months old and I couldn’t do the no sleep anymore. I dropped down to 6 at that point. Around 4 months old I dropped down to 4 pumping sessions per day. That’s where I am at now – 5am, 11am, 4pm, 10pm. I had an IUD placed at 6wpp and have bled every day since he was born (not sure if spotting from IUD only or if my period has returned) I have mostly maintained 30-36 ounces a day since my milk came in. I have had mastitis twice with dips in supply from that.
With all that being said – I have two questions
1. Would it be safe for my supply to move my pumping sessions so I can finally sleep 8 hours? (Baby sleeps 12 hours at night with only waking once to eat)
2. Would dropping a pumping session and upping my time per session be more effective than moving my sessions?
Thanks!
Amanda Glenn says
April 27, 2019 at 11:42 amHi Abigail! I’ll try to answer your questions!
1) Yes, I think that would be fine!
2) I think I would move them at 6 months rather than drop one if your goal is to EP for a year. It’s just safer for protecting supply. If your goal is shorter than I think either is okay!
CK says
April 26, 2019 at 8:19 pmSo when you went down to only two times per day, you pumped for 60 min each time to get to 120 min per day and had an output of 15+ oz per session? If not, what we’re the times and output per session when you decreased the times per day?
Amanda Glenn says
April 27, 2019 at 11:45 amHi there! So I was already on the way to weaning at this point so I kept my sessions at 30 minutes each. BUT yes, that is what I would suggest – 60 minutes for 2 sessions. I believe my output started at about 15 each and slowly decreased to 10 each because I didn’t pump for long enough. I hope that helps!
Ounii says
April 13, 2019 at 7:17 pmHey
My baby is 4 months now a d iam exclusively pumping but last week i had an infection in my breast and it was killing me till niw i still have a red spot over my left breast and a hard area on the top of it btw it is the second time happened the first one my baby was 40 days
Now my question is do i have to wean him because it will happen again apparently
How can i wean from pumping without getting fever and have the stone breast ?
Smd if i will not wean him , can i pump only 4 times/24 hrs and still have milk supply for more 4 months or it will stop as my pumping sessions decreased to almost half
Iam so confused and i cant make a call so help if you can please
Amanda Glenn says
April 14, 2019 at 2:37 pmHi there! You don’t have to wean, but it’s up to you whether or not you want to continue! Here is more information on weaning:
https://exclusivepumping.com/weaning-from-the-pump/
Nidya García says
April 10, 2019 at 9:24 amHi! I am EP at the moment.
My baby girl is 17 weeks (4 months) now and I pump 5x a day. My schedule is: 5a 9a 1p 5p 9p allowing me to get my 8 hour stretch (which is technically only 7 hours since after pumping I still need to clean up, store milk and disinfect things and finally make it to bed). Anyways, my ppd is about 39-42oz which gives me plenty of milk. But lately my 1pm pump has been super difficult to keep up with due to work demands and my boss not respecting my pump time (even though I only pump twice at work!!!) ugh. Anyways, I was thinking of going down to 4 ppd but I’m worried about loosing milk supply. Any suggestions?
Nidya Garcia says
April 10, 2019 at 9:34 amOh… I forgot to mention, I got my period 2 months ago. Idk if this changed anything. I do see a bit of a drop whenever I’m on my period. How is it that so many moms don’t get their periods?!?!
Amanda Glenn says
April 10, 2019 at 10:53 amHi Nidya! How long are you thinking your want to pump? I think it would be okay at this point but long-term supply (past 6 months) would be my concern, especially with you having gotten your period back.
Sorry your boss is doing this!
Brittany says
April 4, 2019 at 11:51 pmIf you are going to see a change in supply, how long does it take? My baby is 5.5 months and I dropped my MOTN pump about 6-7 weeks ago because I just couldn’t handle it after returning to work. Just this past week I’ve made less, about 5oz/day. I was pretty consistently making 40oz/day now closer to 35. I don’t think it’s due to my period, I got an IUD 7wpp and only have random spotting here and there. I’m still making a bit more than she needs, but I’m working on a freezer stash because I may have to start traveling for work again at 1year pp.
Amanda Glenn says
April 5, 2019 at 9:30 amI think usually between 2-3 weeks… Could you maybe be getting your period back?
Meghan says
April 1, 2019 at 1:51 pmIf I try to slowly go from 6 ppd at 11 wpp to 3ppd at 16wpp due to my ability to pump at work, will I kill my supply? Right now I pump about 10-15oz more than what my baby eats per day.
Thanks for your helps and all of your valuable posts!
Amanda Glenn says
April 1, 2019 at 8:36 pmCongrats on your baby Meghan!! It’s hard to say for sure – anything could happen (super helpful I know!)
How long do you want to pump for – six months, a year? The longer you want to pump the riskier it is (risk of getting your period back, etc.) Can you make the 3 remaining sessions 45 minutes or so? That would be the best way to protect supply, but I know it’s a lot.
Jessica says
March 24, 2019 at 8:51 amHi! Sorry for the long post! I’ve been exclusively pumping for nearly 7 months due to NICU and latch issues. When my milk came in, I went from nothing to oversupply. Within 7 days of pumping I was getting on average 17oz a day (I pumped 6 times a day for 15 min– 12AM, 4 AM, 8 AM, 12 PM, 4 PM, and 8 PM). I had mastitis for over 2 months and recurring clogged ducts for about 4 months until I figured out pumping. After about 4.5 months I dropped my 4 AM pumping and saw no difference in my supply. I get anywhere from 43oz to 50oz a day depending on if my baby wakes me up a night–if I wake up I feel like my body starts to make more milk because it thinks I’m going to start the day. I have to pump for an hour in the morning to get all the milk out (I get on average 16oz). I pump for 30min for my other sessions since I seem to get another let down after 20min. When I accidently skip a pumping session during the day, I still get the same amount of milk… sometimes more which is crazy. I am thinking about trying to go down to 4 pump sessions a day, but am curious about how it would affect my supply. Granted, my son drinks about 22-30oz a day, but I donate my extra milk every month (anywhere from 500-550oz) and I would like to continue my donations since it has helped me feel better about pumping after not being able to breastfeed. Did you keep track of how much you pumped using each schedule (i.e. 8 pumps versus 4 pumps a day, etc.)?
This is really neurotic, but I have a log in Excel of every pump I’ve ever done and how much milk I expressed. By the end of my pumping journey I will know exactly how much milk I pumped. I also kept track of how much my son drank every day because he was a low birth weight baby and I wanted to make sure he was eating enough. I was so worried I wouldn’t have enough milk for him while he was in NICU so I started keeping a log.
Amanda Glenn says
March 28, 2019 at 2:43 pmHi Jessica! I don’t think that’s neurotic at all! I love it. 🙂 In fact I would love to see your spreadsheet when you wean to do a case study on it!
I didn’t write it down anywhere but I believe my supply increased or stayed the same when I dropped pumping sessions until I went from 4 to 3, when it dropped. I would try dropping one at a time and see how it goes!
That’s so awesome that you are able to donate that much milk!
Jenny says
March 20, 2019 at 8:04 pmWhen you start to decrease your pumping sessions, does your milk supply drop too? Or do you pump an equivalent amount (ex pumping 2oz a session when 8x per day (16 oz/day) then say 3.5oz a session when 5x per day (still about 15 oz))?
Amanda Glenn says
March 20, 2019 at 8:14 pmYou increase the length of the pumping sessions, and most of the time your milk supply stays the same – but anything can happen (it could decrease or even go up). 🙂
Nina says
March 15, 2019 at 12:24 pmThanks a lot for your post it is so helpful for working mom’s. Could you please provide pumping time with each schedule and if some of those times can be substituted with direct breastfeeding or this is aside from breastfeeding when with baby?
Amanda Glenn says
March 15, 2019 at 3:30 pmHi Nina, to get the pumping time, you can divide the number of pumping sessions by 120. I’m not a nursing expert, but as long as your baby is taking the amount of milk that you’d pump, it would replace it. These are more for exclusive pumpers though. Hope that helps!
Lauren says
March 14, 2019 at 9:44 amAlright! I may just hold off then 🙂 thank you!
lauren says
March 14, 2019 at 9:00 amDid you ever see a decrease in your supply when decreasing number of pumps, besides when you dropped to one pump? My goal is to make it to a year of breastfeeding, my son is 7.5 months now and I pump 4 times a day. Have been debating going down to 3 pumps, but concerned it’d drop my supply too much. Thanks!
Amanda Glenn says
March 14, 2019 at 9:24 amHi Lauren, great question! I did after dropping to 3, but I also got my period at the same time. Hard to know which caused the drop. Before that, no.
Rebecca says
March 3, 2019 at 7:09 amWhen you start decreasing pump sessions do you increase time of pump sessions? For example how many minutes are your sessions when there are 5 in a 24 hour period? Thanks
Amanda Glenn says
March 3, 2019 at 7:22 amYes! Your total pumping time in a day should be (at least) 120 minutes, so at 5, I was doing about 25 minutes.
Susan says
February 24, 2019 at 7:05 pmWill do. Thank you so much!!!