How long can i exclusively pump for

This is like the 1am to 5am stretch of time. If mom can at least get one pump in during this time, it will really help. The main concern is to get enough pumps in per day — a minimum of 7 pumps per day. And to create a little bit of sanity, it is the number of pumps per day that you get in and not necessarily the amount of time you wait in between pumps that counts. So, if I needed to run an errand or just wanted to get out of the house without dragging my pump along, I would pump every 2 hours in the morning and then have a window of about 4 or 5 hours in the afternoon to do everything and would then pump again every 2 hours in the evening to get my total of 7 pumps in for the day.

The sleep was more important to me especially after the c-section. A lot of pumping is trial and error and this is why keeping info in a spreadsheet or journal is helpful.

If you start sleeping through the night or going longer stretches and see a huge decline in your volume, you can always set you alarm to add another pump back in. I never had to but this can vary from mom to mom. I did the early morning pump as long as I was up feeding the baby, but if she slept 5 hours through the night, so did I!

Most experts agree that whatever the reason for pumping, moms should pump for about 20 minutes. Most agree its best to pump at least 15 minutes, and to avoid going much longer than 20 minutes. Experts also encourage pumping about five minutes past when the milk stops flowing, often by doing so mom will elicit another letdown, and at the very least will maintain production as well as encouraging increase in supply if needed.

Also pumping at least 5 minutes after your milk stops flowing will tell your body that you need more milk; thus increasing your supply. They had to work really hard to rebuild it.

Most experienced moms do not set the pump speed on high, but rather keep it on lower setting for comfort. There should be a suction setting on your pump and a speed dial. This is very important, the higher the suction does NOT mean the more milk you make. Your pump will probably have a suction setting of minimum, medium, and maximum. I had mine set on medium when I developed a blister.

Once it healed, I turned it down to minimum and have never had another blister or pain again. I keep the speed at 3 but if you feel like too much areola is being sucked into the horn, then turning down the speed will remedy that. If you are in a lot of pain and turn down the settings, you might actually get more milk because you are more relaxed! Moms may find it surprising that the breastfed baby often takes less milk in the bottle than formula babies take in.

This may vary a little from baby to baby, but the average range of milk intake is oz per day mL per day. Example : If baby usually nurses around 8 times per day, you can guess that baby might need around 3 ounces per feeding every 3 hours when mom is away. You can find a quick and easy expressed breastmilk calculator here. It is important to remember that it is very easy to overfeed a baby using bottles. This is because the way a baby drinks from a bottle is very different than how a baby would nurse from the breast.

Shaking breastmilk is also not recommended gently swirl to mix, instead. Ideally bottlefeeding the baby should mimic how a mother breastfeeds her baby. The baby should be fed on cue, or demand, and not according to a rigid schedule. Breastmilk digests in about 90 minutes, so one would expect the feedings to be anywhere from 1.

The bottle should be offered gently, in a non-stressful manner, with the baby drawing the nipple into the mouth. The type of bottle or nipple is not as important as the manner in which the bottle is offered. Changing position mid-way through a feeding is often recommended, as is holding baby is a more upright position.

Propping a bottle is also not recommended. First drink plenty of water. Check your pee when you go I know, sounds funny! If it is light yellow to clear, you are plenty hydrated. Make sure you eat! While you are pumping, you will keep the weight off, I promise! It can make you hungry as a horse and it does that for a reason. You need the extra calories because you are burning so much off! Eventually, your hunger should taper off mine has. Eat REAL oatmeal, not the instant. You can eat the quick oats the ones that cook in 1 minute or the old fashioned oats that cook in 5 minutes.

You can also make cookies that have oatmeal in them and get oatmeal that way I prefer this way! No one is sure how the oatmeal works but it does! Get some rest yeah, I know easier said than done! Staying hydrated and maintaining a healthy, balanced diet may help support your milk supply. Try to manage stress and sleep as much as possible. You may need to pump more often or for longer periods of time to increase your milk supply.

You can also try adding iron-rich foods like oatmeal and other galactagogues to your daily diet. And you can talk to your doctor about taking supplements, like fenugreek.

This will help reduce your chance of developing clogged ducts, mastitis , or engorgement. The first step is to reduce the number of times you pump per day. For example, if you pump three times a day, reduce to twice per day, about 12 hours apart. Then, try to reduce the time spent pumping each session. So if you currently pump for 20 minutes each session, aim for reducing that time to 15 or 10 minutes. Try to skip pumping one day, then on your last day, pump 36 to 48 hours later. If your breasts still feel full a few days later, you can pump again one final time.

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Here are our top tips. Gripe water is a remedy available in liquid form. It contains a mixture of herbs and is often used to soothe colicky babies. Are you thinking about exclusively pumping breast milk for your baby? When I started out, I had no idea what I was doing and pieced together information from internet searches.

Here is all of the information you need in one place — what exclusive pumping is, the pros and cons of exclusive pumping vs nursing, and how to exclusively pump breast milk.

This post may contain affiliate links, which means that if you click a link and take action, I may make a small commission at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products I love! More info here. Exclusively pumping moms pump breast milk around the clock to feed to their babies via a bottle.

They do not nurse their babies for true feedings, though they may comfort nurse. Exclusive pumpers may supplement with formula or feed their babies solid foods. Moms exclusively pump for many difference reasons. Some of the more common reasons for exclusively pumping include:.