Breastfeeding:Exclusively Pumping

What do I need to pump exclusively?

Many women want to provide breastmilk to their baby but, for a variety of reasons, are unable to actually breastfeed. Although you may have planned on nursing your baby rather than pumping, you should be proud of yourself for providing your baby with the very best nutrition. Exclusively pumping breastmilk for your baby still provides all of the vitamins, minerals and immunities as it would if you were actually nursing your baby from the breast.

It is important to select a quality breast pump that will keep up with the daily demands of pumping. It is best to find a hospital-grade pump that will allow you to pump both breasts at once. The breast pump is going to be a critical piece of equipment that can ensure your baby gets all of the breastmilk they need to develop and grow properly.

If possible, begin pumping within the first six hours after delivery of your baby. If you do not have a quality breast pump, ask the hospital staff if they have any for rent or sale. Try to pump atleast 8-10 times in a day. Ideally you should be pumping every 2-3 hours, just as a newborn infant would nurse. You should not go any longer than 5 hours without pumping, especially in the early weeks. Before the actual milk comes in, aim to pump each breast for 10-15 minutes. Once the milk comes in, you should aim to pump for approximately 20-30 minutes per breast. You should be able to pump approximately 25-35 ounces of milk a day. The more often you pump, the more milk your body will make. However, the less often you pump, the less milk your body will make.

Common Problems:

Breast Tenderness & Engorgement: Pump more often to drain the breast completely. Full breasts can become sore, engorged and even infected if not cared for properly.
Slow Milk Production: Decrease the amount of time between pumping sessions. If you are pumping every 4 hours, begin pumping every 3. If you are pumping every 3 hours, try to pump every 2 hours to increase milk production. Make sure that you are using a quality pump that can handle the demands of daily pumping.
Too Much Milk: Increase the amount of time in between pumping sessions or decrease the amount of time spent pumping at each session. Having too much milk is better than not having enough, Excess milk can be stored, or frozen, for later use.

A Fussy Baby: Because what you eat and drink is passed through the breastmilk, pay close attention to your diet. Avoid spicy and greasy foods that can cause your baby to have gas. You may notice other foods that cause your baby to be fussy. Eliminate these foods from your diet so they are not passed through the milk.

Comments: Breastfeeding - Exclusively-Pumping

Comments 51 to 74 of about 98.
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amber-d - 171 days ago.
I am getting shooting pains in my breast and my nipples feel much more tender. i don't knwo why. I am not doing anything different. Any suggestions or anyone know if the shooting pains are a bad sign or normal?

babyofdeployment08 - 185 days ago.
Way to go Heather12! What a champ!

Heather12 - 186 days ago.
6 more weeks of pumping and I'm done! YAY!!! I can't wait! I won't know what to do with myself.

ellae - 189 days ago.
Amber- Totally normal! My left produces more than my right. When nursing my son prefered my left over right, so since exclusively pumping my left is producing more. Did your Lo prefer that side?

amber-d - 190 days ago.
Do any of you know if it's normal for one breast to produce twice as much breast milk than trhe other? My left breast only makes half as much as the right and wonder if it means anything?

amber-d - 192 days ago.
OMG! Am I supposed to be pumping for 20-30 minutes like it says above? I pump 15 minutes every 3-4 hours and seem to be making enough for my 2 week old each day. I already feel like I am a slave to my pump but want the best i can give to my baby. He got sick when he was two days old and had to supplement with formula until he got better and my milk camein. He's been getting breastmilk ever since but i couldn't breastfeed, so i pump. Should I pump more/longer? I am making about 20-30 ounces a day.

campimama - 195 days ago.
stormyluv- I know they make wipes to clean your pump in between pumpings, and then you can sterilize when you get home. Do the best you can pumping when you can. Try not to stress out, that will hurt your supply more. Drink lots of water, get as much rest as you can. Even if you can only spare 10 minutes to pump, that's better than not pumping at all. Good luck!

stormyluv - 195 days ago.
I am going back to work soon, and I'm just struggling to get my head around how it's going to be feasible. I need to work FT to afford to support myself and my LO. I'm allowed breaks to breastfeed/express but they are unpaid. If I'm working 8 hours a day, 30 min lunchbreak, and I need to express at least every 3 hours I'm away from home, and it takes me 1 hour to walk to/from work, and the opening hours at work are only 7.45 - 5.15 weekdays. It usually takes me 15-20 minutes to empty each breast, and there isn't a sterilizer on site so at some point I guess I will have to boil some water to keep the pump clean. Are there enough hours in the week to actually go back? My brain is going into meltdown! Help!

Heather12 - 211 days ago.
Oh no....what am I going to do!!! My milk supply has dropped majorly. I wasn't keeping my schedule like I should have been doing and now I'm only pumping like 3 to 4 ozs. I was pumping 11 oz. I'm goign to pump as much as I can and even get up at night to pump and hopefully that will do the trick. Any other suggestions. I will be so sad if I have to give her formula after all this time and hard work.

Heather12 - 221 days ago.
So how come you started supplementing with formula at 11 months? I only pump 4 times a day and I'm thinking about only pumping every 6 hours and see what happens. Aliyah isn't drinking as much as she used to about 6 bottles a day and she drinks 7 oz ususally. Does October sleep thru the night yet? Aliyah is still getting up at least 1 time a night for a bottle. I am going to celebrate the day I don't have to pump anymore. I don't know what I'm going to do yet but I will do something!

starby - 222 days ago.
vent away! I so feel your pain! I'm down to pumping only twice a day and supplementing with formula...my little one is almost a year...I made it to 11 months exclusively pumping and would stop all together but she HATES formula so I have to pump a little to mix it...Its definately nice to be down to 2 times a day, thats for sure, much better than 6 or 7 times I was doing!! Good luck, you are doing awesome by going this long :)

Heather12 - 222 days ago.
Oh my Gosh I am so tired of pumping! Aliyah is 9 months old now and I have been pumping since she was 6 weeks old. A couple of weeks ago I even was thinking about stopping and going to formula. But I didn't. I have made it this far I'm not going to stop now. Its really gotten harder to do with Aliyah crawling all over the place and putting everything in her mouth. My other 3 girls help me keep an eye on her. Anyway I just needed to vent!

babymomma143 - 230 days ago.
You can contact the hospital in your area and see if they have pumps for rent. My daughter is in the NICU and has been since birth (a little over 2 months) and I rented a pump from the hospital. It is a little expensive, about $70/month) but it is totally worth it. The one I am using is Medela Symphony. Ahmeda is also a good pump. They are both hospital quality and very good.

starby - 233 days ago.
I definately reccomend an electric double pump and I've had really good experiences with the Medela Pump in Style.

Heather12 - 233 days ago.
jess0402 I use a Medela Pump In Style. Its an electric double pump. I really like it.

Heather12 - 240 days ago.
Starby, i haven't ever done this before. But what I plan on doing is slowing stopping the day she turns a year old. If I have enough frozen I might start before she turns one. Going longer between pumps and shortening the amount of time that I'm pumping. I get clogged milk ducts all the time. Especially if I'm not pumping every 4 to 5 hours. That hurts so much. I even got mastitis once. I am scared to death of getting that again. Goog luck I can't wait to stop pumping.

Heather12 - 240 days ago.
There isn't really a certain amount you should be pumping. Every woman is different. As long as you are pumping enough for your baby then you are fine. When I first started pumping I didn't get very much but enough for Aliyah. The longer I pumped the more milk I got. I now pump every 4 to 5 hours and get about 10 oz. Aliyah drinks about 7 oz every 3 to 4 hours. So I am able to freeze some milk to. If you are getting to much milk you should think about donating or dump it, which is so hard to do, lol! Remember to that Breastfed babies don't drink as many oz than a formula fed baby and they eat more often. Your doing a great thing by pumping and feeding with a bottle. Its difficult at first but then it just becomes a part of your routine. If you have any questions just ask. Good Luck!

lukslike1more4me - 242 days ago.
Hi, I was tryin to breastfeed but after Mia crying b/c frustration from not bein able to latch on b/c of so much engorgement, I have decided to exclusively pump, that way she still gets breastmilk and she's not so fussy from each feeding, my question is I've been pumping every 3 hrs round da clock but how many oz is enough per pump, I don't want to have to much milk freezing either

elita777 - 259 days ago.
starby , - I first stopped pumping during the night at all, then instead of pumping every 2 hours I pumped every 3, then 2 days later every 4.. it took me about 11 days before my milk stopped producing

Ajen - 259 days ago.
when i stopped at 9 months i cut out sessions slowly, but i did get such bad mastasis that i had to get pain pills! after a few days it was all dried up no problem. i only pumped if i had too,and then for only a few mins. if anyone has ANY questions about e-pumping i did it for 9 months and would be happy to help with any questions. i stopped for a week at about 6 months because i was sick and actually got to re-lactate-- so i am a pro at that as well:) traveleing with pump, pumping everywhere ( my fav in the car--lol, hoping no one would see me through the suncreen-lol, pumping while traveling ( yes, pumping in an airplane seat,) i feel i have pumped everywhere!!!!!

starby - 267 days ago.
Any adivce on weaning when exclusively pumping? My goal is to make it to a year which I'm about 8 weeks from, yay!!! However, I'm not sure how slowly to stop pumping so that I dont end up a mess :) I know I can just slowly cut out pumping sessions but I'm just not sure how long it takes to stop producing milk, I'm just so nervous about getting engorged again. Also, do I just start introducing cows milk right at 12 months? Do I just start with a little and then gradually replace all breastmilk bottles with cows milk? Wow, this is going to be a BIG change...I cant wait to not have to worry about carrying my pump everywhere I go and having to spend so much time out of every day and night pumping and washing pump parts...oooh, I cant wait!!

babyofdeployment08 - 278 days ago.
That is wierd that you don't get milk when you pump especially since you are breastfeeding. Make sure your pump is turned up strong enough to be close to how your baby sucks. I usually have a good letdown after a hot shower.

michellelaughs - 278 days ago.
Hi All~ I exclusively breastfeed my baby and have tried to pump but don't get anything unless my baby is nursing at the same time. Any tricks to getting a let down w/o baby attcached? By the way, I wanted to say to all of you you should be proud of yourselves for what you are doing. Some people go to formula for no good reason and here you are pumping so your babies can have breast milk when you could have taken the easy road, I am so happy to see that! That's love!

babyofdeployment08 - 295 days ago.
Heather12> Thanks! That is a great idea!

Heather12 - 296 days ago.
babyofdeployment08 I made my own. It's so easy. all you do is get a sports bra cut the holes where the shields will go and there you go. I don't know what I would do without it. The time goes by so much faster when I can use my hands to do other things. You should try it before you go out and buy one.