Breast pumping can seem overwhelming as a breastfeeding mother. And your pumping schedule will likely be different than another mom’s pumping schedule for newborn or pumping schedule at work! Your schedule for pumping and nursing depends on multiple factors, like if you’re interested in a breast pumping schedule to increase supply, pumping schedule for breastfeeding, or pumping schedule while breastfeeding.
Let’s break it all down and figure out exactly what kind of schedule for pumping and nursing will continue your breastfeeding success. Reaping the benefits of breastfeeding for your baby and yourself are life-changing and worth taking some time with a lactation professional to reach your breastfeeding goals.
Did you know that 40% of mothers fear an insufficient milk supply which is the primary cause of mothers switching to formula?
In one study of the women who used formula, 73% cited ‘perceived insufficient milk’ as the primary reason for supplementation or complete discontinuation of breastfeeding.
And 60% of women don’t breastfeed for as long as they want to.
This is why I created The Balanced Breastfeeding Course! With 280 minutes of education and video demonstration with 160+ easy-to-follow PDF Pages plus photo demonstrations! This course fills the gap in our maternity care system, addressing everything you need to know to have a successful breastfeeding relationship.
How Often Should I Pump Breast Milk?
How often you should pump breastmilk depends on how often or if you are also nursing your baby at your breast.
First, I want you to imagine what you want your breastfeeding relationship to look like. Does it look like nursing and pumping 50/50? Or nursing at the breast all day, nearly every day? Supplemental feeding?
If you ever feel like your breastfeeding relationship isn’t where you want it to be, reach out to me for a free 15-minute consultation! Regardless of the circumstances, your breastfeeding relationship can be fulfilling. There are so many ways to make it work for you, and it’s okay if you need a lactation consultant’s help to figure out how to get to that place.
How Often Should I Pump with Exclusive Pumping?
If you are exclusively pumping, you will pump as often as your baby bottle-feeds, which is generally every 3 hours.
I do not generally recommend exclusive pumping as it is very difficult for mothers, with waking up to pump, all the dishes, and needing to pump and bottle feed their baby so frequently. At the least, for ease and practicality to continue giving your baby breastmilk, I would recommend pumping throughout the day but nursing whenever your baby needs to throughout the night. This way, you’re expressing breastmilk at night when it is needed and not anymore than that for those hours.
Waking up just to pump while your baby is sleeping is exhausting and frustrating for many mothers. This situation causes many mamas to quickly stop giving their babies breastmilk.
Even if your baby isn’t latching or won’t breastfeed, email me to schedule a 15-minute free consultation! Babies are anatomically and physiologically built to breastfeed, so if they are not, there is a problem that can likely be fixed.
Working Mom Schedule for Pumping and Nursing
If you are separated from your baby while you’re working, pump as often as your baby typically nurses when you are together. Generally, this is every 3 hours.
Before work and your child’s care, nurse your baby. Then, 3 hours later, pump and continue pumping every 3 hours until you are reunited!
From there, you can nurse on demand whenever your baby is hungry or desires the comfort and bonding of breastfeeding.
Stay At Home Mom Schedule for Pumping and Nursing
Are you a stay-at-home (or work-from-home) mom nursing your baby, but you’re looking to build a small stash of breastmilk for occasions? Firstly, you don’t need to add any pumping sessions in until the day before the occasion!
This also applies to mothers who leave for work. Each day, you can just pump enough for the next day. I know this is shocking considering that we all have seen pictures of huge freezer stashes of breastmilk, but I mean it, you do not need to have a stash of frozen breastmilk that could last you for days!!
If you decide to pump the day before for the occasion. Your baby will need, at most, 1.5 ounces of breastmilk for each hour you are gone. They won’t be eating it every hour, but this is how you can do the math to guess at most how much your baby will need. Additionally, (this is very important!!) ensure the caregiver with your baby knows and uses paced-bottle feeding to prevent overfeeding and wasting breastmilk.
Building a small stash:
However, if you would like to have a stash as a mom who is typically home and breastfeeding most days, you can add a pumping session in the morning after the first feeding. Your milk making hormone (prolactin) is typically highest in the early morning hours, like 3-7am, so you will likely pump 1-3 ounces of breastmilk after your “wake-up” nursing session [1].
If that doesn’t seem like enough for you, maybe try the one pumping session per day for a bit then reassess and if you’d like to add another pumping session in, maybe add one more after a midday feeding or after your baby’s bedtime feeding.
Supply=Demand
Keep in mind, any time you are pumping more milk, you are creating a demand for that milk. So after a few days of this, if you don’t pump in the morning or at night when you have been pumping, you will notice you are extra full because your body thinks it is time for your baby to feed again.
If this occurs and you decide to discontinue daily pumping at that time, pump to relief then apply a cool compress to your breasts each day until the daily engorged feeling at that times goes away.
Lastly, another option is using a Haakaa 1-3 times per day to catch and express breastmilk on the other breast while you’re nursing your baby. This is likely the tool I will occasionally use when I have an occasion like a date night or work event coming up where my baby may need to be fed by someone else.
In The Balanced Breastfeeding Course, I provide bonus printable sample schedules for various types of pumping and nursing schedules. Plus, I have an entire chapter on pumping 101 with everything you need to know about the Haakaa, another chapter on returning to work, and more that you can view here.
Schedule for Pumping and Nursing to Increase Supply
If you’re interested in using pumping to increase your milk supply. First, send me an email stating that you would like to schedule a 15-minute free consultation! It’s important to learn what a normal supply is and avoid giving yourself an oversupply which can come with clogged ducts, mastitis, an unhappy baby at the breast, and even green, foamy, and explosive baby poops.
On the other hand, if you have a low supply, it’s important to find out why. Most often it is a bad latch or poor positioning, but it could also be something like your baby not nursing enough and struggling, causing you to have a low milk supply. Again, babies are anatomically and physiologically built to breastfeed, so if they are not, there is a problem that can very likely be fixed.
There are many different possibilities but email me or check out the topics covered in The Balanced Breastfeeding Course and how it can help you get to the bottom of your concern regarding your milk supply.
Nevertheless, if you’re just meaning you want to get the most out of your normal supply with pumping since breast pumps will never be as effective as your baby nursing, check out: 5 Easy Tips to Increase Output While Pumping At Work
Pumping Schedule for Newborns
Ideally, it’s best to wait to incorporate pumping and nursing until you’re halfway done with your maternity leave (if you and your baby will be separated when you return to work). This gives you time to learn your pump using Pumping 101 in The Balanced Breastfeeding Course and so much more that is included in the course! Like, paced-bottle feeding, tips for returning to work, the truth about milk storage with a printable guide, the printable pumping and nursing schedules, and so much more (all listed here!).
Remember, if you aren’t going to be separated from your baby, you don’t need to pump! But, if you are: When you begin introducing the pump and bottle feeding for practice, you can start with one pump a day in the morning after the first feed, or at night after the “bedtime feed.” Or you can only do one pumping session every 2-3 days to get used to pumping.
Additionally, you can start paced-bottle feeding practice once a day or just a few times a week before you return to work.
Remember, you only need to pump enough for the next day that you will be separated from your baby! You do not need a stash of extra milk in your freezer! Still, it is common that you’ll have one if you’re catching your let-down on the other side before your milk regulated around 4-6 weeks after birth. The important thing is that you do not need a milk stash larger than what you need for the next day that you will be away from your baby.
And you really don’t want to give yourself an oversupply from pumping more than you need to. It won’t help you or your baby!
Questions or Comments?
If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below👇🏻
Talk soon, mama!
– Katelyn Lauren
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References:
[1] Stern, J. M., & Reichlin, S. (1990). Prolactin circadian rhythm persists throughout lactation in women. Neuroendocrinology, 51(1), 31–37. https://doi.org/10.1159/000125312
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DISCLAIMER: This post is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding you or your baby’s health. Please read my Medical Disclaimer for more info
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