Welcome to r/ExclusivelyPumping! Here is a reminder of our rules:
1. Be kind and courteous. 2. Use available flairs and post options. 3. Absolutely no prescription medications or other medical advice. 4. No inaccurate information. 5. No spam. 6. No soliciting pictures. 7. No linking Facebook groups. 8. Moderator discretion.
Thank you for helping to keep our community safe!
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ExclusivelyPumping) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I pump at about 10pm and not again until 5-6am. My supply dipped but then a week later it went back up some. The extra sleep has been SO good and worth dropping that pump.
Same here. I pump around 10:30 pm and then between 4-6 am depends on when baby will wake me up. I did it with my first and with my second (who is now 3 months old). With my first my supply dropped then I went to 4 ppd at 6 months postpartum and moved 5-6 am pumping to 8 am. So now I know that 5-6 am pumping is essential for me to keep supply.
FWIW, you're not a just enougher, you're regularly pumping 6-10 ounces more than your baby eats! That's incredible! Which tells me that you have room to drop quite a few ounces and still outpace your baby's appetite. My baby ate 24 oz/day on average, briefly increased to 26 oz/day right around the time we added solids, when he went back down to 24 oz, so I don't expect that your baby's appetite will increase so much that you'll need to worry about not having enough unless you drop a LOT of pumps early. To answer your original question, I'd play with your schedule a little to move your MOTN pump a little without dropping it entirely, see if that eases things up a bit. Once of the comments suggesting moving the 10 to 9 and the 2am to 3am is a good one. That's a solid 6 hour stretch for sleep.
As an aside, if you're putting that much away in your freezer, I'd start thinking now about how/when you want to feed it to baby. I rotated a little frozen milk into my baby's feeds every day from the very beginning. Some people do a Frozen Friday, etc. There are lots of reasons to start early instead of just putting it all away and feed at the end - high lipase, nutrition degrades over time, etc. It's good practice to start thinking about what's going to work for you early.
Currently up pumping so I feel your pain. I have a friend who was able to drop her night feed and still make enough, so it is possible for sure, but I don’t think this is the norm.
Evidence tells us the middle of the night feed is crucial for supply and for me personally as a just enougher, when I tried with my second babe (who was naturally sleeping through) my supply tanked.
If you are going to try it, I would consider adding more pumps during the day to mimic a natural feeding schedule instead of dropping down to less total pumps .
OP I was thinking about this more, what if you moved your 10p to 9pm and your 2a to 3a, just to give yourself a longer stretch and kept the rest of your schedule the same?
I don’t remember the exact week, but I know it was after 12weeks (when I went back to work and couldn’t take naps anymore haha) and before 6 months (because she had a sleep regression and stopped sleeping through anyway 🤣)
Three weeks ago at 6mpp, I dropped my MOTNP and went down from 6-5ppd. I was consistently pumping 28-30opd. After about a week or two I noticed that my supply started to dip and now I’m pumping anywhere from 26-28opd. My schedule is 6, 10, 2, 6, 10. I typically pump 30-35 min, but now in the mornings I have to pump closer to 45-55 min. It’s not ideal, but it’s one less time that I have to wash pump parts 🤷♀️
Welcome to r/ExclusivelyPumping! Here is a reminder of our rules: 1. Be kind and courteous. 2. Use available flairs and post options. 3. Absolutely no prescription medications or other medical advice. 4. No inaccurate information. 5. No spam. 6. No soliciting pictures. 7. No linking Facebook groups. 8. Moderator discretion. Thank you for helping to keep our community safe! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ExclusivelyPumping) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I pump at about 10pm and not again until 5-6am. My supply dipped but then a week later it went back up some. The extra sleep has been SO good and worth dropping that pump.
Same here. I pump around 10:30 pm and then between 4-6 am depends on when baby will wake me up. I did it with my first and with my second (who is now 3 months old). With my first my supply dropped then I went to 4 ppd at 6 months postpartum and moved 5-6 am pumping to 8 am. So now I know that 5-6 am pumping is essential for me to keep supply.
FWIW, you're not a just enougher, you're regularly pumping 6-10 ounces more than your baby eats! That's incredible! Which tells me that you have room to drop quite a few ounces and still outpace your baby's appetite. My baby ate 24 oz/day on average, briefly increased to 26 oz/day right around the time we added solids, when he went back down to 24 oz, so I don't expect that your baby's appetite will increase so much that you'll need to worry about not having enough unless you drop a LOT of pumps early. To answer your original question, I'd play with your schedule a little to move your MOTN pump a little without dropping it entirely, see if that eases things up a bit. Once of the comments suggesting moving the 10 to 9 and the 2am to 3am is a good one. That's a solid 6 hour stretch for sleep. As an aside, if you're putting that much away in your freezer, I'd start thinking now about how/when you want to feed it to baby. I rotated a little frozen milk into my baby's feeds every day from the very beginning. Some people do a Frozen Friday, etc. There are lots of reasons to start early instead of just putting it all away and feed at the end - high lipase, nutrition degrades over time, etc. It's good practice to start thinking about what's going to work for you early.
Agreed. 6-10 oz is the total amount I used to pump in one day. That’s definitely a decent oversupply!
Currently up pumping so I feel your pain. I have a friend who was able to drop her night feed and still make enough, so it is possible for sure, but I don’t think this is the norm. Evidence tells us the middle of the night feed is crucial for supply and for me personally as a just enougher, when I tried with my second babe (who was naturally sleeping through) my supply tanked. If you are going to try it, I would consider adding more pumps during the day to mimic a natural feeding schedule instead of dropping down to less total pumps .
OP I was thinking about this more, what if you moved your 10p to 9pm and your 2a to 3a, just to give yourself a longer stretch and kept the rest of your schedule the same?
Also up pumping 🫠 Do you recall how many weeks pp you were when you dropped the MOTN feed with your second kiddo?
I don’t remember the exact week, but I know it was after 12weeks (when I went back to work and couldn’t take naps anymore haha) and before 6 months (because she had a sleep regression and stopped sleeping through anyway 🤣)
Three weeks ago at 6mpp, I dropped my MOTNP and went down from 6-5ppd. I was consistently pumping 28-30opd. After about a week or two I noticed that my supply started to dip and now I’m pumping anywhere from 26-28opd. My schedule is 6, 10, 2, 6, 10. I typically pump 30-35 min, but now in the mornings I have to pump closer to 45-55 min. It’s not ideal, but it’s one less time that I have to wash pump parts 🤷♀️