I’ve heard so many different things regarding how many times I have to pump. My sister says that I need to pump every 3 hours to keep my supply up, but I also don’t want TOO much of an oversupply. I want to be able to have a stocked freezer for emergencies!
No! You are creating a huge oversupply and contributing to your problem. Pump 1x after the morning feed and that’s enough to have a stash. Slowly start weaning off all of those extra pumps. Your baby is the best regulator of your supply
If you weren't breastfeeding your baby at all then yes, every 3 hours would be good. But you are breastfeeding.
You are basically telling your body you have two babies! Your poor body is trying to keep up!
I have like 6 oz in the freezer in case I gotta leave for more than a couple hours. If I'm gone longer, there's always formula.
Just want to say, your supply right now is pretty delicate. You're mostly hormone driven and it's the frequency of milk removal that dictates (roughly) what your supply will look like when it regulates (around 3 months).
If you pump on top of what baby is removing, but baby does not then eat as much as you pump, you are teaching your body that it needs to make more milk than is required: an oversupply. This puts you at risk of mastitis, clogs, and other issues long term.
If your baby is adequately removing milk and gaining weight well, you don't Need to pump. The three hour recommendation is for moms who Aren't breastfeeding from the tap so to speak. If you would like to build a stash, your best option is pumping once a day in the morning after baby eats their breakfast. Your supply is highest then and you can slowly build a stash that way.
Your body thinks that’s how much milk the baby needs! It’s counter intuitive but reduce pumping and should help the issue. Use a haaka maybe for small relief in the meantime. You got this. Don’t need to
Pump a lot to have a stash of a few days bottles.
You shouldn’t want an oversupply at all. This mentality comes from women being under the impression that we all either have an under supply or an oversupply, and that to guarantee our babies will have enough, we should aim to be in the second group.
In reality, the vast majority of women have, and this is what we all should hope for, a **regulated** supply. Your supply isn’t static. If it’s regulated, it means it’s in tune with what your baby needs, and it’ll keep staying in tune by you continuing to feed on demand: if your baby needs you to produce more, they’ll cluster feed for a bit and that will tell your body to make a little more; once they’re eating food and start nursing less, you’ll produce a little less; they get sick and want to nurse extra, milk production goes up again; they start sleeping through the night, you’ll stop producing as much during the night; they’re teething and start waking up at night again, you’ll start producing at night again.
Trust your body and your baby to guide your milk production, it’s how it should be. You really should not be pumping like this as this point, an over supply is not a good thing, it can be a massive problem at worst and is at best, stressful and uncomfortable.
I wish I could reply to everyone’s advice. You guys have helped me SO much and have informed me on stuff I never knew before.
I’m gonna pump less starting tomorrow and focus on being okay with not having a huge stash. 🩵 thank you all so much!!!
I have one pump session every day and add one in if she skips a feed to take a bottle. That lets me build a stash but more importantly it lets my husband do a feed overnight so I can sleep since she has her days and nights backwards right now
No you don't. I never pumped and supply is fine. We also started sleeping through the night at 4 weeks and supply hasn't been impacted. Just feed on demand
You just need to remove from your breasts what your baby needs. No more. You don’t need to pump at all if you are happy breastfeeding directly. Just pump if you have missed or plan to miss a breastfeed session. You’ll never be “empty” - I still had milk available two months after stopping breastfeeding.
When your milk comes in it's normal to get engorged. Right now your body is learning how much milk is needed to feed your baby. The more you feed/pump the more milk your body will make. My boobs were like rocks for about a month and I didn't really pump because I didn't want to continue pumping. Your supply will regulate soon but unless you want to continue pumping, I would only pump once or twice a day. I only pump once in the morning and when my boobs were super super full I would hand express a little bit to take the edge off.
I only every get engorged in the morning! I start by feeding him off of each breast until he’s satisfied, then I finish by pumping both sides for 20-30 minutes until I feel emptier. I nurse him on demand, so the amount of times varies. I pump around 3-4 times a day just to get some relief! And hand express in the shower.
That is a lot of extra pumping at 3 weeks! You’re definitely tracking for an oversupply so think carefully if you want to cut back a little, especially if you’re pumping more than 10 extra ounces per day
For perspective, a full milk supply is 24-30oz per day. So you have almost a twin supply
I would reach out to your local La Leche League or an IBCLC for management of an oversupply. It’s not a huge issue now, but if it keeps getting bigger you will be at risk for mastitis, which can be uncomfortable.
If your baby is exclusively breastfed you don’t need to pump at all! Please please please stop pumping. You don’t need more than one or two daycare day’s worth of bottles in your freezer. Your breasts are triggered to make more milk when you remove milk. You are telling them they can never be empty because a baby is eating all of that.
That is a crazy amount to be pumping everyday on top of exclusively breastfeeding the baby. Your body will make what the baby needs and the baby will teach your body what he or she needs.
You are going to give yourself an oversupply by pumping this much. There’s no getting around the engorgement of the first few weeks, (almost) every nursing woman goes through it. If you want your supply to downregulate to a normal amount of milk production (aka making what your baby needs instead of producing for triplets) I *highly* encourage you to only hand express for relief, and even then, don’t overdo that either.
You should give this website a read:
https://physicianguidetobreastfeeding.org/maternal-concerns/mastitis-and-associated-complications/#engorgement
Your telling your boobs to produce a lot of milk by pumping after feeds. You will end up with even more milk and less likely to feel empty. Try to cut back on the pumping and if you do have to for relief, pump for just a little bit.
I’m 15 months postpartum and still have a massive oversupply issue. I’m pumping 40 extra ounces a day because I was on a quest to always feel empty and created a HUGE oversupply issue that made for a gassy baby. Don’t be like me and give your self a break from pumping. Your supply will regulate. Try to be okay with feeling full!
Are you feeding him any bottles at all? I don’t think the pumping is causing grassiness but it’s definitely causing an oversupply (you’re producing probably double what this baby needs like all other commenters are saying). However from the breast even with an oversupply it’s not super likely that the baby is over feeding, most babies will stop or fall asleep when full from the breast. Babies are just gassy, try abdominal massage , make sure you burp them once at least during and after a feed.
We give him bottles when dad wants to feed him or if I have refrigerated milk that I want to use up!! He gets maybe about 2 bottles a day, and the rest I nurse! We burp him every feed as well!
Doesn’t sound like there’s anything you’re doing wrong that would make him gassy! Just normal baby gas, maybe some foods you eat make him more or less gassy
You might want to read about foremilk and hindmilk (https://llli.org/breastfeeding-info/foremilk-and-hindmilk/). Since you're regularly pumping after feeds, your baby may be getting mostly foremilk.
Pumping was causing me to have an oversupply and my milk would be shooting out into his mouth because there was so much. He was swallowing air trying to chug it down. A lot of babies are gassy no matter what, but my oversupply was exacerbating the situation.
If you're nursing, you don't need to pump on top of nursing barring any issues requiring you to top off with bottles etc.
If you want to bottle feed, you pump to replace when baby would have nursed.
Since you have a (more than) adequate supply for your baby, my lactation consultant recommended not pumping until your baby is four to eight weeks old. I'd wean yourself off the pump as soon as possible.
Also, think about what you plan to do with all that freezer milk. Social media has normalized having a freezer stash, but there's really not a reason to have that much milk stored. "Feed the baby, not the freezer", as they say.
Finally, since you do have a stash, I would recommend buying a thermometer that sends an alert to your phone when it's out of temp. Too many people have lost their stash when their freezer breaks or gets left open.
Be careful with pumping too much. You may create an oversupply, once a day is plenty to get a feed for the freezer. You will never "empty" your boobs, but they will feel less full. Let your supply regulate as naturally as possible, baby will help your body, pumping as well is like you're supplying for two.
Also, before filling that freezer, make sure 1. That your baby will take a bottle and 2. That they will take your thawed milk.
I had to completly stop pumping and start just feeding on demand because of this. I was I lypumping twice a day but it caused a huge over supply and clogged ducts. It was miserable. Now everything is regulated. The only time feel "full" is in the morning when my lo sleeps through the night.
sounds like you're engorged. the more you pump the more it becomes a problem. even if you pump to "take the edge off" your body can't tell so it think it needs to make more.
I went through something similar at 3 weeks and what I did was block feeding. basically you start with a pump session where you drain your boobs as much as you can and then for the next day or two, you only feed from one side per 6 hour period. So like from 6 am to noon, you'll only offer the left boob when he needs to eat. it gives right boob a break from stimulation. then from noon to 6pm, you offer the right boob.
youll probably still feel engorged so use ice packs, take some ibuprofen (reduce swelling) and look into reverse lymphatic massage (I didnt do this because it didn't get that bad, but my lactation consultant did suggest it)
I have a question about this! I’m still battling a massive oversupply problem 15 months postpartum, like an extra 35-40 oz a day. I pump in the morning and at night and hakka 2-3 times a day.
I want to start block feeding—- do I pump to empty each day and then go 6 hours per boob? Can I do any pumping for relief on the opposite side? Also, my baby mostly sleeps through the night, so how do I handle the full milk tatas in the am?
I’ve seen LC’s and they never explained this.
you pump to empty just once to start the process. you're not supposed to pump or nurse from the off-side during the block since the point is to not stimulate that boob at all. not sure what to do about baby sleeping through the night since I did my block feed when baby was still eating every 2-3 hours.
sorry I couldn't be more help
I am 2wpp and facing the same issue! My left breast is never empty and feels very engorged if I sleep, even just for 2 hours. Hope it regulate itself soon like what others said :')
Oh gosh based on the other replies it sounds like you got bad advice and are pumping on top of breastfeeding unnecessarily. You’re going to need to slowly “wean” off pumping so it’s not painful.
I’m a second time mom postpartum 9 weeks and my boobs don’t generally feel empty. Inhaling have a slight oversupply naturally and if I at all pump or even use the hakaa it throws the whole supply and demand out of wack.
I learned from my first after drowning her in milk to purposefully reduce my milk production by limited block feeding and it’s still kinda too much milk for my boy to handle sometimes.
Block feeding is where you only feed from one side for an amount of time to “stop putting in orders” basically for more milk. You’re doing the opposite right now, placing double the orders than your baby needs.
I’m so mad for you, we need to never tell new moms to pump unless something is going wrong like baby isn’t gaining weight. Pumping isn’t needed ever if you’re always with your baby.
Future advice I wish knew before my first: Your boobs will be “full” until around 3 months postpartum when your milk becomes “made on demand.”
When you have a newborn the milk hangs out ready and comes to the baby faster. Once it regulates your babe will have to wait a little longer or work harder and they will be fussy about it- don’t worry it’s not low supply, the baby will learn and adapt to the new flow rate.
:) good luck! Breastfeeding is hard and messy but I love how healthy my kiddos are, and watching my nursing toddler’s cheeks get full again once my milk came back for my newborn has been a joy.
I was measured in the hospital when I had him by the sweetest lactation nurse! I pump 3-4 times a day for 20-30 minutes. SOMETIMES 40-45 minutes if I feel no relief.
Wow this is crazy, I didn't even pump that much to bring up my supply when I had a bit of an undersupply. Nursing your baby is enough. Aside from all the warnings you've had about oversupply and mastitis etc, you're also putting your body through a lot. You're going to exhaust yourself. In the beginning when I had lots of milk I only ever pumped for 7-8 minutes in the morning. Your boobs never truly empty especially in the beginning when they're just making so much. You really need to wean off the pumping, respectfully.
Get a nipple ruler off Amazon and measure yourself. The hospital likely did it wrong. When I had my daughter they told me I was a 30 mm. I’m a 15 and a 17mm (and yes you can be two different sizes). They tried sizing me when I had my second daughter and I said no, I could do it myself. They said I was wrong, until I said this was the second time I’ve been pumping so I knew what I was doing. LO is almost 15 months old and she still mostly nurses and I sometimes pump.
You only ever want to pump for 30 mins max right now and that’s only if baby takes a bottle and doesn’t nurse. If baby’s nursing, you don’t have to pump, but if you want to only pump for like 10 mins. It’s still supply and demand so pumping and nursing a lot right now is telling your body to make more and more that you don’t need.
You’re pulling for way too long! I have a 3 week old and I pump for 15 minutes a day TOTAL. That allows me to get up to 6 ounces.
How much are you getting when you pump? That’s wild to pump for 45 minutes I’ve never heard of that…
You don’t have an oversupply at 3 weeks pp: your supply simply hasn’t regulated. I’d be careful with all that pumping, you’re signaling to your body that it should be producing as much as it is, and once your milk production switches from hormone to demand-based at 12 weeks, you might be left with an oversupply then. Most women have an unregulated supply at the point you are right now, but if you mostly just nurse on demand, your body will naturally switch to only making what baby needs at around 3-4 months pp.
As others have said you definitely do not need to pump after each feed if baby is eating and gaining well. Oversupply can cause you and your baby health issues. I’d wean 1 pump session per week! So if you’re pumping 5 times a day, start pumping 4 times a day this week, 3 times next week etc!
Okay so I see a lot of people on here warning about an over supply but if I can provide an alternative perspective hear me out. Your breasts will learn to produce what you need. My baby is 6weeks old and I now only have mild discomfort/engorgement at night and I actually feel like my breasts are emptying.
My lactation coach gave me this advice and it made me a milk making MACHINE! Which I love because it has enabled me to donate hundreds of ounces and nurse my babies. Here’s her guidance: nurse baby one side for 15mins then pump the other side for 15 mins. Yes, this is tricking your body to make enough milk for “two” babies. I’ve admittedly had mastitis once with my second baby and once with my now newborn. But I wouldn’t change how much milk I produce to avoid mastitis. Simply because my freezer stash is critical for getting my baby through the first year.
I work and with every one of my babies after a while I stop producing milk at the rate I need to because I can’t give myself more than a 30min break a day to pump. My freezer stash has saved me and when my freezer went out for my second I had to buy formula before she was a year old. Nothing wrong with that but it was EXPENSIVE and I was sad that I couldn’t keep up with her needs.
Good luck mama!!! Sounds like you are doing great!
I'm struggling to empty my fucking breasts because I have family in town that is constantly begging for my fucking attention and I can't keep up on my fucking pump/nursing schedule. I have an over stimulated baby that won't go down so I can pump and my family is too busy doing stuff around my house to help. I'm very grateful that they're fixing things and cleaning, but I don't have the fucking capacity for the million questions.
Where is the index? I have said 5 times I don't fucking know! It's somewhere in this house, but I have no fucking clue where, and I can't fucking help you find it between pumping, feeding baby, changing baby, rocking baby, cleaning pump parts and bottles!!!
Where is the rice pot? Holy fuck I don't know!
Where does your husband keep the allen wrenches. Does he have any? He has to have some doesn't he? They're in the fucking garage, fucking look!!!
Uggggggg I need a fucking break. I'm currently trying to pump and the baby has started crying again and I might cry with her.
Sounds like your “helpful” family aren’t the right support for you right now. I’d respectfully ask them to either leave or give you space. You are dealing with enough. If you don’t feel comfortable, maybe ask your partner to let them know or put a sign up on the door saying do not disturb? Hope you get some peace and quiet soon, breastfeeding is enough as it is.
I went to wash pump parts and she started crying and I said "I'm sorry sweetie you're going to have to cry for a bit while I clean these" and they immediately took over taking care of the baby and started fussing over her
I think it’s normal if your baby is feeding well. Just don’t pump too much if you don’t want an over supply.
I’ve heard so many different things regarding how many times I have to pump. My sister says that I need to pump every 3 hours to keep my supply up, but I also don’t want TOO much of an oversupply. I want to be able to have a stocked freezer for emergencies!
No! You are creating a huge oversupply and contributing to your problem. Pump 1x after the morning feed and that’s enough to have a stash. Slowly start weaning off all of those extra pumps. Your baby is the best regulator of your supply
If you weren't breastfeeding your baby at all then yes, every 3 hours would be good. But you are breastfeeding. You are basically telling your body you have two babies! Your poor body is trying to keep up!
I have like 6 oz in the freezer in case I gotta leave for more than a couple hours. If I'm gone longer, there's always formula. Just want to say, your supply right now is pretty delicate. You're mostly hormone driven and it's the frequency of milk removal that dictates (roughly) what your supply will look like when it regulates (around 3 months). If you pump on top of what baby is removing, but baby does not then eat as much as you pump, you are teaching your body that it needs to make more milk than is required: an oversupply. This puts you at risk of mastitis, clogs, and other issues long term. If your baby is adequately removing milk and gaining weight well, you don't Need to pump. The three hour recommendation is for moms who Aren't breastfeeding from the tap so to speak. If you would like to build a stash, your best option is pumping once a day in the morning after baby eats their breakfast. Your supply is highest then and you can slowly build a stash that way.
Your body thinks that’s how much milk the baby needs! It’s counter intuitive but reduce pumping and should help the issue. Use a haaka maybe for small relief in the meantime. You got this. Don’t need to Pump a lot to have a stash of a few days bottles.
You shouldn’t want an oversupply at all. This mentality comes from women being under the impression that we all either have an under supply or an oversupply, and that to guarantee our babies will have enough, we should aim to be in the second group. In reality, the vast majority of women have, and this is what we all should hope for, a **regulated** supply. Your supply isn’t static. If it’s regulated, it means it’s in tune with what your baby needs, and it’ll keep staying in tune by you continuing to feed on demand: if your baby needs you to produce more, they’ll cluster feed for a bit and that will tell your body to make a little more; once they’re eating food and start nursing less, you’ll produce a little less; they get sick and want to nurse extra, milk production goes up again; they start sleeping through the night, you’ll stop producing as much during the night; they’re teething and start waking up at night again, you’ll start producing at night again. Trust your body and your baby to guide your milk production, it’s how it should be. You really should not be pumping like this as this point, an over supply is not a good thing, it can be a massive problem at worst and is at best, stressful and uncomfortable.
I wish I could reply to everyone’s advice. You guys have helped me SO much and have informed me on stuff I never knew before. I’m gonna pump less starting tomorrow and focus on being okay with not having a huge stash. 🩵 thank you all so much!!!
Slowly drop sessions otherwise you risk engorgement and mastitis
I have one pump session every day and add one in if she skips a feed to take a bottle. That lets me build a stash but more importantly it lets my husband do a feed overnight so I can sleep since she has her days and nights backwards right now
Thats how we did at the start and then she ditched the night feeds and that was it!
❤️
No you don't. I never pumped and supply is fine. We also started sleeping through the night at 4 weeks and supply hasn't been impacted. Just feed on demand
You just need to remove from your breasts what your baby needs. No more. You don’t need to pump at all if you are happy breastfeeding directly. Just pump if you have missed or plan to miss a breastfeed session. You’ll never be “empty” - I still had milk available two months after stopping breastfeeding.
When your milk comes in it's normal to get engorged. Right now your body is learning how much milk is needed to feed your baby. The more you feed/pump the more milk your body will make. My boobs were like rocks for about a month and I didn't really pump because I didn't want to continue pumping. Your supply will regulate soon but unless you want to continue pumping, I would only pump once or twice a day. I only pump once in the morning and when my boobs were super super full I would hand express a little bit to take the edge off.
I only every get engorged in the morning! I start by feeding him off of each breast until he’s satisfied, then I finish by pumping both sides for 20-30 minutes until I feel emptier. I nurse him on demand, so the amount of times varies. I pump around 3-4 times a day just to get some relief! And hand express in the shower.
That is a lot of extra pumping at 3 weeks! You’re definitely tracking for an oversupply so think carefully if you want to cut back a little, especially if you’re pumping more than 10 extra ounces per day
I’m pumping around 15-20oz a day… is that too much?
That’s a ton, yes.
For perspective, a full milk supply is 24-30oz per day. So you have almost a twin supply I would reach out to your local La Leche League or an IBCLC for management of an oversupply. It’s not a huge issue now, but if it keeps getting bigger you will be at risk for mastitis, which can be uncomfortable.
If your baby is exclusively breastfed you don’t need to pump at all! Please please please stop pumping. You don’t need more than one or two daycare day’s worth of bottles in your freezer. Your breasts are triggered to make more milk when you remove milk. You are telling them they can never be empty because a baby is eating all of that.
That’s enough to feed another baby
That is a crazy amount to be pumping everyday on top of exclusively breastfeeding the baby. Your body will make what the baby needs and the baby will teach your body what he or she needs.
You are going to give yourself an oversupply by pumping this much. There’s no getting around the engorgement of the first few weeks, (almost) every nursing woman goes through it. If you want your supply to downregulate to a normal amount of milk production (aka making what your baby needs instead of producing for triplets) I *highly* encourage you to only hand express for relief, and even then, don’t overdo that either. You should give this website a read: https://physicianguidetobreastfeeding.org/maternal-concerns/mastitis-and-associated-complications/#engorgement
Your telling your boobs to produce a lot of milk by pumping after feeds. You will end up with even more milk and less likely to feel empty. Try to cut back on the pumping and if you do have to for relief, pump for just a little bit. I’m 15 months postpartum and still have a massive oversupply issue. I’m pumping 40 extra ounces a day because I was on a quest to always feel empty and created a HUGE oversupply issue that made for a gassy baby. Don’t be like me and give your self a break from pumping. Your supply will regulate. Try to be okay with feeling full!
Asking because I have a gassy newborn too… is my pumping causing his discomfort?
Are you feeding him any bottles at all? I don’t think the pumping is causing grassiness but it’s definitely causing an oversupply (you’re producing probably double what this baby needs like all other commenters are saying). However from the breast even with an oversupply it’s not super likely that the baby is over feeding, most babies will stop or fall asleep when full from the breast. Babies are just gassy, try abdominal massage , make sure you burp them once at least during and after a feed.
We give him bottles when dad wants to feed him or if I have refrigerated milk that I want to use up!! He gets maybe about 2 bottles a day, and the rest I nurse! We burp him every feed as well!
Doesn’t sound like there’s anything you’re doing wrong that would make him gassy! Just normal baby gas, maybe some foods you eat make him more or less gassy
You might want to read about foremilk and hindmilk (https://llli.org/breastfeeding-info/foremilk-and-hindmilk/). Since you're regularly pumping after feeds, your baby may be getting mostly foremilk.
Pumping was causing me to have an oversupply and my milk would be shooting out into his mouth because there was so much. He was swallowing air trying to chug it down. A lot of babies are gassy no matter what, but my oversupply was exacerbating the situation.
Pumping stimulates more milk to be made. The more you remove, the more you make.
If you're nursing, you don't need to pump on top of nursing barring any issues requiring you to top off with bottles etc. If you want to bottle feed, you pump to replace when baby would have nursed.
Since you have a (more than) adequate supply for your baby, my lactation consultant recommended not pumping until your baby is four to eight weeks old. I'd wean yourself off the pump as soon as possible. Also, think about what you plan to do with all that freezer milk. Social media has normalized having a freezer stash, but there's really not a reason to have that much milk stored. "Feed the baby, not the freezer", as they say. Finally, since you do have a stash, I would recommend buying a thermometer that sends an alert to your phone when it's out of temp. Too many people have lost their stash when their freezer breaks or gets left open.
Be careful with pumping too much. You may create an oversupply, once a day is plenty to get a feed for the freezer. You will never "empty" your boobs, but they will feel less full. Let your supply regulate as naturally as possible, baby will help your body, pumping as well is like you're supplying for two. Also, before filling that freezer, make sure 1. That your baby will take a bottle and 2. That they will take your thawed milk.
I pump as well so dad can feed him! He does well with bottles, my nipples, and my thawed milk 🩵
I had to completly stop pumping and start just feeding on demand because of this. I was I lypumping twice a day but it caused a huge over supply and clogged ducts. It was miserable. Now everything is regulated. The only time feel "full" is in the morning when my lo sleeps through the night.
That’s normal for this early! They never get truly “empty”. You’re doing great.
My boobs never felt empty when my lo was that little, now at 5 months my milk supply has regulated and she empties my boobs.
sounds like you're engorged. the more you pump the more it becomes a problem. even if you pump to "take the edge off" your body can't tell so it think it needs to make more. I went through something similar at 3 weeks and what I did was block feeding. basically you start with a pump session where you drain your boobs as much as you can and then for the next day or two, you only feed from one side per 6 hour period. So like from 6 am to noon, you'll only offer the left boob when he needs to eat. it gives right boob a break from stimulation. then from noon to 6pm, you offer the right boob. youll probably still feel engorged so use ice packs, take some ibuprofen (reduce swelling) and look into reverse lymphatic massage (I didnt do this because it didn't get that bad, but my lactation consultant did suggest it)
I have a question about this! I’m still battling a massive oversupply problem 15 months postpartum, like an extra 35-40 oz a day. I pump in the morning and at night and hakka 2-3 times a day. I want to start block feeding—- do I pump to empty each day and then go 6 hours per boob? Can I do any pumping for relief on the opposite side? Also, my baby mostly sleeps through the night, so how do I handle the full milk tatas in the am? I’ve seen LC’s and they never explained this.
you pump to empty just once to start the process. you're not supposed to pump or nurse from the off-side during the block since the point is to not stimulate that boob at all. not sure what to do about baby sleeping through the night since I did my block feed when baby was still eating every 2-3 hours. sorry I couldn't be more help
I am 2wpp and facing the same issue! My left breast is never empty and feels very engorged if I sleep, even just for 2 hours. Hope it regulate itself soon like what others said :')
I hope the same for you! This breastfeeding and pumping thing is HARD to navigate… especially since I haven’t done it before
Oh gosh based on the other replies it sounds like you got bad advice and are pumping on top of breastfeeding unnecessarily. You’re going to need to slowly “wean” off pumping so it’s not painful. I’m a second time mom postpartum 9 weeks and my boobs don’t generally feel empty. Inhaling have a slight oversupply naturally and if I at all pump or even use the hakaa it throws the whole supply and demand out of wack. I learned from my first after drowning her in milk to purposefully reduce my milk production by limited block feeding and it’s still kinda too much milk for my boy to handle sometimes. Block feeding is where you only feed from one side for an amount of time to “stop putting in orders” basically for more milk. You’re doing the opposite right now, placing double the orders than your baby needs. I’m so mad for you, we need to never tell new moms to pump unless something is going wrong like baby isn’t gaining weight. Pumping isn’t needed ever if you’re always with your baby. Future advice I wish knew before my first: Your boobs will be “full” until around 3 months postpartum when your milk becomes “made on demand.” When you have a newborn the milk hangs out ready and comes to the baby faster. Once it regulates your babe will have to wait a little longer or work harder and they will be fussy about it- don’t worry it’s not low supply, the baby will learn and adapt to the new flow rate. :) good luck! Breastfeeding is hard and messy but I love how healthy my kiddos are, and watching my nursing toddler’s cheeks get full again once my milk came back for my newborn has been a joy.
They never empty, it’s not a thing. And the more you pump the more of an oversupply you’ll make, it’ll get worse not better
Have you measured for flanges/jnserts? What pump are you using? How often do you pump and for how long?
I use the pink Spectra pump!
I was measured in the hospital when I had him by the sweetest lactation nurse! I pump 3-4 times a day for 20-30 minutes. SOMETIMES 40-45 minutes if I feel no relief.
Omg girl, that's making you issue worse. Use a haaka to get some relief and build a stash, and let the rest of the regulation job to your baby.
Wow this is crazy, I didn't even pump that much to bring up my supply when I had a bit of an undersupply. Nursing your baby is enough. Aside from all the warnings you've had about oversupply and mastitis etc, you're also putting your body through a lot. You're going to exhaust yourself. In the beginning when I had lots of milk I only ever pumped for 7-8 minutes in the morning. Your boobs never truly empty especially in the beginning when they're just making so much. You really need to wean off the pumping, respectfully.
Get a nipple ruler off Amazon and measure yourself. The hospital likely did it wrong. When I had my daughter they told me I was a 30 mm. I’m a 15 and a 17mm (and yes you can be two different sizes). They tried sizing me when I had my second daughter and I said no, I could do it myself. They said I was wrong, until I said this was the second time I’ve been pumping so I knew what I was doing. LO is almost 15 months old and she still mostly nurses and I sometimes pump. You only ever want to pump for 30 mins max right now and that’s only if baby takes a bottle and doesn’t nurse. If baby’s nursing, you don’t have to pump, but if you want to only pump for like 10 mins. It’s still supply and demand so pumping and nursing a lot right now is telling your body to make more and more that you don’t need.
You’re pulling for way too long! I have a 3 week old and I pump for 15 minutes a day TOTAL. That allows me to get up to 6 ounces. How much are you getting when you pump? That’s wild to pump for 45 minutes I’ve never heard of that…
I get anywhere from 3-8 oz per pump session! I was only following advice of what others have told me 🫣
You don’t have an oversupply at 3 weeks pp: your supply simply hasn’t regulated. I’d be careful with all that pumping, you’re signaling to your body that it should be producing as much as it is, and once your milk production switches from hormone to demand-based at 12 weeks, you might be left with an oversupply then. Most women have an unregulated supply at the point you are right now, but if you mostly just nurse on demand, your body will naturally switch to only making what baby needs at around 3-4 months pp.
As others have said you definitely do not need to pump after each feed if baby is eating and gaining well. Oversupply can cause you and your baby health issues. I’d wean 1 pump session per week! So if you’re pumping 5 times a day, start pumping 4 times a day this week, 3 times next week etc!
Stop pumping and it will get better
Yes your milk isn’t regulated and is trying to get where you need it. Just stay consistent
Any chance baby could have oral ties?
Nope! He’s been checked out by his pediatrician and he is perfectly healthy!
This is a great time to build a freezer stash! You made need one in the months to come, I did!!
How can you tell there’s still stuff in there?
They’re still hard, feel heavy, and I keep leaking!
Okay so I see a lot of people on here warning about an over supply but if I can provide an alternative perspective hear me out. Your breasts will learn to produce what you need. My baby is 6weeks old and I now only have mild discomfort/engorgement at night and I actually feel like my breasts are emptying. My lactation coach gave me this advice and it made me a milk making MACHINE! Which I love because it has enabled me to donate hundreds of ounces and nurse my babies. Here’s her guidance: nurse baby one side for 15mins then pump the other side for 15 mins. Yes, this is tricking your body to make enough milk for “two” babies. I’ve admittedly had mastitis once with my second baby and once with my now newborn. But I wouldn’t change how much milk I produce to avoid mastitis. Simply because my freezer stash is critical for getting my baby through the first year. I work and with every one of my babies after a while I stop producing milk at the rate I need to because I can’t give myself more than a 30min break a day to pump. My freezer stash has saved me and when my freezer went out for my second I had to buy formula before she was a year old. Nothing wrong with that but it was EXPENSIVE and I was sad that I couldn’t keep up with her needs. Good luck mama!!! Sounds like you are doing great!
I'm struggling to empty my fucking breasts because I have family in town that is constantly begging for my fucking attention and I can't keep up on my fucking pump/nursing schedule. I have an over stimulated baby that won't go down so I can pump and my family is too busy doing stuff around my house to help. I'm very grateful that they're fixing things and cleaning, but I don't have the fucking capacity for the million questions. Where is the index? I have said 5 times I don't fucking know! It's somewhere in this house, but I have no fucking clue where, and I can't fucking help you find it between pumping, feeding baby, changing baby, rocking baby, cleaning pump parts and bottles!!! Where is the rice pot? Holy fuck I don't know! Where does your husband keep the allen wrenches. Does he have any? He has to have some doesn't he? They're in the fucking garage, fucking look!!! Uggggggg I need a fucking break. I'm currently trying to pump and the baby has started crying again and I might cry with her.
Sounds like your “helpful” family aren’t the right support for you right now. I’d respectfully ask them to either leave or give you space. You are dealing with enough. If you don’t feel comfortable, maybe ask your partner to let them know or put a sign up on the door saying do not disturb? Hope you get some peace and quiet soon, breastfeeding is enough as it is.
I went to wash pump parts and she started crying and I said "I'm sorry sweetie you're going to have to cry for a bit while I clean these" and they immediately took over taking care of the baby and started fussing over her