How long does it take you to pump to get what you need?

[morgan47]

I know there have been lots of discussions about pumping and low supply, which I've read, but I don't know what else to do.

Right now I'm barely pumping enough milk to get my DS through daycare, and I'm worried that I might not even be pumping enough. It takes me at least 2-3 let-downs, and 30 minutes or more to get a decent amount. For example, earlier today I pumped for 45 minutes and got 3.5 ounces. That's lower than usual, but it worries me.

I started taking fenugreek last week (2 capsules twice a day, maybe I need more?), and Mother's Milk (1-2 times a day, just seems to make me have to pee a lot), and have been eating oatmeal for breakfast everyday since Saturday. I pump 3 times a day at work, about every 3 hours, and try to get a session in the morning before I go to work (when my boobs are fullest). I've also changed the white valves on my Ameda PY.

What else can I do? Is it normal to pump for 30-45 minutes at a time? Should I pump more often for less time? The longer my sessions get, the less time there is until the next one.

I didn't seem to be having any problems until recently and have been pumping at work for 3 months. Maybe it's my pump? Is there anything else besides the valves that need to be changed periodically? How can I tell if it's my supply vs. the pump? Could it be my diet? I recently had to drop all milk and soy products.

This is so frustrating! And I can't even dip into my sizeable freezer stash because of the new elimination diet. Aaargh!

It usually took me about 15 minutes to pump. I definately had more output in the mornings than in the afternoons. I pumped 3x a day and then had to catch oup on the weekends. I had to ditch my stash with Jack because I developed thrush. I was never able to rebuild a stash. I would end up pumping an extra session in the evening and then a few extras on the weekends.
As far as diet-I might try upping my protein intake. I found that sometimes that helped. Maybe with the loss of dairy you have dropped some. Try adding some extra to your meals.
And do a search-I am pretty sure you can take more fenugreek than that. I think I was taking 3 capsules, 3 x a day.
Barbara-mom to Jack 3/27/03, a Red Sox fan
and Anna 5/12/05, my little Yankee fan!

[slknight]

I usually pumped for about 15 minutes and could get at least 3 ounces. 30-45 minutes at once would make me nuts. How much water are you drinking? Try drinking a lot of water for a few days and see if that helps. And when I say a lot, I mean a lot - at least 100 oz a day.

[stillplayswithbarbies]

Does the pump feel or sound any different to you? Is it still getting good suction? If you think it is not, call Ameda, they are very good about sending out replacement pumps.

I used to pump for that long during lunchtime. I just set up the handsfree thing and pumped while I ate and surfed the boards. :) I rarely got more than one letdown though.

One thing that will help is being consistent about getting in that morning session. You want your body to make more milk for the extra feeding, and if you do it every day it will get into that rhythm.

How old is your baby? After about 4 months, the hormones that have been making milk on demand are mostly gone and your body is making milk based on "remembering" your baby's patterns of eating up until now.

[morgan47]

Thanks for the input. I don't think it's the pump, but I'll keep an eye on it. I think yesterday was just a bad pumping day. I'm pumping right now and seem to be doing better, though I wasn't able to pump at home before work. It's so hard to just get out of the house in the morning! I'll try to make the morning pump a habit, though.

My son is 6 months old, and I do drink water all day (keep a bottle on my desk), but I should probably drink more. I'll add another dose of fenugreek too. I'll also try to get more protein, which is hard without milk and soy (more eggs and beans!).

I'm going on vacation next week so I won't be pumping (maybe a bottle or two for Grandma so we can get out). Would it help if I try to feed DS more often to increase my supply, provided he's willing to eat (he rarely refuses the boob)?

You may not want to do this - but I definitely increased my supply by pumping after each feed. I would pump for about 15-20 min after dd finished eating. Now that I am at work, I pump only twice a day - but I get 10oz each time. This takes anywhere from 20-45 min with turning the pump on and off multiple times to stimulate more letdowns. My supply has been good and my family keeps telling me to back off on the pumping as I now have taken over 3 small freezers (in NYC apt of my ILs and our own) - but I am hesitant to do so and compromise my supply. So on the weekends now (when we don't give any bottles), I still pump at least 3 times - definitely in the am after dd feeds, once during the day or afternoon, and once after she goes to sleep. I had not heard the information about the difference in hormones after 4 months and how your body adjusts to supply - but as babies grow they eat more and your body should automatically adjust to that. I assumed that if you continue to demand more milk, ie: continue to pump, your body should respond accordingly.

One more thing - make sure you are taking in enough calories as well. Figure 20cal per oz of BM minimum (that is how much that the baby gets - not counting the cal it takes for your body to make it). It may be hard to do so on the limited diet.

Hang in there! Good luck!:-)

Ismee
mother to dd Auden 3/1/05

I was a low producer for the pump and routinely had to pump for 30 minutes at a time. I usually got three letdowns that way.

What saved me was pumping one side while feeding DS during the night. N never slept through the night while he was nursing, so I always had an opportunity to do that. It usually netted me an extra 2-3 ounces a day.

While on vacation, I'd put DS to the breast as often as possible AND try to pump one side at least once a day to convince your body it needs to make extra milk.

I had to avoid dairy, but not soy, but I definitely saw an increase (however minor) when I was eating enough protein.

Good luck!

[vwh99]

What got me through when I was falling behind on keeping up with dd's demand was waking up earlier and pumping in the AM before the baby woke up. I noticed that I was able to pump WAY more than dd consumed per feed (I got up to 10 ounces!) so that I didn't stress when I would only pump 3-4 oz. while at work. With those AM pumping sessions, my total output somehow matched dd's daily intake. Of course, I didn't nurse dd after those AM pumping sessions, but the tradeoff was that I didn't feel rushed nursing her while trying to leave for work...she was quite the slow eater so I was glad to give up that AM nursing during the workweek!

This regimen didn't help me out too much as I approached 10 months mark and I noticed that both my AM and PM outputs decreased dramatically. But, it did help me a lot through months 4-9!!

As for the length of pumping, I found that the first 15-20 minutes were the most effective for me and that I didn't get much after two letdowns....didn't feel it was worth the effort to just get drops after that.

HTH

Val

Can someone explain multiple let-downs in one pumping session and how to do it? I am a new mom and having latch problems, so I am exclusively pumping until we see the LC on Tuesday. Thank you.

[stillplayswithbarbies]

When you are pumping, and the milk stops spurting out, you keep pumping and sometime you will get another letdown and it will start spurting again.

You can simulate what the baby does in order to get a letdown, and going back to that pattern can stimulate another letdown. You want to start out pumping on a fast speed and low suction. Then when the letdown starts, switch to slow speed and high suction. That is what the baby does, with shallow fast sucks to get the milk started and then deep slow sucks to drink it.