Pumping Schedule- Questions for Full-Time Working Pumpers

[BayAreaMom]

Hello, I recently returned to work (Liz is 3 1/2 mo) and have some questions about my pumping schedule. I am gone from the house from 7 am-6:15 pm M-F. Usually i BF before i leave for work on one side and then pump the other side (Liz doesn't wake up very hungry, so one side is enough). Right now i'm trying to pump three times at work which is difficult- it takes so much time and my office doesn't have a good space to pump!. So far I've noted the followed trends:

6:30am- great flow, stop pumping at 5 oz (1 side)
9 am- great flow, stop pumping at 9-10 oz (total)
noon- moderate flow, milk slows/stops at 5-7 oz (total)
3:30 pm- slow flow, milk slows/stops at 5-6 oz (total)

Liz has been consuming betweeen 24-26 oz/day of milk when i'm gone (on top of that i feed her once before i leave and once when i get home).

Based on what i've listed above, i'm wondering if i could eliminate one of the pumpings and try and get 9-10 oz out of my afternoon pumping session- maybe pumping once in the morning at around 10 am and once in the afternoon at around 2 pm? I have a great supply/fast flow in the morning, but it really slows down after lunch. Should i be pumping out as much milk as possible when my flow is great? Or, should i stop when i reach 5 oz on one side?

I have a great freezer stash, it's half our freezer, something like 70-80 4 oz. packets. Crazy, i know, but i knew it would come in handy when i went back to work. Liz would only feed on one side when she woke up in the middle of the night, and usually the other side was engorged so i would pump. Now, she's sleeping through the night, so i don't have that extra milk.

Any help is appreciated- pumping is a lot more work and time consuming than i expected, but i really want to keep it up as long as possible.

Thanks

[Momof3Labs]

You probably could get away with combining the two pumpings, but if your output decreases, add one back in again. I only pump two times on days that I am away from DS (1-2 days per week, usually not consecutive). But I would pump until you are "empty", so to speak. No reason to stop at 5oz on one side, except that's how much a Medela bottle holds (unless you fill it alllll the way to the top, then you can get 6oz per bottle ;) ). You can even get a second letdown by switching your pump back to low suction/fast speed until the second letdown comes, and pumping at higher suction/slow speed through that letdown.

Note that around 4 months, your supply goes from being driven by hormones to driven by demand. So you may notice a decrease (and have to add back in that third pumping to keep up) around that time.

[tarahsolazy]

It sounds like you are doing great! I agree with Lori that you can try dropping a pump and see how it goes.

Pump at each session until you absolutely can't get more out, especially if you are decreasing from 3 to 2 sessions.

I never pumped during my short maternity leave (6weeks, ugh), and had very little freezer stash. I also never pumped more than 7-8oz per pumping session. But, my son never got formula and nursed for 19 months! Just pointing out that experiences differ, to give heart to mamas without your awesome supply.