Last week I introduced you to the supplies you will need to successfully become an exclusive pumper.
This week I'd like to tell you a little bit about how often and for how long you should pump.
During my early days, especially during the engorgement and mastitis, I was pumping as often as she was eating.
Every 2-3 hours for about 15-20 minutes.
Well, yes, as a matter of fact it was, however, I don't think it's much different than nursing an newborn.
As Bitsy started to eat more at each sitting and her feedings became fewer and fewer apart so did my pumping sessions.
However, when I did pump I pumped until nothing came out.
That meant that sometimes, especially towards the end, I was pumping for 45-50 minutes.
Now there is no science behind when and how long to pump.
The best thing is to listen to your own body.
One thing to keep in mind, however, is that you should pump until you have nothing coming out and then you should continue to pump for a few more minutes.
This does one major thing that is uber important for you to be able to not only provide for baby, but to also build a stock pile for future use.
By pumping 'nothing' for a few minutes you are telling your body that you need more.
Thus, over time your body will produce more and more, giving you the extra that is needed for your stockpile.
I have heard from friends that their doctor tells them not to do this because it will lead to over production...let me just say I am not seeing or hearing a problem with the concept of 'over' production.
Is there really such a thing?
After all you never know when baby may hit a growth spurt and need that extra milk.
Traditionally breastfed babies are typically on demand eaters meaning that the get what the body has when it has it.
As EPers we don't know how much our little one would be getting if they were nursing so it is best for us to stimulate production and have 'too much' vs. not enough.
So in the early days, as I stated above, I pumped 15-20 minutes every 2-3 hours.
If it was 9 am and I pumped and finished at 9:15 that meant that the next pump session needed to start between 11-12. You include your pumping time in the 2-3 hour window.
I was pumping between 8 and 10 times per day.
Slowly I dropped one session and then another...and gradually over time allowed myself 4 hours between sessions.
6 sessions a day will feel drastically different, in fact each time you drop a session you will ultimately feel as though you have more time on your hands.
Yes, even if your pumping sessions become longer, the 'missing' session is still a freeing experience as you won't be tethered down.
While I transitioned from 6-5 sessions a day, I would have days when I pumped 6 and others when I would only pump 5 times.
I had allotted myself 8 hours at night when I didn't need to pump and you will learn that when you do this morning pumps are the most important pumps of the day.
These are the sessions where you will pump the longest and yield the largest supply.
Sometimes my pumping from this session was enough to provide for Bitsy's needs for that entire day and the remaining pumps were all stored and frozen for our stockpile.
No other pump session yielded anywhere near what my morning session did.
The good thing was that during the early days Bitsy wasn't mobile so I could sit on the floor with her and pump while she played and attempted to roll around.
I will say that a few times I dropped sessions out of time constraint vs. anything else.
For example, going on vacation at Christmas forced me to drop down to 4 sessions that lasted about 30-35 minutes each.
I didn't always have the luxury of pumping when I normally would at home and unlike a traditional breastfeeding experience I didn't have the luxury of feeding while among family or out in public. Image walking around with your pump hooked up...not quite the same as lovingly snuggling up and nursing your baby.
The next time I traveled it happened that I was in the airport the vast majority of the day with little time during layovers or no where to set up.
It was because of that situation that reducing to 3x a day occurred.
I did not reduce beyond 3x a day until I was ready to wean.
Keep in mind that when I was pumping 3x a day each session was around 45 minutes.
This seems lengthy, but if you can get a good system the time will fly.
As I stated I would sit on the floor with Bitsy, we would play and I could turn on an episode of a TV show, by the time it was done, I was almost done.
I advise you keep a diaper nearby, in the event of a blowout...traipsing across the room to acquire a diaper while simultaneously being tethered to the wall and attempting not to unhook or allow the baby to grab your tubes is not what I would call a fun activity.
**
IMPORTANT**
Another thing to keep by you while you are pumping is EXTRA bottles!
When bottles become full, the last thing you want is to attempt to unhook and rush to the kitchen to swap out.
The times I did this I lost momentum and ultimately didn't pump quite as much.
In the early days I could pump straight into the 5oz bottles, but as I dropped sessions and each session yielded more I gradually increased to hooking up with 9oz bottles.
Occasionally, I would fill a 9oz bottle on one or both sides and need to swap out for a 5oz bottle to catch the remaining 1 to 2 oz I still needed to pump.
That's right, you read that correctly...my 1st pumps of the day could yield between 18 and 24oz!!!
I had days where my total production was 50 oz +/- a few ounces.
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Now this is all fine and dandy, but how do you go about storing all this milk?
I found this video and it is genius!
I always stored my milk in the Lanisoh freezer bags.
I limited each bag to 4 oz as they seem to freeze flat a little better than if you put 5 oz in.
But, whatever amount you choose to fill your bags, the above videos storage concept is awesome!
At the time that I weaned I had 30 gift bags full of milk.
Each gift bag held 20 bags filled to 4oz each.
That comes out to 2400 oz of milk!!!
Most babies top out at 40 oz per day so that meant I had 60 days guaranteed freezer supply.
I weaned when Bitsy was almost 9 months.
She consumes between 30-35 oz a day which gives us 68-80 days at this point in time.
I know that babies should not go onto cow's milk until at least age one so it does look like Bitsy will consume formula for the last month to month and a half before she is one.
I would have liked to have provided for her until she was one, however, we would like to try for baby number 2 (
we've always wanted them to be close in age) and I needed to wean to get back on cycle.
Please do not judge, this is a judge free zone.
I know that I have a healthy happy baby and the health benefits, in my opinion, aren't nearly as great now as they were in the beginning.
Being an EPer, this card rings OH so true.
I hope this makes you giggle a little!
I hope that this post has helped answer some questions about exclusive pumping, what it is, who we are and how it can be done.
If you have any questions or if you think I've forgotten to cover a particular area (which I may or might have)...please leave a comment or shoot me a message!
I want to make sure this is a thorough and helpful guide for anyone who is struggling with breastfeeding and thinks that the only other option is formula, there are other options.
I hope you all have a Blessed Thursday!
additional sources:
http://pumpingrules.blogspot.com/
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