# Why does pumping take so LONG? Help!



## MamaDiane (Oct 26, 2006)

It's my second day back at work full-time, and I'm stressed about how long it's taking me to pump! This morning I was at it for 45 minutes, for 5oz. Just now, I spent almost an hour to get a measly 3oz! Help! I'm blessed to have my own office in which to pump, but I really can't spend the whole day topless and attached to the pump!








Supply is not the issue - I feel like I could pump for hours and continue to get a trickle.
Any advice for speeding up the process???
TIA.


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## tygrss (Sep 4, 2007)

Do you have a picture of your baby or an article of his/her clothing? I haven't returned to work yet, but just looking at/thinking about my baby or getting his scent (from a blanket) will cause my milk flow to pick up within seconds.

It's also good to stop when you see the flow stop. Get up, stretch and massage your breasts. Then start again. When I do this I can typically get another 2-3 ounces.

You can also try varying the speed of your pump.

Lastly, I'm assuming that you are pumping both sides simultaneously? If not, you should start. Your body releases more prolactin this way, resulting in more milk pumped (i.e. you'll pump more milk by pumping both breasts at the same time than pumping each one individually).
Hopefully this was helpful.


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## Benji'sMom (Sep 14, 2004)

It is recommended that you not pump more than 20 min each session. Some women's flow will stop after that, some will continuously get a trickle, but either way, stop after 20 min.

It's normal for supply to be more in the morning and less after that. So don't stay attached to the pump forever thinking that you MUST get 5 oz each time.

Did you estimate how much your baby will eat while you're away? Because remember you only need to pump what your baby will eat the next day during working hours. For example I would pump 12-16 oz a day and my baby normally would take 12 oz so that worked out well. Just keep that in mind, if you don't get everything you need you can add some pumping sessions on weekends or something, to make up for it.

How far apart were these 2 pumping sessions we're talking about here? You posted this thread today and it's still morning, but you've pumped twice already? Am I reading that right? Just wondering, we're talking about 8 oz in what period of time?


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## MamaDiane (Oct 26, 2006)

Thanks for the advice so far.

To answer your questions, no, I haven't been pumping both sides at once. I can't seem to get the hang of that, plus I find that when I put pressure on parts of my breast with one hand, that I can get more milk that way. The other hand is holding the pump. I'll give double-pumping another try.

I do have pictures of my DO in the office that I look at but, I must admit, I'm trying to work at the same time I'm pumping. Occassionally I'm on conference calls or emailing. It's hard otherwise to find the time in my day to pump.

And yes, I've pumped twice this morning, and was getting ready for a third pump. I pump at 6am, before DS wakes up, nurse him before I leave, around 7:30, then pumped at work at around 10:30. I'm planning on pumping again at 1 and at 3.

Am I doing it too often? How often do you pump?

DS is quite big - 17 pounds at 16 weeks - and has a big appetite! He takes almost 25 oz while I'm at work. So you see the pressure I'm under! Plus, I wasn't able to create much of a stash before I started work. I'm hoping beyond hope that he'll start reverse cycling...

Thanks for any additional advice you can offer!


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## dogmom327 (Apr 19, 2007)

Are you using the right size breast shield (the part that connects to the breast)? This was my problem. I had one that was too small and so it was blocking some of the ducts and consequently I wasn't getting much, it took forever and it hurt like he**!


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## anewmama (Feb 25, 2007)

I am wondering if you are pumping too often in the morning if you have pumped and nursed that much before 10:30. There just might not be enough milk rebuilt up for you to get much. But... how old is your son? I co-sleep with DD and it seems she nurses around 4 and then sometimes around 5. If it feels closer to 5, I don't nurse her (she doesn't act hungry and she usually nurses off and on al night) before taking her to daycare. I then don't pump until I get to work and pump around 9:30. I can get anywhere from 6-9 ounces depending. I then will pump around 1ish and then around 3:30 before I leave. I tried squeezing in another session in the morning but it didn't do a whole lot. I also then pump before going to sleep.

What pump do you have that you have to hold the pump? Does it have a dual cycle? If so, I have found that restarting the cycle in the pumping session really helps. My right breast has a hard time letting milk go even though I can feel it's full. I often have to restart the stimulation cycle for it to finally open up a decent flow.


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## Benji'sMom (Sep 14, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *MamaDiane* 

DS is quite big - 17 pounds at 16 weeks - and has a big appetite! He takes almost 25 oz while I'm at work. So you see the pressure I'm under! Plus, I wasn't able to create much of a stash before I started work. I'm hoping beyond hope that he'll start reverse cycling...

Thanks for any additional advice you can offer!

How long are you at work??? That is a LOT of milk to be drinking during normal working hours. It sounds like your DS might be overfed while you're gone, or else maybe milk is being wasted by caregivers. (unless you work 24 hour shifts.)

I don't know what he feeding pattern is but maybe the caregiver could try a smaller serving size and then switch to a pacifier for comfort sucking. Also if the bottle has a large serving in it, he may just keep sucking on it even if not really hungry. If they take the bottle away, after a small serving, they may find that he is finished and doesn't need any more. Or sometimes caregivers will try and feed the baby at the first sign of fussing, then when the baby rejects the bottle because he isn't hungry, they throw the milk away. Make sure they aren't just fixing huge servings then throwing them away when he's not hungry. And make sure they aren't trying to feed him instead of interacting with him, which just wastes milk if he isn't hungry.

Babies from 1 month old to 6 months old keep their milk intake pretty constant, and milk intake is between 19-30 oz per 24 hours for most babies. The average is 25 oz in 24 hours, not 25 oz during working hours. Of course all babies are different but I think 25 oz with an 8-5 job would be on the really really high end of the spectrum. Of course it's possible he really is hungry, but we've got to consider that the average baby isn't going to need 25 oz while their mom works a normal 8-5 job. It's definitely something to consider.

It's important to note that milk intake stays pretty constant regardless of baby's weight going up. Old breastfeeding advice used to be that mom needed to produce more and more and more as baby grew, but that's really not the case, milk demand and milk production stay pretty constant. So even if you have a "big baby" it shouldn't matter that much. I had a big baby, he was close to 30 lb at 4 months old, and had reached 30 lb by 6 months old. He still only took 12 oz while I worked 8-5, even when he weighed 30 lb and was still excluisvely BF. See, his size didn't mean that I had to pump tons of milk. And according to the WHO breastfed baby growth charts, your DS is above average weight but not huge or off the charts: http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/growth/chart2.html That's why I would definitely suspect some overfeeding or wasted milk.


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## tanyalynn (Jun 5, 2005)

I got more milk, and faster, if I stopped thinking about other stuff and really focused my mind on my son and milk. I couldn't read the parenting mags in the pumping room, and if my mind drifted to stressful stuff, the milk slowed down (sometimes I could re-start the milk by stopping thinking about my ex-annoying boss and thinking just about my kids). I did visualization stuff to help with fast/lots of milk--thinking of him waking up in the morning, looking at me and smiling, stuff like that. I think I'm pretty visual, so often I actually closed my eyes because the pamphlets/mags were distracting.

And I got a lot better as time went on and I felt more relaxed about it. Day 2 is early--there will be lots and lots of days pumping, and you'll get into a good rhythm fairly soon. Good luck!


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