https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Thu, 16 Apr 2026 20:47:17 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-often-to-pump#post-2646515 Wed, 02 Nov 2016 07:55:03 +0000 catomd00 2646515@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ShootingStar: DD2 started STTN (8-6) around 2 months. She put herself to sleep and everything. within a few days of me being back at work all hell broke loose. She's up 2-5 times a night, I think 4 hours is the longest she's gone since I came back, 3 is typical. I thought it was because she was struggling with the bottle at first, but now she's drinking all her milk during the day and still doesn't sleep well (unless she's in bed with me!) I only work 3 days a week and there's no improvement on the days I don't work. It's so lame I thought I lucked out with a good sleeper! I think you have a good plan of starting at 3 times and the night pump and then seeing how everyone adjusts when you go back. Good luck, I hope you have a smooth transition! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-often-to-pump#post-2646442 Tue, 01 Nov 2016 20:25:07 +0000 ShootingStar 2646442@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@catomd00: I'm curious about your LO's sleep. I feel like there's no way this can last, but she has literally always slept long stretches. Like, I should've been waking to feed after we left the hospital because she slept so long. </p> <p>Baby sleep constantly changes and part of why I've been pumping before bed and when I wake up is that I'm afraid she's going to start having more wake ups so I don't want to diminish my supply at night too much. </p> <p>I think I'll go with the advice of starting out 3 times a day. Then I'll try and reduce the before bed pump and go down to two during work. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-often-to-pump#post-2646428 Tue, 01 Nov 2016 19:55:47 +0000 catomd00 2646428@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Personally, I'd pump at work as often as baby eats, and work to cut out the before bed pump gradually. You may be able to still cut down to 2 sessions at work, but I would still start with 3 to be sure. And praying your STTN unicorn baby doesn't do what mine did and give up on sleep altogether when you go back to work! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-often-to-pump#post-2646349 Tue, 01 Nov 2016 15:55:51 +0000 pregnantbee 2646349@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Following. Great suggestions here. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-often-to-pump#post-2646340 Tue, 01 Nov 2016 15:38:49 +0000 kes18 2646340@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would pump for every missed feed. Write down all of her feeds for a few days, then pump for the ones you are missing. I had to pump 3x- 9:30, 12:30, and 3 (left at 4:30). I would start with at least 3 if you are gone all day, because your supply will probably reduce some once baby is over 6mo. I would also probably want 200oz in the freezer. I had 300 with my first baby and used about 150 of it. So 200 seems like plenty. And then if you're still overproducing by a lot, look at reducing a session. After 7mo, I either produced just enough or I was always slightly under. So having my freezer stash meant I could go the full year with no formula and I didn't have to worry if I was short 3oz that day.</p> <p>It's not hard to reduce sessions once you realize you truly don't need them. But it's harder to get that production back up if you preemptively reduce and it turns out that you need them. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-often-to-pump#post-2646271 Tue, 01 Nov 2016 13:29:26 +0000 kayla0416 2646271@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I had almost the same scenario as you! My daughter is currently 6 months, and she started daycare at 12 weeks. I started pumping when she was about 3 weeks, and slowly worked my way up to pumping an extra 7-10 ounces per day by the time I went back to work. She is at daycare from 7:30-4:30 and has 12 ounces during that time. When I first started back at work, I pumped at 10:30 and 2. My daughter still gets up to eat once at about 4-5am - only from one side. Then when she gets up at 7 I feed her from the other side and pump the side she ate from during the night feed and I get about 2-4 ounces. When I was pumping twice at work, I got enough to still freeze 5-6 ounces a day. I already had about 175 ounces in my stash before going back to work so this quickly grew to about 350ish in 2 months. So about 6 weeks ago, I started pumping only once at work, at about 12:30, and usually get 7-9 ounces. So now I'm pumping only what she needs, and if I'm under by a couple ounces, I'll pump again about an hour after she goes to sleep to make up the difference. At my job it was a bit of a hassle to always coordinate schedules to cover the office while I pumped, so I really wanted to drop that second work pump, but was nervous that my supply would completely tank. I think it worked out perfectly! </p> <p>I pump into bags. Kind of expensive to buy so many, but I think it's worth it to not have to wash a million bottles. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-often-to-pump#post-2646270 Tue, 01 Nov 2016 13:28:34 +0000 DesertDreams88 2646270@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ShootingStar: With your situation, I'd do 3 pumps a day at work until I had about 200oz in a freezer stash (about 40 bottles worth) and then decrease to 2 pumps a day, and see what it does to your supply.</p> <p>I was in your same situation in April, and then LO stopped STTN so I couldn't do night pumps; and my supply dropped because I was doing short sessions (10 minutes or so). I made it until 8m without formula though. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-often-to-pump#post-2646247 Tue, 01 Nov 2016 13:00:50 +0000 ShootingStar 2646247@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@DesertDreams88:<br /> 1 - freezer stash is about 140 oz<br /> 2 - ideally a year but I only made it 7m with LO1<br /> 3 - I'm fin with formula, as long as DD will drink it</p> <p>ETA my job involves a lot of meetings and my goal right now for pumping is 6 months then reassess. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-often-to-pump#post-2646228 Tue, 01 Nov 2016 12:40:21 +0000 DesertDreams88 2646228@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>1) How big is your freezer stash?<br /> 2) How long would you like to be able to breastfeed? / how much do you care about that vs. formula?<br /> 3) How flexible is your work schedule? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-often-to-pump#post-2646225 Tue, 01 Nov 2016 12:37:08 +0000 sunny 2646225@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would pump the 5 times for a few weeks and stash a bunch of milk away. I am so glad I stashed away a bunch of milk when my supply was great, because it isn't amazing after being at work for 3 months now. I'm also super busy at work and having trouble finding time to pump 3x a day, which means I'm not always producing enough for the next day. I'm so glad I have my freezer stash to use! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-often-to-pump#post-2646213 Tue, 01 Nov 2016 12:23:28 +0000 Pirouette 2646213@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ShootingStar: haha it's ok, my daughter was like yours, it's awesome! This one, not so much. I've never pumped into bags, but I always pumped into bottles, transferred immediately to a bag and then reused the bottle (quick rinse and refigerated like the pump parts). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-often-to-pump#post-2646190 Tue, 01 Nov 2016 11:46:27 +0000 ShootingStar 2646190@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Pirouette: Sorry, I usually try to observe fight club rules when talking about her sleep :silly: . I do refrigerate the parts and the bottles so I can reuse them. I will take 4 bottles to work and then I use 2-4 more for the other pumps depending on if I use the manual pump or the double electric. </p> <p>Maybe I should just pump into bags at home and cut down on those extra bottles. I don't really like pumping into bags at work because I'm more prone to spilling or popping them. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-often-to-pump#post-2646185 Tue, 01 Nov 2016 11:37:54 +0000 Pirouette 2646185@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>First of all, I just want to say I'm so far from sttn territory that i kind of hate you. Ok, now that that's off my chest :silly: </p> <p>Can you keep the pump parts in the fridge or a cooler between pumps? Or get those medela wipes and just wipe them clean rather than actually washing them each time? </p> <p>I would expect that your supply will dip a bit when you go back, so i'd start out with 3 at work if you can, but if it ends up being too much, drop to 2 pumps and see how it goes. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-often-to-pump#post-2646171 Tue, 01 Nov 2016 11:14:43 +0000 futuremama 2646171@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm in a similar situation. When I came back to work at the end of Sept, DD was sleeping through the night. I pump one side in the morning while she feeds on the other around 6am. I usually get about 6 oz on the one side. Then I try to pump 3 times a day at 9:00, 12:00 and 3:30. I usually end up with about 20 oz/day, and she drinks 12-16 depending on how long she's at daycare. Some days, I'm only able to pump twice, but I end up with the same output. I'll probably drop to 2x/day soon.</p> <p>I always pump into Medela bottles. She drinks from Avent. My morning one-sided pump is one bottle. Then I take 4 with me to work. After each pump, I combine the milk into one so I use all four by the end of the day. Between pumps, I just leave the pump parts in the cooler with my bottles in the fridge. There's no need to clean them throughout the day. </p> <p>When I get home, I fill up DD's 4 bottles for the next day and put whatever is leftover in a Lansinoh bag in the freezer. Then I fill up the sink with hot soapy water and soak the Medela bottles and dirty Avent with my pump parts in the sink.</p> <p>Hope that makes sense, but it works for us and minimizes the amount of dish washing we have to do. Maybe you could try feeding on one side in the morning and/or dropping the evening pump. It sounds like you're supply is strong enough to do so. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-often-to-pump#post-2646157 Tue, 01 Nov 2016 10:56:05 +0000 Pollywog 2646157@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Oh, and I pump into 9 ounce bottles. That way I only wash one set for my three pumps. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-often-to-pump#post-2646152 Tue, 01 Nov 2016 10:54:53 +0000 Pollywog 2646152@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Oh, I used to be like you. Other than the STTN thing :-). My supply is much lower at work. I'd try that pumping schedule for a month and freeze any extras. Then drop the late night pump and then the noon pump if you don't need it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-often-to-pump#post-2646151 Tue, 01 Nov 2016 10:54:49 +0000 ShootingStar 2646151@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@agold: Lol @ milk machine. That's what happens when your LO clusters feeds for their entire first 8 weeks. She ate so much in the beginning I had to leave the house so she'd fall asleep in the car or stroller and not want to eat continuously for hours. She's finally calmed down a tiny bit. </p> <p>As for bags, I guess I could do a couple pumps with them versus bottles. Still a lot of pumping though! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-often-to-pump#post-2646138 Tue, 01 Nov 2016 10:45:13 +0000 agold 2646138@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Gosh, lady! You are a milk machine! And a baby that sleeps through the night? Call me jealous right here. :silly: I don't have much advice for you because I'm not back at work myself. But if you don't like all the bottle cleaning, look into the Kiinde bag system. I love it and you can put different bottle nipples on it. Anyhow... good luck with back to work and pumping! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-often-to-pump#post-2646130 Tue, 01 Nov 2016 10:30:45 +0000 ShootingStar 2646130@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm getting ready to go back to work next week and I'm trying to figure out my pumping strategy. Don't hate me, but DD currently sleeps through the night. I get super full in the morning so I pump before bed and get a couple ounces. Then I pump when I get up around 6:30 before I feed her and get 6-7 ounces. (I pump less on one side so there's plenty to feed her when she gets up). </p> <p>So now that I'm going back to work I need to add in daytime pumping. I was thinking I'd need to start off pumping 3 times at work, approximately 9:30, 12.30, and 3:30. I'm guessing I'll get 4-5 ounces at each of those. </p> <p>If I go with that I'll end up pumping way more than I need per day, maybe an extra 8 ounces. Having more is great, but it's a ton of work and time and bottle cleaning to pump 5 times a day. But I have no idea how to reduce it. Two pumps at work?? Or if I even should. With LO1 I consolidated pumping sessions and after a week or so my supply went down. On the plus side if I keep producing and pumping this much I guess I can stop pumping sooner.</p> <p>Any advice? </p>