https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Mon, 20 Apr 2026 09:27:46 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pumping-chat#post-477007 Thu, 03 Jan 2013 01:22:28 +0000 Mrs Green Grass 477007@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@TurtleDoves: I think it was a little under $200.</p> <p>@Running Elley: I'v read a ton about supply because I'm really paranoid too. It seems that a lot has to do with your total capacity and a good way to see your capacity is by how much you produce first thing in the morning. If it's over 5 oz, you have good capacity. (I think that the number they used.) I can go 5-6 hours without feeling extremely engorged because I seemed to have a pretty good capacity. In the morning I've gotten anywhere from 6-13 ounces - usually it's 8 or 9.</p> <p>As long as you drop pumps slowly - like 1 every few weeks or month or so - you should be fine. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pumping-chat#post-474844 Wed, 02 Jan 2013 10:01:58 +0000 mrs. wagon 474844@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Running Elley: I've been keeping close track of how much output I have for the entire day. I started out pumping every 2-3 hours all day, and usually once or twice in the middle of the night as well. I was really scared of plugged ducts because I got mastitis this time around and it SUCKED. Then very slowly I dropped pumping sessions and I kept a very close eye on my supply. It never went down so I'd drop a pumping session again, and if it dipped I'd add in another pumping session. I think my body regulated about a month ago so I know I can pump only 4x a day (and not wake up to pump in the middle of the night, going almost 8 hrs without pumping overnight) and still produce the same amount. This is also my second time breastfeeding so my supply and body are pretty regulated now. I know it would have been tougher the first time around! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pumping-chat#post-474683 Wed, 02 Jan 2013 07:04:28 +0000 Mrs. Fix 474683@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I've been EPing since LO was 6 days old. He's now almost 4 months and I've gone back to work. I love when all of a sudden a time saving idea comes to me. Makes me feel like I can keep going when I get moments of "ugh, I have to go pump..." My goal is to make it until he's 6 mos and then re-evaluate how I feel. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pumping-chat#post-474672 Wed, 02 Jan 2013 05:18:49 +0000 CupQuakeWalk 474672@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs Green Grass: do you mind sharing with me how much you paid to rent the symphony? I think I want to rent one to see if I can boost my supply at all. I love my pumps because they empty me out but they haven't helped me boost my supply much:/<br /> Now that all the holidays are over, I am think about making the rest of Jan a time for me to just be married to the pump. I want to fill any time not BFing, with pumping. I need an established supply! I'm so sad/tired of never getting him full:/ </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pumping-chat#post-474649 Wed, 02 Jan 2013 03:32:00 +0000 Running Elley 474649@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My LO is 12 weeks old and I've been EP for the past 2 weeks due to issues with breastfeeding (vasospasms, thrush, super fast letdown that baby can't handle and really gassy baby). I like being able to see how much I'm producing/he's drinking. It appeals to my control freak side :) It's also lowered my stress level significantly!<br /> @mrs. wagon: I have a question! When did you find it was safe<br /> supply amount wise for you to pump only 4 times a day? When I go 5-6 hours between pumping sessions it doesn't seem to affect my supply but I'm really paranoid about causing my supply to drop! I feel like it's already pretty established and as long as I'm emptying my breasts when I pump, even when it's been 6 hours between each time, I should keep producing the same amount right? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pumping-chat#post-474624 Wed, 02 Jan 2013 02:10:31 +0000 Mrs Green Grass 474624@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I rented the Medela Symphony for 3 months and it's going to be up in a week. I'm kind of scared to let it go! I also have the Lactina because my insurance covers it but it's so loud and much harder to use than the Symphony. I also borrowed a PISA (Pump in Style Advanced) from a friend. I'm just worried that changing pumps will affect my supply. : / </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pumping-chat#post-474621 Wed, 02 Jan 2013 02:08:25 +0000 Mrs Green Grass 474621@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@travelingbrit: I would pump longer to increase your supply. I wrote a blog post entirely about pumping last week if you want to check it out. But basically you need to pump 5 minutes after the milk stops coming out if you want to increase your supply.</p> <p>In your lower supply breast, I would do compressions and check for any hard spots. You can have plugged ducts that don't really hurt. Sometimes just pushing on that area will help all of it come out. </p> <p>There's a great video on compressions done by Stanford:<br /> <a href="http://newborns.stanford.edu/Breastfeeding/MaxProduction.html" rel="nofollow">http://newborns.stanford.edu/Breastfeeding/MaxProduction.html</a></p> <p>NSFW! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pumping-chat#post-474548 Tue, 01 Jan 2013 23:30:19 +0000 crunch 474548@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>hi guys! I'll join too... it's been hard for me to consistently add to the boards but I'm going to try my best!</p> <p>I've been eping since LO was around 3-4 weeks. He had jaundice and not knowing how much milk he was getting was starting to stress me out so I eventually just pumped for ease of mind and haven't looked back. </p> <p>I got sick a couple of weeks back and my pump tubes needed replacing which was a double whammy to my supply (mostly on my left boob!) We have to start supplementing with formula until I can catch up again. I'm going through an emotional roller coaster right now with having to supplement again and not really sure why. I know there's nothing wrong with formula but I'm still so sad about it! I thought I would be happier and feel less stress about pumping but it has been the exact opposite for me. I just want to pump more and am actually considering taking a break from work to stay at home and go through a power pumping session to get my supply back to where it was before!<br /> I totally just tried the "massage, stroke, shake" method and I think it messed up my mojo rather than help. Has anyone else tried this with success?</p> <p>@matador84 they say not to look while you're pumping! I know its hard, but I try to catch up on tv shows online or something else to distract myself. If you still have to watch, try imagining "waterfalls of milk". unfortunately stress can effect our supply which causes us stress! ah!</p> <p>@travelingbrit i think the suggestion is to pump 5 minutes past when your milk has stop coming out? I usually pump for 30 minutes. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pumping-chat#post-474525 Tue, 01 Jan 2013 23:05:27 +0000 littleveesmommy 474525@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Hurrah for pumping board! DD is turning 11 months tomorrow (how is that possible?!?!) and is EBF. While I was in maternity leave I nursed exclusively and pumped at night or other breast to build up a stash. Once I returned to work I pumped 3 times a day and nursed morning, after work, bedtime and any night wakings until I got laid off around 6.5 months pp, when I nursed exclusively until 9 months when I got a new job. I really fell in love with nursing during my work break and now I absolutely dread pumping. Now I pump twice a day at work and nurse morning and bedtime on weekdays. Weekends are nursing exclusively too. My goal is one year of EBF and hope to start mixing in cows milk around 1 so I can cut back in pumping. I can't wait! =/ </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pumping-chat#post-474524 Tue, 01 Jan 2013 23:05:13 +0000 MaisyMay 474524@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'll join in! </p> <p>LO is 9 days old and is fed almost exclusively with pumping, with a little formula to supplement each day. I pump every 3-4 hours, with one approximate 5 hour break around 4-9 a.m. In the mornings I get very little milk, maybe a combined total of an ounce to an ounce and a half, but at night I can get 4-5 ounces. I pump for 15-25 minutes.<br /> I'm going to go back to work in about 5 weeks and know that I need to start a stash soon. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pumping-chat#post-474521 Tue, 01 Jan 2013 22:59:48 +0000 matador84 474521@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Ah...I get so impatient pumping. I think a lot of it too is that I get frustrated! I'll get 1 oz on my left and 3 on my right sometimes. Or, I just spent 15 minutes pumping both sides and got AN OUNCE! UGHHHHH! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pumping-chat#post-474516 Tue, 01 Jan 2013 22:57:07 +0000 mrs. wagon 474516@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@travelingbrit: sounds like you have a great start going!! As for let downs, let down is what happens when the milk starts flowing. Some women don't feel it and for some women it's a tingling or burning feeling, and sometimes it hurts. For some women if you keep pumping after the milk stops flowing, you will have a second let down and the milk will start flowing again. For me, it only means an extra ounce or two, but that's huge when you're talking about liquid gold!! :)</p> <p>ETA: after the milk stops flowing and you want to wait for a second let down, you should hit the let down button on your pump that puts it to the short, quick pumps again. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pumping-chat#post-474502 Tue, 01 Jan 2013 22:47:57 +0000 wheres_c 474502@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrs. wagon: i have been doing compressions but to be honest dont know much about let downs. Can you explain?</p> <p>The LC at the hospital gave tons of bf advice but not much pumping advice.<br /> So many people were here for the birth and for christmas.....it was really hard to bf and to pump. Now that everyone is finally gone im going to do a bf/pumping bootcamp this week.</p> <p>I had rented a hospital pump (ameda elite) to check out my milk production. Since its uber expensive, i bought the ameda purly yours yesterday and used it for the first time today. It was a lot louder than the hospital pump but seemed to do the job equally.</p> <p>Iread the manual, which explained the cycle setting....i hadnt understood that before.</p> <p>At highwires suggestion i ordered the hands free bra. Looking forward to that.</p> <p>Mostly i could do with advice on frequency and duration. So far ive been pumping fr about 15 minutes, whenever i feel "full".</p> <p>Any tips/suggestions for a noob would be appreciated. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pumping-chat#post-474487 Tue, 01 Jan 2013 22:31:11 +0000 CarrieLouWho 474487@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Ohhh I'll join in! I go back to work tomorrow so I will be pumping a lot more. Right now I just pump in the morning to help build up my stash (107 oz!!). I plan on pumping 3 x a day at work. Not sure what my supply will be like since I've been primarily nursing... Fingers crossed it'll be enough for LO to eat at daycare. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pumping-chat#post-474481 Tue, 01 Jan 2013 22:29:53 +0000 mrs. wagon 474481@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@travelingbrit: I have a difference in supply in each breast as well, although not as severe as yours. If I pump 6 oz from my right breast, I'll get 4 oz from my left. Have you been waiting for second letdown and doing breast compressions? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pumping-chat#post-474461 Tue, 01 Jan 2013 22:21:29 +0000 wheres_c 474461@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I have the same experience as @highwire:<br /> Since LO was born 3 weeks ago Ive been doing a mix of BFing, pumping, and formula. Since I was seperated from LO after delivery, he was fed formula and I pumped to get my supply going.</p> <p>Ideally i would like to reduce/eliminate the formula but like highwire said, i cant stress over that.</p> <p>My biggest issue is that I only get milk from one breast. I get about 4oz per pumping session from the right breast and 0 .5oz from the left. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pumping-chat#post-474452 Tue, 01 Jan 2013 22:15:30 +0000 CupQuakeWalk 474452@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@highwire: us too!<br /> I never had a strong supply although its much better than it was weeks ago so, I BF as much as I can, pump as much as I can and then finish him off with formula.<br /> I don't have a stash but I hope at some point to.<br /> I loooove my double electric: the medela freestyle but I have a manual pump too and wow! Love that thing. I have the Avent Isis. It is sooo easy for a quick 10min pump on one side. My left side is always producing more than the right.<br /> I pump as often as I can to try stimulating milk production. So far, were OK. I fear for when DS is taking in more ounces a day! Right now were at 24oz/day </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pumping-chat#post-474445 Tue, 01 Jan 2013 22:11:47 +0000 matador84 474445@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I WISH I could EBF DS who is 4 months old. Here's the long/short version: From day 1 in the hospital he was a champion nurser. To be quite honest, I have never had any problems with actual breastfeeding. About two weeks before I went back to work, I started getting really bad anxiety about going back to work and my supply took a huge hit. I went from oversupply to almost no supply. My OB had me get a hospital grade pump before he prescribed me something because he said it had a side effect of sleepiness...definitely the last thing I need as a new mom! So, back to work I went...but before going back to work, I managed to build up a freezer stash to last about two weeks at daycare. Well, at work I was only able to pump about 4-6 oz per day, which was not enough for LO at daycare. :-( So, since he was about 11-12 weeks old, I have been supplementing with 2 bottles of formula while he is at daycare, and still breastfeed in the morning, when I get home, and at night, as well as one of his bottles at daycare is breastmilk. </p> <p>I have been using a hand pump at work to pump since I'm barely pumping anything anyway and it saves me time. I have been considering going back and renting a hospital grade pump again, but I don't know if it will really build my supply back up. I can't decide what I want to do! I love nursing so much and want to keep it up and stay committed to it as long as possible. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pumping-chat#post-474418 Tue, 01 Jan 2013 21:45:45 +0000 mrs. wagon 474418@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Yay pumping board! (although I rarely ever use the boards... I just look at all the latest posts...) </p> <p>I started out exclusively nursing LMW for the first 9 weeks or so (with one bottle of pumped milk while I pumped once a day) but when I went back to work, juggling nursing and pumping and all that got to be a lot for me, so I switched to exclusively pumping. It's going really well, with very few clogged ducts and my supply has been really consistent, and even going up as she sleeps better (and I get more rest). I pump 4x a day for a total of between 30-35 oz a day. </p> <p>Strangely, I find keeping up the system of washing pump parts and bottles and everything kind of therapeutic! I never enjoyed nursing so I'd so much rather do the work that comes with pumping, and I really enjoy feeding LMW bottles (as well as the ability to walk away as someone else feeds her). I'm enjoying her babyhood so much more without nursing. I exclusively nursed WJ for 7 months and never enjoyed it. I guess some moms (and babies) aren't naturally into it like others! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pumping-chat#post-474351 Tue, 01 Jan 2013 20:59:37 +0000 DillonLion 474351@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We have been breastfeeding, pumping, and doing formula for all of LOs 5 weeks of life. My supply never took off like I had hoped so we continue doing all three to meet her needs. But we mix and match as we go. Sometimes I BF, pump, and give formula at a feeding if she needs it, other times I will only breastfeed, only pump, or only give a bottle depending on the circumstances. It works out great foreveryone as soon as I quit stressing out about exclusively breastfeeding. For now, this works. </p> <p>I specifically like pumping because I can see exactly how much I'm getting and she happily takes a bottle. So thankful for my hospital grade pump that we are renting. Will be pumping a lot if/when I return to work next month. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/pumping-chat#post-474338 Tue, 01 Jan 2013 20:54:01 +0000 Mrs Green Grass 474338@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I am so glad the pumping board is taking off! Parts of it can be so difficult or just plain weird and it's great to have someone quick to ask. So I think a chat thread could be really helpful!</p> <p>My pumping intro:<br /> I've been EPing for 12 weeks now (while DS is in the NICU). When he comes home I'll try to BF but it's really important to keep track of how much he's eating so i'm not sure yet how it'll go. I currently pump 6x a day for 30 min each and I'm making about 34 ounces total.</p> <p>Pumping has gotten much easier, but it's still such a pain! Ok...unhooking myself and then washing parts... </p>