https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Tue, 28 Apr 2026 14:19:49 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/questions-from-an-ep-newcomer#post-1950389 Wed, 19 Nov 2014 10:28:06 +0000 kes18 1950389@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Ok, I am not an EPer, but I BF and pump 3x a day at work</p> <p>1) I can tell by feeling them. When you are full they will feel full and harder (if you are really full) and you will feel them soften up quite a bit. I can squeeze them and take a pretty good guess at how many oz I will get out. It just takes practice. A lot of people can get away with only pumping 15 min. I need to pump 25-30 min to get 2 letdowns. So try some things out to see how you can get the most milk out. When your breasts are "empty" (they will never be completely empty supposedly, because your body is always making milk) they will feel very soft- as empty as you can get them!</p> <p>2) Most recommendations suggest you pump as often as baby wants to eat. Your baby will probably start to put themselves on an eating schedule. I started writing down when my baby wanted to eat at 8weeks and noticed she ate around the same times every day. She ate 3 times while I was at work, so I pumped 3 times at work. She is 7 mo now and I still pump 3x at work. Babies will max out on oz around 4-6 mo and then start declining somewhat. So after awhile, baby might drop a feeding. My baby dropped her 9:30pm feeding when she started going to be earlier, for example. So while I used to feed her at 5, 7, and 9pm (3 mo old) I now feed her solids at 5pm and breastmilk at 7-7:30pm (7mo). Mine still takes 3 bottles a day when I'm gone and eats once overnight. So my baby (at 7mo) is getting BM at least 5x a day. If I were EPing, I would probably pump 5x a day (so I would do 3 at work, and then probably an 8pm pump and 6:30am one). Early on, my baby ate 10-12x a day, so I would try to pump that much. It can be a LOT of work early on! Some people need to pump more and some people can get away with pumping less. It just takes some experimentation. With a baby that young, I would expect you to pump at least 8-10x a day. These are helpful:<br /> <a href="https://breastfeedingusa.org/content/article/magic-number-and-long-term-milk-production" rel="nofollow">https://breastfeedingusa.org/content/article/magic-number-and-long-term-milk-production</a><br /> <a href="http://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/pumping/exclusive-pumping/" rel="nofollow">http://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/pumping/exclusive-pumping/</a></p> <p>3) Keep trying to nurse! Sometimes it just takes baby getting a little bigger (bigger mouth- easier to latch) for BFing to work. I would probably keep pumping (even pump after BFing) until I was sure that baby was efficiently removing milk (do the same feel-test or listen for baby swallowing) and getting enough. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/questions-from-an-ep-newcomer#post-1950222 Wed, 19 Nov 2014 09:15:40 +0000 swurlygurl 1950222@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@AJO4: I've EPd two babies for short periods of time (before giving up) so I'll answer what I can! (EPd #1 for 5 months, EPd #2 for 7-8 weeks).</p> <p>1) It's something that you start get the 'feel' for. It probably took me several months to be able to squeeze my boobs and know when they were 'empty' (supposedly your boobs are never completely empty though? idk...). But I would also look at the milk in the bottle to see if any more drops of milk were coming down since my flanges got foggy too.</p> <p>2) Supply is sooo specific per person, it's hard to make guesses about that. For me personally, I went back to work at 4 weeks, and I had been pumping every 2 hours to build supply. I started pumping 8 times a day (4, 6, 9, 12, 3, 6, 8, 10) for a week, then down to 7 the next week (6, 9, 12, 3, 6, 8, 10), then down to 6 (6, 9, 12, 3, 6, 9) and finally down to 5 (6, 10, 2, 6, 9) and my supply started tanking. I just couldn't keep up with the demand of pumping at work and at home (especially with a toddler) and since I couldn't mentally handle all the pumping at home and my supply was dropping, I just didn't have the energy to keep at it and slowly started weaning at the beginning of 7 weeks. The same thing happened with #1, but I held on for muuuch longer. The less frequent pumps at work dipped my supply, but I just wasn't willing to give up. I know lots of moms that have had success dropping pumps though!</p> <p>3) Yes, keep trying the latch!!! I'm mostly dried up at 11 weeks, but when K is being particularly fussy I'll try to 'nurse' her just to comfort her, and she's finally getting her latch figured out!! Kiiinda makes me wish I had held out for a little longer :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/questions-from-an-ep-newcomer#post-1950097 Wed, 19 Nov 2014 06:51:49 +0000 Adira 1950097@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@AJO4: I was never an EPer, but I did pump a lot, so hopefully my answers will be helpful.</p> <p>1. I couldn't always tell when I was done pumping either and tended to just go by pumping a set period of time. Sometimes I would try to see into the bottle to see if milk was still dripping down - then I knew I wasn't done. Other times, I could feel the flow start up again and I knew I hit a second letdown. Eventually I just knew to pump 25-30 minutes (which I think is longer than most people have to). Also, once I was done pumping, I would hand express to see if I could get anything else out. Usually it was just a few drops, so I knew I was done.</p> <p>2. The number of times you have to pump really varies from person to person. I know some EPers can go down to pumping 3-4 times a day and get just as much as they did when they were pumping 8-10 times a day, so it all depends on the capacity of your breasts! You'll probably have to experiment to figure out what works for you. But for me, when I returned to work, I would nurse/pump in the morning before leaving, pump 2-3 times at work, and nurse/pump ~2 times in the evening. Basically every 3 hours from wake-up to bedtime: 6:00 a.m., 9:00, 12:00 p.m., 3:00, 6:00, and 9:00. I had to express at least 6 times to keep up my supply, but you may not end up having to. I'd do what works for now, but you could try dropping sessions and spacing out your sessions and if your supply starts to drop, then you'll know you need to up the number of sessions again.</p> <p>3. I have no advice about getting baby to take the breast when they have a bottle preference. I hope you get some good advice here. I have no idea if it's worth it or not, but if you're able to nurse and meet baby's needs from nursing, then you shouldn't have to pump at that time. For me, I often pumped after nursing in order to get extra milk for daycare, but a lot of people don't have to do that and a lot of people don't feel like it's worth it to do that.</p> <p>Good luck! &lt;3 </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/questions-from-an-ep-newcomer#post-1950073 Wed, 19 Nov 2014 05:39:09 +0000 AJO4 1950073@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Bump to see if anyone can help! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/questions-from-an-ep-newcomer#post-1947032 Mon, 17 Nov 2014 08:55:35 +0000 AJO4 1947032@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Hi everyone! I recently had my first child about 3 and a half weeks ago. Due to a poor latch and my milk being slow to come in, I started EP from the first week. It's been harder than I expected, but we're hanging in there! Right now I average 6-7 pumps/25 ounces per day, I usually end up needing to supplement a little bit with formula. I don't know anyone who is EPing though, so I have a few questions I hope some experienced moms can help with.</p> <p>1) This feels like a potentially dumb questions, but how do you know if you've emptied a breast? I keep reading that I should pump until empty, but I honestly can't tell by looking through the flanges because they get foggy during pumps. Should I be able to tell by feeling? </p> <p>2) I go back to work in January when my LO will be 3 months. I don't understand how I could possibly keep up this schedule of pumping so much once I'm back at work. Will my supply increase by then making it so that I pump less, but still get as much milk or more? Will LO be drinking less milk at that time so it doesnt matter if if I'm pumping less? And if I pump less, won't that just mean my breasts will be engorged and painful? </p> <p>3) The last couple days, I've tried putting LO on the breast just to see how it goes and he's had a tough/impossible time latching on. I'm wondering if it's too late and he's now preferring bottle over breast. Is it worth it to keep trying? If I bring nursing back to the equation, do I still pump just as much? </p> <p>I know it's a litany of questions, but I'm so confused! Any guidance/input/experience would be greatly appreciated :) </p>