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I get 3-4oz from leftie and 5-6 from rightie, pumping every four hours. Definitely baby is more proficient at emptying you than the pump!

I nurse when I'm with Xander, but during the week, I only nurse him once in the morning and pump the rest of the day. I also tend to get more in the morning than I do in the evening. So here's today as an example so far:

5:00 a.m. - nurse both sides
5:45 - pump both sides (2.5 oz total - but that's more than normal, usually I only get 1.5 oz total)
9:00 - pump both sides (4 oz total)
12:00 - pump both sides (3.5 oz total)

I think for the rest of the day, I'll get between 2.5 and 3 oz total every 3 hours, since that tends to be my norm.

Also, I know that my pump isn't as good about getting milk out as Xander is, so when I pump exclusively (like when I've gone away for a night or weekend), I have to add an additional pump session to get as much as Xander normally takes. So say he drinks 6 times a day, I'll have to pump 7 times to get enough. And now at 10.5 months, he drinks 4 times a day, but I have to pump 5-6 times to get enough!

I pump twice during the day while I'm at work and get 3-5 oz per session from my left boob and 2-3 from my right, depending on my stress level.

5-7 oz from each side in the morning and 1-3 on each side for the other sessions.

I don't think that's an accurate fact. I'm pretty sure an indicator of good supply is getting at least 5 oz total (or it might be even more than that). I had very average/adequate supply and max got 4-5 oz per side, usually it was more like 3-4 until I dropped to 3 pumps a day.

@Mrs. Taco: oh my! How do I get 11oz?

Yikes, I always get 4-5 oz TOTAL, not from each side when I pump. This is making me nervous LO isn't getting enough from nursing..

@JoJoGirl: Does she seem fussy after nursing or content? I would think if she seems content, she probably got enough.

@JoJoGirl: haha, sounds like Xander - I can pretty much only nurse him immediately after a nap or right before - otherwise he wants nothing to do with me and will bite! I think you're probably fine.

@MrsStormy: My sister never ever did either even pumping 8x a day for a long time. Some of it is established in the first 3 months and some of it is just genetic I think. : / Great work you are doing!

There are lot of variables here. Some moms respond well to the pump & some don't. Some babies are super efficient nursers & some aren't. It also depends on what pump you use & if you are using the right size flanges, and if you are doing breast compressions/massage while pumping, and how long you pump for. Oh, and also how old your baby is!

In my case, I use a hospital grade pump & respond well to it so it pretty much sucks me dry if I pump long enough. LO is a fairly efficient nurser when she wants to be, so based on weight feedings I've determined that she transfers about the same amount as I can pump.

First thing in the morning, I can pump around 3 oz. At night, I can only pump about 1.5 oz. My average feeding/pumping is somewhere in between - 2 to 2.5 oz. That's typically after 3 hours. I supplement my 3 month old with 1.5 oz of formula at all feedings except overnight & first morning.

How is nursing going other than your supply? So many times I considered EP for the same reason but I am glad we kept nursing. EP is a lot of work, and nursing is more than milk! If you both enjoy it I would encourage you to keep it up for the bonding - not to mention you could be one of those moms who responds better to baby than to the pump.

I can typically get 4-5 oz per boob in the morning if I pump before work and about 2.5-4 oz per boob during the day when i pump at work. From 4pm on he exclusively breastfeeds. The more often you can pump or feed it helps I think.

I usually get 3-4oz per pump session. Sometimes it's 2oz and if I skip a session I can get 5oz. That's all from one boob because I only use righty.

Early on when I was EPing, I would get around 2-3 oz per side each session. But after 6 weeks my supply became more established and I was pumping 3-4 oz per side each session. Around 4 months pp, I hit my peak and I could pump 5 oz per side during the day and after my boys started sleeping through the night my first pump of the day would yield 10 oz per side. Until 6-7 months pp, I never went more than 4 hours between sessions except for during the night. I did wake up to pump twice at night until my boys started sleeping through the night around 3.5 months pp.

EPing is possible, but it is a lot of work and takes major dedication to establish and keep up your supply.

@illumina: I EP and get about 13-15 oz in the morning (I can store 9 oz in my right breast alone), and anywhere from 6-9 oz for the other 3 pumps I do each day.

I'm down to only 4 pumps a day now (dropped to 4 a couple of week before LO turned 6 months). (I don't pump overnight anymore, since my LO is 6 months and I'm ready to transition her to an elemental formula soonish because I'm tired of the MSPI diet).

Ever since I dropped to 4 pumps a day, my supply has slowly been diminishing. I used to produce about 45 oz a day, then down to about 38 when I dropped to 5 pumps a day, and now down to about 31-35 oz a day. Soon, I won't have enough to cover her daily needs, but I'm okay with that at this point.

In your case, your body is used to producing only what your LO has been getting out--your LO has had weight gain problems, which means either latch is off, or maybe she has undiagnosed allergies, or who knows---but she has been demanding less from your body, so your body has begun to produce less. It's supply-demand. If you start to exclusively pump, you will at first produce only what you did for your LO---so maybe only 18 oz a day total (I'm guessing here, but we had a brief period where LO was only eating 18 oz a day, and she still gained but not quickly enough). But that just means you should pump more often and for longer, and also take supplements, and eventually your body will respond to the increased demand.

I know conventional LC wisdom is that a pump isn't efficient, but as an exclusive pumper that was producing some 45 oz a day, (with never any supplements at all), I kind of disagree. Probably the only BFing mothers who are producing that much have twins, because your body will only produce what is demanded of it.

Anyway, my two cents!

@illumina: I know you didn't ask this question, but i admire that you're trying everything to get your Lo exclusive BM.

I just want to caution you as an EPer....if I had to do it all over again, I'm not sure I would choose EPing over just formula feeding. In the end, yes I've provided my baby breast milk. She hasn't been sick any less, in some ways because of her allergies I wonder if my BM has been permanently damaging to her feeding issues. But most importantly, I felt like it hurt our bonding relationship. For her first 3 months when I was pumping 8 times a day, there were SO MANY TIMES that I just had her in the bouncer at my feet while I pumped, and half the time she would be crying, wanting to be picked up--but I quickly learned that I had to just finish the pumping session or it would never get done. And the stress and exhaustion of all the parts washing.--I was pumping some 3-4 hours a day, plus the time getting dressed and undressed, washing parts, working on clogged ducts. That's time I could have spent with my LO, or I don't know--taking a nap! But I never could. =(

If I were in your exact situation, I would probably continue to nurse and then supplement with formula sometimes to help with weight gain. So much better than EPing, I promise. And better for bonding! And bonding is more important than BM/Formula to me.

I would get about 4oz total during pumps at work. I never considered that to be low supply though. I think sometimes we just compare ourselves to people who pump more or have oversupply.