When to pump

Question

Just had our baby girl September 8th and will be off work for three months. I’m wondering when I should start pumping so I can hopefully start a freezer stash and have a lot for when I return to work. I was told by lactation consultant at hospital to hold off on pumping. I didn’t think to ask when I could start. When should I start pumping??

Answer

I started pumping a month before going back to work just to establish my levels. I would pump twice a day: right after her morning feed and then after she went to bed. That started my freezer stash. Since going back to work, I pump three times a day at work so I give fresh milk to the daycare.

Answer

I started using a haakaa at the beginning while nursing, then pumping for 5ish minutes after nursing once or twice a week on week 2, introduced a bottle at week 3 and started pumping during that missed feed then until at about 6 weeks pp I started pumping after most nursing sessions to build my stash. However, I had an oversupply from day 1- I literally had mastitis the first week pp and my Dr said to start pumping because my son wasn't an efficient nurser and I was getting clogged ducts. If you're off for 3 months, then just start with the haakaa maybe for a month and have someone introduce the slowest flow bottle within that month. We used Avent Natural with size 0.

When to pump

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