Pumping schedule?

Question

Hey EP mamas 
My son is 4 weeks old, I have been EP for three weeks. Got my first case of mastitis last week (omg horrible)!!!! When I first started EP, I really didn’t know what I was doing- I just did it because my nipples were so damaged/painful from my son when I breast fed, but I wanted him to have breast milk. I used to only pump when I felt “full”, and then I was taking 6 hour breaks at night to get some rest 😬 my doctor said that long of a break is what caused the mastitis! I am now pumping every three hours because I am terrified to get mastitis again. How does anyone live their life while having to pump every three hours? Without getting a $500 “wearable” pump it seems so unreasonable. What do you all do schedule wise for pumping? Especially if you have stuff to do that day/or you pump at work?

Answer

I EP for the last almost 14 weeks... I did it every 2-3 hours for 8ish weeks and then slowly started extending the time between pumps but going a bit longer during pumps to ensure my supply stayed up. Now I’m at every 5-6 hrs but can go as much as 8 at night before my boobs start to ache bad. I’ve never gotten mastitis. 
It’s tough to do it that often but you need to keep at it until your supply stabilizes. Once you’re getting a consistent amount then try going an extra hour between pumps and adding a few min to the session. You can get yourself on a more reasonable schedule you just have to do it slowly. 
When you do go longer between pumps make sure you massage your boobs as you pump and get all the milk out. Heat helps too. 
Good luck !!

Answer

You honestly just kinda have to do it until your supply establishes around 12 weeks. Then you can start to go a little longer but not much longer between. Any time you skip a pump or start to make a habit of going longer in between you risk losing your supply. I pumped every 3 hours until my daughter was about 4 months old. Then i started to go longer at night. I EPed for 8m when my supply dried up. Its tough in the beginning but once you get on a routine its easier. Unfortunately with pumping you sacrifice a lot of your own time to make it work. My biggest game changer was spending $300 on a wearable pump and that only helped a little bit. Some of them you are still pretty limited on what you can do.

Pumping schedule?

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