Pumping

While pumping has many benefits, there's also a learning curve. On top of that, your breasts are constantly changing—in size and shape, as well as in the types and volumes of milk they produce. 

The good news is that most pumping problems are fairly straightforward to troubleshoot. Implementing a few key tips to optimize your time with your pump can go a long way. That’s why we’ve pulled together a collection of articles all about pumping. 

Our aim is to:

We say it in our guide about breast care, and we’ll say it again here: There are many “right” ways to be a parent, including how—and how much—you feed your baby. In consultation with your provider, you can define success for yourself and your baby, and feel good knowing that you’re doing the best you can.

And now for the nitty-gritty on pumping.

Why pump?

Breastfeeding can benefit you and your baby in many ways. And pumping has many overlapping, supporting, and even additional benefits. 

Pumps are, quite literally, a tool that can support your breastfeeding journey alongside your baby’s development. There are many reasons you may want—or need—to use one. Pumping can enable you to achieve a wide range of targets, including:

First, what’s a flange? 

A flange is a cone-shaped funnel, typically ending in a tunnel, that seals over your nipple and breast and creates a vacuum to transmit milk. Sizes are based on the diameter (or width) of your nipple (not your areola, which is a common misconception!). 

For moms who measure smaller than 21mm, breast pump sizing inserts, made of flexible silicone, optimize comfort and output. (It’s a way to get a more custom-feeling fit!) Willow inserts are designed to fit into a 24mm flange and are available in sizes 13mm, 15mm, 17mm, 19mm and 21mm. 

Based on years of sizing data (more than 300k women have pumped with Willow!), we know that most moms find the best fit using a 17mm or 19mm insert.

Why does sizing matter?

A poorly-fitting flange can impact stimulation, which can then affect the hormonal rush of oxytocin that triggers letdown and milk production, and decrease output in turn. 

If your flange is too large, you’ll have less pressure on the alveoli and less stimulation overall, which can result in insufficient emptying. (And when you leave milk behind, you may decrease your supply.) If your flange is too small, your nipple may rub against the tunnel, causing discomfort, pain, and compressed milk ducts that restrict emptying.

What else impacts fit?

Aside from nipple size, finding the right fit also depends on your skin elasticity and breast tissue sensitivity. Once you know what flange or insert might be right for you based on your measurements, don’t be afraid of experimenting. You may find that using a flange or insert a size above or below your measured size is more comfortable and effective.

When should I measure? 

First and foremost, you should measure anytime you feel any discomfort when pumping, or experience a sudden change in output. Remember to always measure both nipples — no two breasts are the same (even if they’re both yours!), and they may change in size throughout your breastfeeding journey. 

Can I measure my nipples when I’m still pregnant? What about when my milk comes in?

Your nipples will undergo a series of changes in both shape and size as you shift from pregnancy to establishing breastfeeding to reaching a steady state. It’s normal to need a different flange size a few times before you finish your pumping journey, so be prepared to measure a few times—and possibly swap out your flanges or inserts each time. 

If you’re still pregnant and want to get an idea of your flange size, the ideal time to do so is before your sixth month of pregnancy. After that, they may actually be larger than they’ll be during most of your pumping and breastfeeding journey.  

If you’ve purchased your flanges during pregnancy, you’ll want to measure them again once you start pumping — ideally before you pump or at least an hour after you’ve finished. If you’re sized in the hospital, this is the stage when your nipples are likely at their largest, so you should resize again in a few weeks — ideally around six to eight weeks postpartum.

In summary? You can measure your nipples when you’re pregnant — just remember to do it before the six-month mark. If you’re sized at the hospital, take your measurements again after 6-8 weeks (you should have reached a “steady state” at this point), as it’s possible your nipples may be smaller than they were right after giving birth. After that, measure any time you notice pain, discomfort, or a change in supply.

How do I measure? 

The good news is that it’s easy to measure yourself at home. We recommend sizing with Willow's cut-out nipple sizing tool, or printing it out if you don't have a copy handy. Alternatives include using a cloth measuring tape or ruler (physical or digital works!).

Once I have my measurements, which size do I choose?

When it comes to wearables, you’ll need a fit that’s more snug than what you might be used to with a traditional pump. Most moms find that adding 1-3mm to their measured nipple size (or 0-2mm if you’re pumping with the Willow 360) results in optimal output and comfort. After measuring the width of your nipple, use this handy sizing chart to find your size.

How do I know I have the right fit?

Center your nipple in the flange, and start pumping. You should feel pulling, not pinching. If your nipple rubs against the side, it’s likely too small. If you don’t feel suction, it’s likely too big.

A breast pump is a tool. So it follows that there are ways to both optimize it for your experience, as well as troubleshoot any issues that may cause discomfort or impact supply.

Getting started

If you’re new to wearable pumps, it can take a little time to adjust to your Willow Go or 360 pump to get the output you want, comfortably. 

Make the most of your pumping session

To make sure you’re pumping effectively (removing all you can) and efficiently (doing it quickly), check your flange size. If it’s too big, it likely won’t hurt you, but also won’t stimulate your breasts as much as ideal. This can mean that you won’t completely empty your breasts, which in turn can impact your supply.

Also do your best to pump in a calm environment, as this can lower your heart rate and help promote milk letdowns. 

“Take deep breaths, drink water, bring your knees to your chest, or try a little meditation,” says pediatrician Dr. Laurie Jones. “It’s worth taking the time to get into a good mind-set to speed up your pumping.”

Address low or high milk production

One of the most common worries among those who pump is that their milk production is lower than needed. Often, those worries are unfounded. So double-check your expectations,¹ doing your best to avoid comparing your output with guidance for formula volumes. What you perceive as low supply may actually be totally sufficient for your baby!

That said, one of the best tools for growing your supply is to maximize direct breastfeeding.

Schedule a virtual visit with a SimpliFed lactation consultant for ongoing breastfeeding and baby feeding support starting as early as pregnancy to help you prepare. It’s covered by most health plans.

“Milk production is based on milk removals,” Dr. Jones says. “You might feel like pumping is going well, but if you're leaving a fair percentage of milk in your breast every time by, say, not pumping long enough or not getting enough letdowns, your production will respond accordingly and drop.

There are, of course, medical causes of low supply as well, ranging from chest surgeries and retained placenta to prematurity and tongue tie. Seek help from a credentialed lactation specialist, if you suspect that your supply isn’t meeting your baby’s needs—and the sooner the better.

If you’re developing a milk stash, on the other hand, this is a sign that you might be pumping more milk than your baby needs. It’s up to you whether you keep pumping at your current rate—there’s nothing wrong with a little backup!—or dial it back a bit to adjust to your baby’s needs and avoid overproduction.

Aim for several letdowns per pumping session

Many people are surprised to learn that most pumping sessions should actually involve two to three letdowns to remove as much milk as possible. When breastfeeding, you might not notice your baby stimulating sequential letdowns. But when pumping, as your flow slows, you might have to manually change the setting back to letdown mode.

To help stimulate letdown, most pumps make short, quick pulls. Within a few seconds to a minute, your milk should go from drips and drizzles (your letdown) to more powerful sprays of milk (extraction). When the stream slows to a trickle, you can try for a third letdown.

Just as with direct breastfeeding, it’s entirely possible that you’re having multiple letdowns without changing your settings or noticing them. But if you’re concerned about low supply, inducing subsequent letdowns is an area you can focus on.

Address painful or uncomfortable pumping

If you’re experiencing any discomfort when you pump, the first thing to troubleshoot is your flange size. Getting the right size is actually a big deal! If your nipples are sore, this could be a sign that your flange is too small, causing rubbing against the flange tunnel and constriction of your milk ducts.

Strike a deal if your breasts go on strike

If your milk flows fine when your baby is breastfeeding directly, but not when you’re trying to pump, you may have what Dr. Jones calls “smart boob syndrome.” This is when your breasts know your pump is not a baby—and stages a temporary strike.

To troubleshoot this, you can focus on your mind-body connection by doing things like setting up a calm environment, smelling your baby’s onesie, watching videos of your baby, and listening to relaxing music. Dr. Jones says you could even try habituating yourself to a sound or smell when you’re direct breastfeeding, and see if that helps your milk flow when you pump.

If you’re not sure whether this is what’s going on, have your baby nurse on one breast while your pump on the other; if your milk flows, it’s a sure sign that your boobs are too smart for their own good.

Pumping has a serious learning curve. You might feel like something is off but have no idea what it is—or try all these troubleshooting techniques and still have issues with pain or supply. Timing can be critical, so try to schedule a visit with an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant as soon as possible.

The vast majority of insurance companies are required to cover lactation consulting; they often cover six to eight visits. You can schedule a virtual visit with SimpliFed if you need help quickly.

One of the most common questions in any breastfeeding journey is how to know if you’re making enough milk. When it comes to pumping, there’s no universal guidance to ensure that you’re pumping the right amount of milk, because there are so many variables. These include how old your baby is, whether and how long you are away from your baby, and what your feeding goals are.

Whatever your situation, remember that feeding your baby is a marathon, not a sprint. Aim to find a feeding system that feels simple, sustainable, and adaptable. This will help increase the likelihood that your baby will get breast milk for a longer duration (which brings many health benefits¹) and minimize your own potential challenges and setbacks, both physical and emotional.

Once you understand your baby’s nutritional needs, including how to monitor feeding cues, you’ll be better equipped to maintain your supply while away from your baby. This will help you avoid producing too much—or too little—milk for your baby

Understanding your infant’s nutritional needs

In order to grow, all breastfed infants need between 24 and 30 ounces of milk a day between the ages of 1 and 6 months, according to pediatrician Dr. Laurie Jones, founder of Dr. MILK (Mothers Interested in Lactation Knowledge). That volume then shifts down gradually to 18 to 24 ounces a day between the ages of 6 to 12 months, in part because they’re adding solids to their diet. (Formula-fed infants need greater volumes because they metabolize formula differently.)

The number of pumping sessions you need to meet your infant’s nutritional requirements depends on two things: how much milk your breasts can physiologically store (which you cannot control), and how much milk you pump per session (which, to an extent, you can control).

Your breast storage capacity, for what it’s worth, has little to nothing to do with the size of your breasts. It simply means that the more milk your breasts can store, the fewer times you need to remove milk from them—by breastfeeding or pumping—to get the same volume. Conversely, the less milk they can store, the more frequently you’ll need to remove milk from them to keep up your supply. To get a sense of how many ounces of milk your baby is getting each day, you can multiply the amount of milk you’re able to pump each session by the number of pumping and direct-breastfeeding sessions you have in a 24-hour period. (You can learn more about this partnered dance of supply and demand in our article on understanding your supply.)

Monitoring your supply to match your baby’s needs

If you’re exclusively breastfeeding on demand, which Dr. Jones says is ideal for establishing your supply over the first four to six weeks of your baby’s life, the process should naturally match your supply with your baby’s needs. That’s because your baby’s suckling tells your breasts how much milk to produce.

When you pump, it’s helpful to bear in mind the above equation (pumped ounces per session times number of daily pumping or feeding sessions). You’ll want to continue to remove milk at a consistent frequency, being careful to pump anytime your baby feeds from a bottle, fully emptying your breasts each time. (Fascinating side note: this includes stimulating multiple letdowns, something you might not notice when breastfeeding, as your baby suckles through lulls to stimulate subsequent bursts of milk.)

Apart from keeping this equation in mind, the best way to match your supply with your baby’s needs is to closely watch for feeding cues—including responding to cluster-feeding demands to ramp up your supply. Look for hunger cues (fist to mouth, opening and closing mouth, alertness) alongside satiation cues (turning head away, closing mouth, drowsiness).

Remember, too, that it’s OK, if things change, or if you need to break your routine. Regularly doing so can negatively impact your supply, but occasionally spending an afternoon away from your baby without an extra pumping session should not. (And if a super strict routine stresses you out, try to ease into a more relaxed, cues-based routine.)

Tips to avoid undersupply

Undersupply is a top concern among breastfeeding parents. When you’re pumping, the basic rule of thumb is to pump every time your baby gets a bottle. And because your supply will start to drop, if you regularly go too long between breastfeeding or pumping sessions, this means you might need to re-strategize how you approach your evenings to maintain your supply, as your baby begins to sleep for longer stretches.

If your milk is delayed, your supply isn’t well established, or your baby is underweight or too weak to breastfeed, a provider may also recommend triple feeding. This intensive, temporary process involves breastfeeding, then pumping, then bottle-feeding every two hours throughout the daytime to increase your supply.

“You should have a lactation consultant and your baby's primary care doctor involved—and check your baby’s weight closely—to know how long to continue doing triple feeds,” Dr. Jones says. Because triple feeding is so demanding, she says, no one does it 24/7.

“We don’t want to dishearten people, but at a certain point, it’s best to help them accept where they are and move forward with that new reality,” Dr. Jones says. “It doesn’t mean you’re giving up breastfeeding. It means that your role might shift, and your baby might not get all their calories from breast milk. But if you combo feed with formula and breast milk, your baby still gets all the great benefits of breastfeeding.”

Tips to avoid oversupply

Because pumping stimulates production, pumping too often can lead to oversupply. And for all the concerns about producing enough milk to meet your baby’s nutritional and caloric needs, the issues associated with pumping more than you need to should not be overlooked.

Oversupply happens when your output is beyond what your baby needs (and drinks). This can put you at risk for engorgement, mastitis, and/or plugged ducts. You can feel a frequent uncomfortable fullness, which can cause you to continue pumping (to relieve pressure) more volume than your baby needs. The more often you do this, the more you’ll need to, because your supply corresponds with how often your breasts are stimulated and emptied.

This pumping-cycle trap is what Dr. Jones calls the “frozen-milk treadmill.” It involves more work for you and takes more time away from your baby. Worse, burnout resulting from too-frequent pumping sessions might make you less likely to reach your long-term feeding targets.

So what do you do if you find that you are experiencing frequent engorgement and stockpiling pumped milk in your freezer? “It’s time to work on gradually spacing out your pumping sessions,” Dr. Jones says. “Just remember: Feed the baby, not the freezer.” 

Maintaining your supply while being apart

There will be times when you’re away from your baby for a short period (for a hair appointment, for example) or for a full day (to attend a retreat) or even multiple days (to attend a work trip or wedding). So when should you pack your pump, and how frequently should you plan to use it?

Dr. Jones says a good rule of thumb is to pump if you’re going to be apart from your baby for longer than four hours. (If it’s less than or around that period, and your breasts feel full, you can always go to a bathroom stall and hand-express a little milk to relieve the pressure.)

“As long as you pump on a regular cadence when you’re away from your baby, you can keep your supply up,” Dr. Jones says. “If you’re planning to be away and want to build up a stash for your baby to use, you can pump off the end of each feed and after long stretches of infant sleep. Just don’t do this too often, or your body will think you have twins!”

Just as with pumping at home, you’ll want to continue to clean your parts, store your milk safely, and in certain situations, even pump and dump. You also may find it useful to think through how to pump in public, as well as familiarize yourself with your travel rights as a lactating parent.

You may be preparing to pump in myriad situations—from the office, during work hours, to at home, before an evening date with your partner. If you aren’t immediately bottle-feeding your freshly pumped breast milk to your baby, you’ll need to store it.

In general, “if it’s a very clean collection and storage method,” says Dr. Laurie Jones, a pediatrician, you may find it liberating to know that your freshly pumped milk is “good for eight hours on the counter and up to eight days in the fridge¹.”

If you are on the go, and need to store breast milk until you get home, you can safely store the milk in a portable cooler or cooler bag with a frozen gel pack for up to 24 hours. If you don’t manage to feed it to your baby within that period, throw it out. 

If you’re pumping multiple times a day at work, Dr. Jones says you can safely consolidate the pumped milk (freshly pumped milk with refrigerated milk from a pumping session earlier that day) into bags or bottles to feed your baby the next day.

To accommodate other needs, such as adding breast milk to baby cereal or other solids (once your baby is ready for solids, that is), try freezing some of the milk in an ice cube tray.

And if your baby doesn’t finish all the milk from a bottle feeding within a two-hour period—regardless of whether it’s been freshly pumped, refrigerated, or defrosted—you’ll need to discard the remaining milk.

Here’s a basic rundown of how to keep your pumped milk safe to feed your baby.

Keep everything clean

Wash your hands before and after pumping. Between each session, wash your pump parts in warm, soapy water and let dry completely. You can save time by keeping extra sets for your Willow Go and Willow 360 on hand. Just rinse after each use, and then batch clean and dry them once a day.

Store it safely

Pump directly into milk bags or pour your pumped milk into a cooler, glass bottles or plastic bags designed specifically to store breast milk. Willow's Portable Milk Cooler keeps up to 16 ounces of milk at a safe temperature for up to 24 hours.

If you use bags, label them with the date and number of ounces pumped, then store on the counter top, the refrigerator, or the freezer. (Let this handy CDC chart be your milk storage safety guide.) 

Store in serving sizes

Get the most out of what you pump by keeping it in serving sizes that make sense for your use. If you’ll be away from your baby for a single daytime feeding session, for example, you might simply fill a 4-ounce bottle with pumped milk (and freeze whatever remains from your pumping session). 

Label and organize it

Label your pumped milk with dates and ounces. For short-term storage in the refrigerator, you’ll want to ensure that the milk you serve is as fresh as possible. For long-term storage, the CDC says you can freeze breast milk for up to 12 months, though thawing and feeding it to your baby within 6 months is optimal. 

Freeze it like you mean it 

Try to freeze your milk bags flat and away from the high-traffic areas of your freezer (they can break easily), ideally in a colder section to ensure longevity. Place them in chronological order so you can easily use them in that order. And if for some reason the bags should thaw (i.e., during a power outage), use them or lose them. 

Minimize milk transfer

With milk fat clinging to bags and bottles, the more you transfer milk between containers, the less fat your baby is likely to get. “Ideally, you pump into containers you will feed from, or you transfer the milk when it’s warm and freshly pumped—which means you take your bottles to work with you, if you don’t pump directly into them,” Dr. Jones says. 

Carefully manage formula feeding

If your baby has been in the NICU or has a complex medical condition, a physician may instruct you to add formula powder to your breast milk. Because you must throw away any milk left over from a bottle feeding within an hour², Dr. Jones advises asking the physician whether the total recommended daily formula amount can be fed in one bottle (mixed with water, based on package directions) rather than split across multiple bottles.

If you are combination-feeding your baby (routinely feeding your baby both breast milk and formula), Dr. Jones advises against combining the substances—keeping bottles of breast milk completely separate from bottles of formula. The reason goes beyond reducing waste.

“The formula deactivates some of the value of the breast milk,” Dr. Jones says³. Specifically, mixing formula and breast milk can affect protein intake, as well as the milk’s ability to retain calcium, phosphorus, and zinc.

Safely thaw and feed

Because thawed breast milk must be consumed or thrown out within a few hours or day, depending on how you thaw it, you should be judicious about both how you thaw and how much you thaw.

There are two ways to safely thaw your frozen breast milk: in the refrigerator overnight, for use the next day; or in or under warm or lukewarm water, for more immediate use. 

If you defrost a bag of breast milk in the refrigerator, it’s safe to keep it refrigerated for up to 24 hours and at room temperature for up to 2 hours. If you defrost the bag using warm water, you must feed or toss it within 2 hours. 

Do not use hot water to thaw breast milk, as the excessive heat may destroy some of its nutrients and antibodies⁴. And never use a microwave for this purpose, either, because in addition to destroying protective properties, it can create hot spots that could burn your baby’s mouth.

Check for freshness

There are a couple ways to tell whether your stored breast milk is no longer safe to feed your baby. 

If it smells rancid or excessively sour, that’s an indication that your milk has “gone bad,” or spoiled due to chemical oxidation. There are two common reasons this happens: 

Your pumped breast milk can also spoil if you are eating polyunsaturated fats or rancid fats, or drinking water with too many copper or iron ions. You can address these dietary issues by reducing your intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) such as canola, vegetable, sesame, cottonseed, peanut, walnut, and flaxseed oils, along with margarine, and by drinking bottled water instead of tap water. 

Regardless of the reason, when the milk becomes spoiled, it’s not safe for your baby to drink, and it must be discarded.

Troubleshoot an off smell

For some moms, however, breast milk develops a somewhat sour, soapy scent when stored because of the presence of lipase, an enzyme that helps break down fats. The lipase scent tends to increase in intensity with the amount of time stored. 

Unlike oxidation, lipase doesn’t present a safety issue to feed your baby, though your little one may find the scent uninviting and refuse the milk. Instead of throwing out this milk, Dr. Jones suggests tasting it to confirm that it isn't rancid, then mixing it with freshly pumped milk or adding a drop of vanilla extract to it before feeding it to your baby.

For a deeper dive into distinguishing whether your breast milk has undergone chemical oxidation or has become impacted by lipase, see La Leche League’s article on milk issues.

Think about whether you want a modest freezer stash

Maybe you’re heading out for a date with your partner. Or maybe you’re preparing for a multiday work trip away from your baby. In either case, you likely want to leave behind some extra milk. But be careful not to create a massive stockpile of it, warns Dr. Jones.

“No one needs to pump for [their older] baby while feeding their current baby at the same time,” she says. “It is almost impossible and creates a cascade of oversupply problems for mother and baby.” (See our article on managing your supply for more on this topic.)

Pregnancy is the ultimate preparation period. Just as it’s advisable during this time to explore support you’ll need to physically recover from childbirth and begin breastfeeding, it’s smart to start thinking about pumping. Even if you’re not sure when you’ll start pumping, consider this: Pumping can help you reach your breastfeeding goals. 

Unless a C-section or other circumstances (usually pre-term time in the NICU or a latch issue) prevents you from establishing direct breastfeeding in the hours and days after your child’s birth, you’re not likely to start pumping until a few weeks after delivery. (And if you’re wondering whether you should pump before the baby is born, the quick and resounding answer is no.) 

If you do your pump prep homework ahead of time, you can buy some peace of mind and better prepare for the curve balls that childbirth recovery might throw you. Here are our expert’s recommended steps.

Check your insurance.  Some insurance providers permit pump purchases while pregnant; some require waiting until delivery. Depending on your policy’s requirements, create a plan. If you need a backup option, see if your hospital will rent you one.

Research and purchase a pump. Once you’ve sorted out the insurance details, do your research and purchase a pump (or add one to your registry!). You’ll also want to consider accessories such as bottles, flanges, inserts, and a pumping bra (yes, this is different from a nursing bra). Save your receipts for potential insurance reimbursement.

Find the right-size flanges. Pumps are one-size-fits-all, but their flanges, which should fit snugly over your breasts, come in different sizes. Using the right flange size could make or break your pumping experience; practice patience, and seek guidance from a lactation consultant, if you need it.

Prep your parts. Sterilize your pump parts right after you open your pump to prepare for your initial pumping session. You can place the flanges  in boiling water for 10 minutes or run them through the dishwasher (top rack only); in most cases, you’ll be able to clean them with warm, soapy water after this first pump.

Ask for a hand pump in the hospital. These are fairly basic but good to have in situations where you need to catch milk from a letdown in one breast while breastfeeding your baby on the other, or if you don’t have your pump. They are typically billable to your insurance as part of your labor and delivery.

When it comes to planning your approach to pumping, there’s no one-size-fits-all schedule. While the most important guidance applies across the board—that you pump enough for your baby to get the volume they need for however long you’re apart—your pumping schedule will be unique to you and your circumstances.

This means it’ll change as your circumstances change. But establishing a pumping schedule can help you control how pumping fits into your daily routine, as well as block off time on your schedule to pump, thus protecting your pumping sessions from disruptions.

How much milk does my baby need per feed?

While your baby’s milk needs increase over the first month, they then reach a steady state that lasts throughout the first 6 months—and even dips between 6 and 12 months as solids are introduced.

At first, babies only need 1-ounce feeds. That gradually increases to 3-ounce feeds as breastfeeding is established in the first four weeks, and then roughly 4-ounce feeds totaling 25 to 30 ounces of breastmilk a day between 1 and 6 months. By your baby’s first birthday, due to the inclusion of solids, total daily milk needs drop to 16 to 18 ounces a day.

What scenario are you pumping for?

Pumping can be used to accommodate a wide range of scenarios. Think through your own circumstances and goals to determine how best to approach pumping, and know that this will likely change over time.

If you’re pumping for the occasional couple hours away from your baby… 

Once you’ve established a good breastfeeding routine over the course of your baby’s first month of life, pump right after your typical morning breastfeeding session.

“This morning feeding has the largest amount of milk sitting in the breasts, after your baby’s longest stretch of sleep at night,” says pediatrician Dr. Laura Jones.

This pumping session will help you store a small volume of milk—1 to 2 ounces—that won’t impact your supply for the next feeding. And whether you add this session every morning or just occasionally, you’ll accumulate a small freezer stash over time that another caregiver can thaw for bottle feedings.

Sample schedule:

If you’re pumping to prepare to return to work…

As with pumping for the occasional afternoon out, Dr. Jones advises pumping immediately after your first breastfeeding session of the day. The difference is you’ll do this every day for two weeks before your return to work. You can use an ounce for a practice bottle a couple times and freeze the rest.

By pumping somewhere between 1 to 3 ounces of milk per day for 14 days, you should be able to stash about 20 ounces—which should be enough for two full work days—while still balancing your baby’s daily needs and avoiding stimulating an oversupply of breast milk, Dr. Jones says.

Sample schedule:

If you’re pumping at work…  

Your goal is to pump enough while at work to provide that for a future shift apart—ideally 1 to 1.25 ounces of milk for every hour apart. This equation can help you calculate how much milk you should be pumping both in a given session and for the duration of your time apart.

If, say, you work 8 hours a day and are apart for 10 hours when factoring in commutes, and your baby is older than 4 weeks, try to pump 10 to 12 ounces during that time. And if you’re pumping every 3 hours, you’ll ideally get somewhere between 3 and 3.75 ounces of milk each session.

When it comes to timing, pump at the times that work best for you, and don’t worry too much about it being right at your baby’s typical feeding times. Building in flexibility around these chunks of time should generally be fine for maintaining your supply.

Over time you might be able to shift to two pumping sessions per day based on your personal breast storage capacity and what volume of solids your baby eats. At around 10 to 12 months, some people can even get away with pumping just once midday.

If you’re an exclusive pumper…  

There are special circumstances for exclusive pumping, and they don’t rule out combination feeding or even exclusive breastfeeding later.

In the early days, this might mean pumping at 7 a.m. and 10 a.m., then again at 1 p.m., 4 p.m., 6 p.m., and 9 p.m., and pumping overnight at midnight and 4 a.m. (Yes, it’s a grind, but this is just in the early weeks while you’re establishing your supply.)

Once you’ve established your supply and are ready to pump less frequently, you can start by removing the nighttime pumping sessions from your schedule (and hopefully replace them with sleep!). Pay attention to the times of day when your supply naturally starts to dip. The lower-output pumping sessions are the next ones to eliminate from your schedule.

This exclusive-pumping schedule can help you think through your routine.

Using a bottle to feed your baby can be a real game changer. Bottle feeding, in tandem with pumping, brings flexibility to how, when, and where your baby eats—not to mention who is able to help with the feeding. 

Bottle feeding can be implemented in myriad ways, but it takes a little education, planning and, often, persistence. If strategically (and successfully) implemented, bottle feeding can support your efforts to continue breastfeeding. And if you find yourself in situations in which direct breastfeeding is difficult or even impossible, bottle feeding enables you to continue providing your baby breast milk.

To help guide you through this journey, check out our tactical tips on how to introduce a bottle, what to do if your baby refuses to take one, and best practices for managing bottle feeding, once established.

How to handle bottle refusal

If you’ve heard of (or perhaps experienced) bottle refusal, pediatrician Dr. Laurie Jones, founder of Dr. MILK (Mothers Interested in Lactation Knowledge), has several tips to help manage it. She says your baby’s willingness to take a bottle is more about personality than timing—some babies just prefer the breast. Success, then, depends less on the type of bottle than on the caregiver’s patience, consistency, and persistence. 

The good news? Even the most stubborn bottle refusers will eventually figure it out—or learn to use a cup.