Maintaining a Full Milk Supply with a Pump

By Nancy Mohrbacher, IBCLC, Ameda Products

Co-author of Breastfeeding Made Simple and The Breastfeeding Answer Book

http://www.ameda.com/breastpumping/most/tips.aspx

 

You now have a full milk supply of 25-35 ounces (750-1050 ml) per day. (If not, click on "How to Bring in a Full Milk Supply with a Breast Pump.") If your baby is not yet ready to breastfeed, don't worry. Your pump can help you keep your milk there until your baby is ready. To do this, it may help to first understand how milk supply works.

 

Drained breasts make milk faster. When breasts are drained often and well, this sends the signal to make milk faster. Lots of pumping at first "puts in your order" for a full milk supply.

 

Full breasts make milk slower. Human milk contains a substance called FIL (Feedback Inhibitor of Lactation) that signals the breast to slow down its milk-making. The more FIL in the breasts, the slower milk is made.

 

Different breasts mean different pumping patterns. How long it takes for breasts to feel full depends on a woman’s "breast storage capacity." This is the amount of milk her breasts can hold before feeling full. The room in the milk glands (not breast size!) is the basis for this and differs from one mom to the next. Moms with a "large capacity" store more milk, need to pump less often, and get more milk at a pumping. Moms with a "small capacity" get full faster and need to pump more often to get the same amount of milk. Both moms can make plenty of milk, but the number of pumpings needed to keep up supply can vary greatly.

 

Very long stretches between feedings can slow milk production. Because full breasts make milk slower, very long stretches between pumpings may cause milk supply to go down. Cutting way down on pumping may work if you have a "large capacity." But if you’re a mom with a "small capacity," be careful. Your milk supply may drop.

 

When you've reached a full supply, you may be ready to pump less. Here are some tips.

Try cutting back to 5-7 pumpings each day. If your supply goes down, see the next section on: "he Fully Pumping Mother:  What to do Next?"

 

Try sleeping all night. With a full supply, many mothers pump right before bed and then first thing in the morning. If you can do this without too much breast fullness, go ahead.

Pump for a shorter time. For most mothers, 10-15 minutes of pumping is long enough.

Once a week, add up the milk you pump during a 24-hour period. Write down this daily milk yield and compare your totals each week. This way you’ll know right away if your total milk yield starts to drop.

 

If you need to increase your milk supply, the sooner you work on it, the faster you'll see results. Here are some ideas to try.

• Pump more: 8-12 per day. This boosts milk supply for most mothers.
• Pump longer: until two minutes after the last drop of milk or 20-30 minutes, whichever comes first. (Drained breasts make milk faster.)
• Read "Getting a Good Flange Fit" and then check your pump flange fit. Many women get better results with a larger breast flange. Even if you had a good fit at first, flange fit can change with time and pumping.
• Use breast massage during pumping. This yields more milk.
• Ask your lactation consultant to talk to your doctor about prescription and herbal medicines that can boost supply. Examples are metoclopramide (Reglan), domperidone (Motilium), and fenugreek capsules and tinctures.