Hi all. My daughter turns 3 months tomorrow and I've been EPing the whole time. I currently pump 4x per day - roughly 6am, 11am, 3pm, 9pm - getting 28-30oz per day. I usually get around 10oz at 6am and between 5-8oz at the other sessions, depending how long it's been. DD eats 24ish oz per day and I freeze the rest. I've probably got 200oz in the freezer. My original plan was to pump for 6 months but now I'm wondering if I can go longer if I'm not hating it too much at that point. However I'd love to drop a session, or even two, if possible. Anyone have experience with this? Is it possible to produce enough milk in 2-3 sessions per day? Or would it cause too big of a hit to my supply? If I dropped down to 3 sessions, what would optimal times be?
FWIW I started out pumping 7-8x per day and gradually moved down without reducing my production. I've been at my current schedule for about 5-6 weeks. But going below 4x per day just makes me nervous for some reason.
Based on the amount you pump at 4ppd, i would NOT drop any further. Typically people who can maintain a full supply on 2-3ppd are the oversuppliers, not average or just sufficient suppliers. My output is/was very similar to yours, and I also had about 250oz in the freezer. I was pumping 6x a day and nursing at night (so 7 sessions total) till I met my 6m goal. Then I dropped to 5 sessions, no drop in oz. Then baby started STTN, I didn't wake to pump and actually gained oz. then I dropped to 4ppd, small drop in oz, I was ok with that, still made enough but nothing to freeze. Then a couple of weeks agoI decided to go to 3ppd with the intention of weaning soon, and I lost 8oz pretty much immediately. Not saying this will happen to you BUT if your goal is to keep going without a significant dip in supply or supplementing, I would be careful. 200oz of freezer stash will not last you long if you have to pull out 8oz each day like me. Now if your goal is to provide whatever BM you can, and you're ok with supplementing any difference, then by all means drop and see what happens. I am weaning so I'm ok with the drop and will use my freezer stash then move to formula as needed.
You will not dry up or anything, you just may not have the 24oz you need daily.
I went from 5 PPD to 4 around 5 months and noticed a pretty big drop. At 4 PPD, I pump 26-30 ounces per day and DD eats between 22-24. Some days she eats more and some days less. I wouldn't drop any lower than 4 PPD for a while at the risk of having to supplement...unless you're ok with that.
Thanks ladies. I'd prefer not to supplement before 6 months so I guess I shouldn't mess with things for now It's just weird, because my production actually went up when I went from 7-6, 6-5, and 5-4 sessions! I'm guessing that probably had more to do with my supply getting established.
Yes plus rhe extra time between means more rest and relaxation, less stress. There is always a tipping point though and a lot depends on your storage capacity. My max is 10oz (based on pumped amt) but my body likes to store mainly in 5-6oz increments max.
Based on the amount you pump at 4ppd, i would NOT drop any further. Typically people who can maintain a full supply on 2-3ppd are the oversuppliers, not average or just sufficient suppliers. My output is/was very similar to yours, and I also had about 250oz in the freezer. I was pumping 6x a day and nursing at night (so 7 sessions total) till I met my 6m goal. Then I dropped to 5 sessions, no drop in oz. Then baby started STTN, I didn't wake to pump and actually gained oz. then I dropped to 4ppd, small drop in oz, I was ok with that, still made enough but nothing to freeze. Then a couple of weeks agoI decided to go to 3ppd with the intention of weaning soon, and I lost 8oz pretty much immediately. Not saying this will happen to you BUT if your goal is to keep going without a significant dip in supply or supplementing, I would be careful. 200oz of freezer stash will not last you long if you have to pull out 8oz each day like me. Now if your goal is to provide whatever BM you can, and you're ok with supplementing any difference, then by all means drop and see what happens. I am weaning so I'm ok with the drop and will use my freezer stash then move to formula as needed.
You will not dry up or anything, you just may not have the 24oz you need daily.
Just wanted to say how jealous I am that you were able to drop to 4 ppd at 3 months. I was still waking up at 2 and 7 at that time, and at 7 months have only recently dropped to 4 ppd & baby still gets 2-3 formula bottles/day!
Post by bootsorhearts on Aug 14, 2015 14:05:57 GMT -5
You could drop a pump and see what happens. It may be ok for the first few days and then your supply may drop but if that happens, sounds like you have a buffer via the frozen stash and you can always add back the extra pump just keep in mind it will take a few days for your supply to go back up. For me, my supply dropped a little at 3 pumps/day but didn't drop substantially until I went down to 2 pumps a day (I was stopping pumping so dropping volume was my goal at that point).
How are you all dropping pumps without getting clogged ducts?? Will the clogged ducts stop once my supply establishes? I've been EPing since birth, 8 weeks.
How are you all dropping pumps without getting clogged ducts?? Will the clogged ducts stop once my supply establishes? I've been EPing since birth, 8 weeks.
By either reducing the time of the pump you wish to drop by a few minutes each day until you're at 0 minutes or by spreading time between pumps by a few minutes each day.
Once I got to 4 PPD, I just dropped the 4th pump cold turkey and now to 3 and was successful. Some might not be, but it just worked nicely for me.
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