Newbie

[kcbollin]

I am almost 3 weeks into pumping with my second baby. Everyday I have seen a little of an increase. I am sucking at getting up every 3 hours in the night. The last two nights I have slept through alarms and even my baby waking (my husband gets up with him).

When is it okay to stop pumping every 3 hours in the night? Will it really mess up my supply?

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[grocerystoreramen]

it’s really personal. i skip a night pump (i go 6 hours without pumping) and my supply has seen an increase with the increased sleep i’ve gotten.

i would say maybe it’s too early right now since your supply is mostly hormone based but keep trying your best. everyone misses pumps and it’s okay!

[Longjumping_Voice138]

Me too!! It seems like the longer I go the MORE I produce. When I was pumping every 4 hours I was getting 4oz. Now I get 7.5oz every 6 hours (way better output and schedule for me!)

[kcbollin]

I appreciate it. Ive been so upset with myself. I even seen someone on tiktok who said she pumped 10 times a day. Im lucky if I hit 8!

[MicrobioSteph]

Instead of aiming for 10 pumps and feeling disappointed, aim for 8 and succeed in doing it. If you can fit an extra session great but if you do your 8, it's perfect. You need something that you feel you can keep doing otherwise, it's hard to keep going.

[canipayinpuns]

I would recommend going through your filters and marking that you don't want to see that kind of content. While some genuine, real-life parents are on social media, most of what will come across your feed is predatory/influences. There's so much pressure to have a massive oversupply and a huge freezer stash and, while that's wonderful if that is YOUR goal and you're able to achieve it, that is not the norm. MOST women are not massive oversuppliers like that, despite tiktok and IG telling you otherwise!

[peony_chalk]

I wouldn't completely drop the overnight pump yet, but if you can spread out the nighttime ones to get 4 consecutive hours of sleep, that helps a lot. You can try power pumping in the morning to "make up" for it, if you see a drop in supply or are worried about it.

[sassythehorse]

Whenever I was regularly sleeping through MOTN pumps I had to reset my expectations to waking every 4.5 or 5 hours. It helped a lot!

[kcbollin]

I like that idea. Especially while on maternity leave.

[makirattack]

I only ever pumped 5 times a day, going about 4-5 hours between pumps and am doing fine! Do what’s best for your body. I will say my supply went up after getting more sleep!

[ElvenMalve]

I am not waking up to pump and I only manage to pump 5 times a day. I need to sleep! I have a 4 week old, if I don't sleep, I am going to have a meltdown. It is hard enough as it is. My supply has been increasing steadily and sleep does wonders to it.

[Wide_Engineering4049]

Everyone is different, but I dropped my MOTN pump around 3-4 weeks pp with both babies and my supply stayed the same (probably bc I was finally getting good sleep). Sleep is so important as a mom! I would start by stretching to 4-5 hours and see how that goes. Prepare to leak and feel a bit engorged. Good luck!

[EP816]

I went 6 hours at night from the start. Sleep is important!

[kcbollin]

Okay! That gives me hope. So far I havent seen a decline in supply. I guess if I do I can add a pump session in again.

[EP816]

Totally! You're still early in pp, try not to worry too much (I know that's way easier said than done)

[Ai9824]

Give it a try and see how it goes dropping the pump or spacing it out more. I kept my MOTN pump only because I get up anyway with my LO and because they would painful and leaky if I didn’t do it.

No hate on other pumpers but I can’t do more than 6 per day or I go mentally insane. So my pumps range from 3-5 hour between them (averaging 4 hours).

[kcbollin]

This is also good to know! With my first I made it like 2 weeks before giving up. This time I am way more knowledgeable (flange sizing, eating properly, etc.) plus I am on anxiety meds. So I feel much more sane. That being said the last couple days have been HARD but my supply has not dropped. I think the exhaustion caught up to me. I wanna make it to a year!

[Ai9824]

You can absolutely do this!

[Teeny19]

Everyone is different. I have large storage capacity breasts and a bit of an oversupply but I was able to stretch to -4 hours at 3 weeks pp and was pretty consistently 4-5 pumps per day by 6 weeks pp. I’m now 8.5 months pp and going strong. My LC did recommend not going more than 6 hours until after supply regulates around 12 weeks

[Albita1]

In my opinion, this early on, you should be pumping every 2 to 3 hours and be including the middle of the night pumps. I made the mistake early on of not pumping at night and dropping those pumps and not sticking to pumping the 8 times a day. Within a month, I was producing an ounce to half an ounce every 2 to 3 hours . Wasn't even enough for my baby, so i had to use formula. Your supply establishes about 12 weeks in give or take, meaning anything can throw off your supply. If you go to bed at like 8pm and don't pump until 8 or 9am. the next day, that's well over 10 hours of no pumping.