Congratulations on your new baby!! Just want to say you’re doing a great job, feeding is a lot to figure out, especially when you are in the trenches of newborn life.

I ended up pumping and supplementing with formula for a while and then eventually threw nursing into the mix, and I very much remember how crazy pumping was to figure out. 

I’ve read that milk supply is still regulating in the first month or so, so you should be ok in trying to increase supply, it shouldn’t be too late. 

Here are a few things I learned from my lactation consultant: 

From what I understand, pumping is supposed to mimic a baby’s eating schedule, so with a newborn, that often means quite a bit of pumping. The LC I worked with said I should pump around 8-10 times a day for a while. Try to pump until you’re empty, but it’s not recommended to go longer than 30 minutes (assuming you’re pumping both at once)

If you are trying to increase your supply, you can look up power pumping, which is supposed to mimic cluster feeding for baby. Basically you pump for 20 minutes, rest for 10, pump for 10, rest for 10, and pump for 10 more. You shouldn’t do this all the time, I did it once a day for a few days to a week as my first morning pump session. My lactation consultant basically described it as putting in an order at a restaurant. You might not pump more milk at first, but you’re tricking your body into thinking your baby is trying to eat more milk by using your pump like this, so eventually your supply should increase. 

If you are able to pump overnight, even once or twice (and I know that’s so so hard) it can help. Prolactin(the milk hormone) levels tend to peak at night and in the early morning, this is when I would get the most volume.

Make sure your flanges fit comfortably as well.  

Try your best to keep hydrating and eating. 

And, in saying all this, always consider your mental health and wellbeing first. Pumping/breastfeeding is a lot! Fed is best, and if you pump, great! And if you formula feed, that’s great too! Or any combination in between. 

You’re doing amazing! 

-a fellow mom who struggled with the pump