When to Start Pumping After Having a Baby

When to Start Pumping After Having A Baby

Contributed by Elina S. Arulraj, MSPT, IBCLC

Elina leads a weekly breastfeeding support group at the Yummy Mummy Store in NYC every Tuesday at 10am.

If your baby has been nursing exclusively and gaining weight well and you are feeling ready for a break here and there after 3-4 weeks of exclusive breastfeeding it is safe to begin giving your baby 1 bottle every or every other day without it impacting the baby's ability to breastfeed.

The best way to do this is either one of the following ways:

Scenario #1: Pump after 1-2 of your early morning feeds when your body typically makes the most milk. Spend 2-3 days pumping the same amount (1-1.5) ounces total (so that you aren't pumping out calories that the baby would normally eat that day) and build up a stash for your bottle feeding.  Just make sure that you also pump when you are skipping the feeding (when baby is getting the bottle) as to not get engorged or effect your milk supply.

Scenario #2: Pump at the same time or 15 minutes before the baby will feed and use that milk for the baby's bottle. Pumping soon after the baby is born is a great idea if you are separated from your baby, if you lost a lot of blood during delivery or if the baby is not latching/nursing.  Then it is a good idea to use the hospital-grade pump that can be provided to you at the hospital and pump both sides for 15 mins every 2.5 hours and rent a hospital-grade pump for when you get home from the hospital.

If the baby is latching and spending good amounts of time actively sucking at the breast there is no need to start pumping right from the beginning. If you want to build up a storage of milk early on, refer to the first scenario listed above and every 3 days increase how much you are pumping out.  Doing it gradually ensures you are increasing your supply and not pumping out calories that your baby needs that day.

If you need to increase your supply or the baby is not draining you and you want to protect your milk supply, pump after you nurse your baby.  Depending on how long and actively the baby nursed you can adjust the amount of time pumping.  If the baby actively nursed for about 15 mins both sides, you can do 7-8 mins of pumping. If this is not the case and your baby only nursed for a few minutes, pump for at least 15 minutes both sides to yield the best results.

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