How much do I need to pump for work

[Nikki041311]

My mat leave is ending Wed, and I'm kind of freaking out about pumping and how much I'll need for 8 hours. LO is 8 weeks old. Any ideas?

[carolineb]

I would guess every 3 hours for pumping.

[ilovemath]

I agree with carolineb- you'll basically need to pump as often as your child eats when you're home. I couldn't always do every 3 hours, but when I did eventually pump, I pumped enough to make up for it- sometimes I'd start a let down and have to push on my boobs to stop it. So if it was 5 hours between feeding/pumping, I'd pump 8 oz instead of 4 oz if that makes sense?

Do you have enough pumped/stored for your first day back at work?

[AlisonR80]

there's no way i could pump as often as my LO eats...sometimes it's every hour. I'm going back to work next wk and plan to pump 3 times while i'm there for an 8 hr work day. If that isn't enough she'll get formula to supplement, or i'll try to pump more at home. My DD has a voracious appetite...hard to keep up with her.
Good luck...pump now to build up a freezer stash, i have one but its small

[myoo]

I plan to pump every 3 hours. I've read that a breastfed baby needs 1-1.5 oz. for each hour away from mom, so if mom is away from LO for 8 hours, expect him/her to need 8-12 oz. of pumped milk per day, for 10 hours, 10-15 oz. of pumped milk, etc. Breastfed infants aren't supposed to "need" more milk per feeding as they get older the way formula-fed babies do.

[redhairboy]

Gosh my lo eats ALOT when im gone. He eats 30 oz. when I work a 12 hour shift and im only able to pump 3 times at work and that gets me about 20 oz. so I have to pump on my days off to make up for it. Good luck going back to work.

[dawbs]

My kiddo was another one of those 'small meals constantly' kids...I pumped every 3 hours whle at work and was able to more than keep up just fine. (your milage may vary)

The amounts people described, of 1-2 oz per hour gone have been on target for us, for the most part.

[kanga1622]

My DS consistently took 2.5 or 3 ounce bottles every 2 hours from 3-14 months. That meant we sent 4 bottles with a total of 11.5 or 12 ounces. Now at 15 months he takes just 3 bottles on a work day (2 if I come home and nurse at lunch).

In order to keep up with him, I pump 4 times during the 9 hours we are apart. I used to get a full bottle at each pump session until I got mastitis and then we had to start using up the freezer stash. Once he dropped one bottle, I am back to keeping steady with no extra.

[CEVmommy]

Originally Posted by myoo I plan to pump every 3 hours. I've read that a breastfed baby needs 1-1.5 oz. for each hour away from mom, so if mom is away from LO for 8 hours, expect him/her to need 8-12 oz. of pumped milk per day, for 10 hours, 10-15 oz. of pumped milk, etc. Breastfed infants aren't supposed to "need" more milk per feeding as they get older the way formula-fed babies do.

^This exactly. My baby always needed on the low end of the spectrum because I also fed her freely overnight, decreasing the amount she needed during the day, and thus the amount I needed to pump! I'd rather nurse at night than stress about pumping!

At 4 months, my baby was taking 2 oz bottles, and by 7 months she was taking 3 oz bottles. I never sent more than 3 oz in a bottle even up to 15 months.

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Originally Posted by redhairboy Gosh my lo eats ALOT when im gone. He eats 30 oz. when I work a 12 hour shift and im only able to pump 3 times at work and that gets me about 20 oz. so I have to pump on my days off to make up for it. Good luck going back to work.

Holy cow - that's a LOT of milk! That's a whole day's worth of milk in just half a day!