pumping at night

[Brittany1287]

How long does your baby sleep and do you pump at night? Just not sure if I need to pump to keep up my supply?

[sophiasmommy14]

i hope someone can answer this because ive got the same question I stopped pumping at night and i honestly feel like my supply dropped. I try to strictly nurse her only now to get my supply back up. Shes 4 months old and it really seems to have helped, but i wondered if my supply dropped because i stopped pumping at night?!

[tibeca]

Moms have been breastfeeding babies for many years without pumps or clocks to tell them how long baby has been sleeping at night. Nurse your baby on demand and don't wake to pump unless you are having REAL problems with supply.

Your body should be making only what you need for our baby and not a drop extra.

[SarahS12]

Originally Posted by tibeca Moms have been breastfeeding babies for many years without pumps or clocks to tell them how long baby has been sleeping at night. Nurse your baby on demand and don't wake to pump unless you are having REAL problems with supply. Your body should be making only what you need for our baby and not a drop extra.

Agreed! If my baby isn't nursing, my body doesn't need to be making that milk. I would only be concerned if you have a serious supply problem or if pumping at work is already bringing your supply down and you can't pump enough during the day.

[Mom2jandb]

Agreed with PPs. I would let your body adjust unless you need the milk for something.

[hscannon]

I'm nursing a 4 month old now and previously nursed my daughter for 15 months. I work full-time, so need expressed milk for my DS to drink while I'm at work. He now sleeps a stretch of 6 hours at night and I do not pump unless I need expressed milk for his next day at daycare. Generally I pump enough at work for his next day at daycare, so I'm only pumping at night maybe once every two weeks. I've been back at work for 6 weeks now and have not noticed any problems with my supply. HTH!

[Mystisue]

I have a 4 month old and still pump at night, she is sleeping 10.5 hours at night so I am afraid to go that long without pumping. Since she has been sleeping through the night since about 10 weeks I have built up an enormous supply in the freezer.

my question though is....since your milk changes in composition as your LO gets older, will the milk I froze at the beginning be good enough for her now if it were needed?

[Belbaby3728]

If my dd sleeps longer than 4 hours and/or can't nurse both sides I get too engorged and painful and leak so I do keep my pump set up next to bed and if she sleeps 4 hour stretches I will pump one side while she nurses other. She doesn't have a set night sleep schedule though, so some nights she's up every couple hours so I don't pump then. I work 2 days a week and never pump what she eats while I am at work (usually 3 ounces short) so pumping at night when I have more milk helps me keep my freezer stash up!

[AmyfromKY]

I have a 5 month old who sometimes nurses 2 times overnight and sometimes sleeps through the night. She will nurse around 8pm and then I pump about 30 mins later so I can give her big brother milk in his sippy. If baby isn't nursing at night, you don't need to be making milk. Sleep mama