Should I Pump Breast Milk at Night?
- February 7, 2017
- by Melissa Lawrence
Hello all! A mom wrote in asking about breastfeeding and pumping and her baby’s feeding schedule. In particular, she asked: when I’m looking for ways to increase my milk supply, should I set my alarm and wake up in the middle of the night to pump breast milk for my baby? I tackle this tricky question in today’s video.
When to Pump Breast Milk
The general rule with breast milk is to pump when your baby is eating. That is to say, when you miss a feeding, pump when the baby is taking the bottle so that your body continues to follow the baby’s eating schedule, producing milk at the correct time. That being said, my body did tend to produce more milk during the night, leaving me often with engorged breasts in the morning.
If you find that you produce a lot of milk during the night, you might want to set your alarm and get up and pump in order to continue to tell your body to produce milk during this time. Some moms do and it works great for them. They also have more stored milk in the freezer for when they need it. Love that.
I did not do this. What I did was to pump a little bit after each feed, for just 5-10 minutes or so, often while I was burping the baby on my lap. This equalized the amount that each breast was stimulated, led to a nice, healthy storehouse of milk, and freed me up when I did miss feedings. My body was so used to continually producing milk for the baby that I didn’t need to worry about a skipped feeding or two. Liberating.
Check out my video for more advice on this topic, and thanks so much for watching CloudMom.
Melissa
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