20/10/2022
It’s true, breastfed infants take about 19-32 ounces of milk, or an average of 25 oz every 24 hours from month 1-6. So if you are pumping and worried about volume, your infant is not going to need larger and larger bottles to keep growing well. What a relief!
There are many reasons you might want to pump, hand express breast milk, or feed your baby pumped breast milk. Having expressed breast milk can allow your baby to drink your breast milk from a bottle.
When to Start Pumping
If you are planning to return to work or school or will be away from your baby for other reasons, you may want to start pumping a few weeks beforehand. This will give you the chance to practice pumping and will give your baby time to get used to feeding from a bottle.
How Often to Pump
When away from your baby or if you exclusively pump your milk, try to pump as often as your baby is drinking breast milk. This will help remind your body to keep making the amount of milk your baby needs.
How Much to Pump
Did You Know?
Hand expression is one way to express milk if your breasts are feeling extra full, if you do not have access to a manual or electric breast pump, if you are unexpectedly separated from your baby, or if you want to make more milk. It is good for all mothers to know how to do this.
To hand express, you use your hand to massage and compress your breast to remove milk. While it takes practice, skill, and coordination, it gets easier over time.
Pumping as often as your baby normally drinks breast milk should help your body make about the amount of milk your baby needs. This amount may differ from baby to baby and can change as babies grow. If you find that you are not able to pump as much milk as your baby wants to eat while you are away, you may want to consider adding another pumping session to increase your milk supply.