What do I do with all our milk? I'm really confused.

[ashley84]

Originally Posted by crunchymom2b I have to ask, when do you find time to pump?

Originally Posted by PurpleDaffodil Where do you find the time, I feel like everytime i pump, my LO wakes up and wants to nurse.

I started pumping from day one. I was just pumping originally to relieve engorgement and build a small freezer supply. I never stopped. I was in awe at how much extra I could pump. I love that I can eat as much as I want to and still lose weight. They say everyone is good at something. This is my something and I'm going to make the most of it. My milk is super rich. It's always kept my kids in the 90+ percentile. I know it's valuable.

Anyhow, I pump twice a day. I pump once in the morning about an hour after I feed DD her first meal. She doesn't eat again for at least an hour after that. I pump again at night right before I go to bed. At that point DD has usually been down for the night an hour or so. Mostly, she sleeps through the night and I don't have to feed her until morning. Sometimes I have to get up with her once, but that's usually hours later. Occasionally, I sneak in a third session in the middle of the afternoon when DD is napping. She takes a good long nap (3-5 hours) every day. Lots of times I nap then too and I don't get a chance to pump. If I stay up though, I pump an hour or so after she goes down.

I pump around 20 extra ounces a day. Sometimes she eats more than usual and I only get 10 ounces. Sometimes I sneak in an extra session and I end up with 25 ounces when the day is done. I'm able to pump this much extra because I've trained my body to make this much milk. I don't think I could have built it up this much if I hadn't started from day one. It doesn't take me long to pump - 10 minutes at the most. I get a fast letdown because it's routine for my body to express that amount of milk at that time of day.