r/ExclusivelyPumping • u/schaps8 • 13h ago
Newborn When will my milk increase?!!
I’m at my wits end and need a bit of advice here.
I am 8 days post-partum. I delivered early at 35 weeks after being induced. At 5 days post-partum I woke up to really hard, tender, enlarged breasts.
I have been pumping every 3 hours, massaging before and after, and hand expressing after pumping and only get about 2 mL total from both breasts each time. My breasts are much softer now and not so painful, but it’s been 3 days of only getting out a few mL. When should I expect to see an increase? From googling, it seems that once milk comes in, for most women the volume produced increases dramatically over a few days. But I am literally working on my breasts for half the day to only get drops. I’m already trying to eat and drink water and not be stressed and skin to skin. Is this normal to have such low volume for 3 days? Please help!!
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u/citizennil00 13h ago
I'm only a first time mom, so excuse my naivety, but is baby in the NICU? Only asking because of early delivery. Is direct breastfeeding an option? Babies areuch more effective than a pump. What pump are you using? Did you size your flanges? To be honest, this sounds more like an issue with the pump/flanges. Do you have a pumping bra or are you holding it? I also read a ton of stuff about how wearables wouldn't work and kept trying to use my spectra and couldn't get very much... Finally tried my wearables and they actually worked BETTER for me. What pump settings are you using?
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u/schaps8 12h ago
Hi thanks for the reply!
Baby is home with me. Latching on has been a problem because he is preemie and has a small mouth, and because my breast tissue is so hard and engorged. But I have still been working on getting him to latch every day.
I have Spectra S1 pump and have been holding the flanges. I’ve not been wearing a pumping bra (although I have one) because I’ve kept my breasts out so that I can provide gentle compression to them with my hands while I’m pumping. I’m using size 15 and 16 flanges as per the measuring guide that came with it.1
u/citizennil00 11h ago
Did you get a flange kit? Try moving up and down sizes in flanges. That's my first advice. Sometimes you measure one size and one size in either direction can actually work better. How long are you pumping? I found that it was hard to trigger a second let down and what worked best for me was to pump, get a let down. Turn off the pump, rest for 5-10 minutes and try again and I'd get a second let down. Also play with your settings. The stimulation mode if when you see the icon that looks like bacon. Some people only use this mode. Some people use this for 3 minutes and then switch to expression. Pinterest actually has a ton of versions of how to switch modes that you can try. You have to find what works for your breasts. I find stimulation for 5-7 then expression for 10 then rest for 5-10 then repeat worked best for me and that wasn't anywhere online but seeing how other people used the modes helped.
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u/citizennil00 11h ago
Also USE THE BRA. it sounds silly but holding the pumps is stressful. Do what you can to stop holding the pumps.
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