This post contains affiliate links to products that we’ve tested, tried and used.
You can produce more breast milk when pumping, without beginning to hate your life or feel trapped to a machine with some simple tips and tricks that actually work. These are the tips our mother network actually found that worked for them, as well as our expert team agrees with.
In order to product more breast milk when pumping a new mother needs to focus on two goals:
- increase her overall milk supply
- teach her body to think of the pump as baby
These may seem obvious, but by breaking down our goals, we can solve our problem of producing enough breast milk at the pump.
Why do many women have trouble producing enough breast milk while pumping?
The pump can be difficult for many mamas because firstly, it isn’t your baby. There are pheromones emitted, chemcials released and other unseen factors between a mama and a baby that stimulate the milk supply. A machine simply can’t do this. The machine can only mimic the sucking portion – that’s it. Not cuddles, baby noises or even baby’s face to stimulate the let down. Add in the fact that many mamas are resentful when pumping, or even in pain while pumping, and those emotions are detrimental to lactation because lactation requires oxytocin, the feel-good chemical.
Knowing why you aren’t producing enough milk while pumping is important, so you can jump on these important tips to encourage that breast milk to come out when you really need it!
How To Produce More Breast Milk When Pumping:
Get the right pump:
This is really important. Getting the right pump that will make sure you are more comfortable is essential to producing the breast milk you need. Many mamas are now opting for hands-free pumps, which is completely genius. Being able to conintue moving around through the day can help keep your mind off of the fact that you are pumping. This is a great hands-free pump on Amazon, and we’ve compiled a list of our best-rated products on the site to help you decide.
We will have a post coming soon on exactly how to choose the best pump for you. This is one of the top rated, hands-free breast pumps, and manual pumps can be very effective as well.
Keep baby close while pumping:
Hold your baby, look at baby, talk to baby and keep your connection to baby while you are pumping. Many mamas do much of their pumping when the baby is sleeping, in the car or at work – away from baby. The key to producing more milk while pumping is to keep baby as close as possible. Pumping is a machine-process, and the best way to make it less machine-like is to keep the physical connection between you and baby during the pumping.
Try a manual pump:
Manual pumps have been know to help increase the amount of breast milk produced when pumping. They offer a slightly different latch and sucking method than machines, which can help increase your milk production. The Haakaa has over three thousand reviews on Amazon, most of the 4 or 4.5 stars, so the proof is there that a manual pump can really help.
Drink a lactation-boosting drink prior to pumping:
A couple hours before your pump, or idealy at breakfast, add some lactation-boosting herbs and nutrients to your diet. Herbs and nutrients are more valuable than many moms realize. We highly suggest a lactation smoothie made with this lactation protein powder as your breakfast. The extra nutrients from the fruits or veggies you blend, with the very specific nutrients and herbs in the powder are very powerful. In the reviews, many mamas report an incresae in their milk supply within the first day of using.
Nurse baby on one side, while pumping the other:
You can immediately produce more breast milk while pumping by using baby to help. If you nurse baby on one side, the let down on the other will happen, and help produce more breast milk while pumping. Use baby on the other when you switch to help the let down on that side too. This can immediately increase your milk production while pumping, but does take some catching up with your supply through the rest of the day or night.
Add more feeding sessions with baby, then switch to pumping:
You can pump up your supply, ideally a day or so before you know you need to pump more, by using baby. Your body will adjust to baby’s demand, even if they aren’t drinking much, but the added sucking will boost your body’s production. Then, the next day, use your pump for those added feedings, so you can pump and store more milk. Your body will adjust to this demand, and hopefully keep up the production while pumping.
With these tips, you can produce more breast milk while pumping.
The assumption is that you have a great pump and good falanges with the right fit. Make sure you are signed up for our mail list, because we will have more posts and information on finding the right pump and fit.