How to Increase Milk Supply While Pumping

How can I increase milk supply while pumping? This is one of the most common questions I get. Pumping can feel like so much pressure to produce and moms are always concerned about how to boost production. Here are my top 5 tips for making the most of your pumping time.

How to Increase Milk Supply While Pumping

Make sure you are using the best possible pump for you

Thanks to increased insurance pump coverage, the pump market is booming. Long gone are the days of people using outdated, painful pumps. So your first order of business is to find the best pump for you. Breast milk is not free and your time has real value, so using an efficient pump can save you thousands of hours and is worth the investment.

If you are pumping a lot, I recommend a cordless hospital grade pump like the Spectra S1. But in addition to flexibility and power, look for comfort. If your pump hurts, you might have the wrong size flange or a pump with a kind of suction that doesn’t work for you. Pumping shouldn’t hurt. Remember, you are sending a signal to your brain, not pulling milk out through suction. The suction should only be turned up high enough that you feel it, and it feels effective, never to where it is painful. If its painful, turn it down or go in search of a more efficient pump.

Look into how much your baby eats per day

There is some good research that the biggest determiner of bottle fed baby’s weight gain is the size of the physical bottle. It seems that if parents have 12 ounce bottles, we feel compelled to fill them. For this reason I tell my clients to use the smallest possible bottles. More smaller bottles instead of fewer big ones. Babies are designed to eat small amounts more often. Bummer, I know, but what are you going to do?

I expect babies to eat between 24-32 ounces per 24 hour day unless your pediatrician has specific instructions. Thats about an ounce an hour. Say your baby takes a 3 ounce bottle and you wonder, hmmm, are you still hungry? I’m going to give you a minute and soothe you in other ways before grabbing a second one. As opposed to a 4 ounce bottle, which you may push your baby to take the last ounce of just not to waste it. Those extra ounces add up and can lead to over feeding or feeling like you just can’t keep up.

I also recommend giving bottles slowly by “paced bottle feeding”. Check out my website for a video on how to pace bottles so baby eats more slowly and realizes they are full instead of drinking more than they need.

Try power pumping

If you have your best pump, and your baby is eating perfect recommended amounts, your next step is to give power pumping a try. There are two ways to do this. The first is pumping for 10 minutes, break for 10 minutes, pump for 10 minutes and so on for an hour a few times in a day. The second is pumping for 10-15 minutes every hour for 24 hours. Its not a fun day either way, but get some baby care help, put on some good TV to binge, and see if a day of this can increase milk supply.

Try visualization and relaxation

One study of pumping NICU parents showed that relaxation and visualization helped increase volumes. Milk-making involves the hormone oxytocin which can be blocked by stressors like pain or worry. You can buy milk making guided meditation MP3s, try a meditation app, or use some of the calming tools you may have learned as birth prep to help you zone out, so your body can do its thing.

Try massage or vibration

Pumps do suction, babies do suction and compression. That means that sometimes your pump needs a little hands on help to move milk out of the breast. This can be done through massaging and compressing your breasts as you pump or vibration. La Vie makes a specific lactation vibrator or you can use any other… ahem… oscillating multi tool you might have.

If none of this helps, I recommend checking in with your doctor and a lactation consultant. There may be something going on in your medical history that is causing low production, and they can help make a plan that is specific to your needs.

Happy pumping,
Victoria Facelli, IBCLC