Pumping output

[Kaydove]

Just curious, I pumped 4 oz in 5 mins total from both sides with an electric pump - is that typical/average?

[GuavaGirl]

I would say that it really depends on the age and appetite of your baby and even the time of day.  It also changes from woman to woman, based on your storage capacity.  (How much room you have to store milk between a feed)  Women with a smaller or larger storage capacity can make the same amount of milk, it's just that they will have more or less milk at each feeding/pumping session.  A women with less storage capacity just ends up feeding more times in a day compared to a woman with a larger capacity.  Your current supply is also based on the current demand.  Also pumps may not empty the breasts as well as a baby.  To help your breast empty, hand expressing into the bottle, after pumping can be a really good thing to do.  

Were you asking for any particular reason?

With that said,  I remember when my baby was a few months old, I would pump until the flow stopped and I think I would get around 4 ounces, sometimes less.  I really don't know how many minutes it was. As he got older, it was closer to 8 ounces.  ...and then after 6 months a slight decrease can naturally happen.  But again, there are just so many variables in play there.

Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions about anything I've mentioned!  ...and great job you for breastfeeding.

[Quinalla]

As the PP said, there really is nothing typical or average when it comes to pumping. It depends on a lot of things, were you replacing a feeding? Was it your first time pumping? What time of day did you pump? From my experience, I would expect you pumped in the morning before BFing to get that amount that quickly, even then I would said average to high. When I was pumping while working full time, I pumped 3x a day for 30 minutes (usually I pumped for 20, took a 5 minute break and then pumped for 10 more minutes as this worked best for me to keep my supply up) and I would get ~15 oz total, but I got a lot more at the first pumping session (usually 6-8oz). I was an efficient breastfeeder, never had oversupply, not really much even at the very start and responded pretty well to the pump. Some women always have some oversupply and/or respond really well to the pump, sounds like you may be one or both.

[Kaydove]

Thanks for the replies! That was the 4th time I had ever pumped (I think) and it was about an hour after I nursed her down for her morning nap. I do suspect that I have oversupply and possibly some amount of overactive let down, but not to an extent where it's troublesome. I'm trying to build a freezer stash and figure out often I need to pump to get enough for a date night.

[cat13]

4 oz in one pumping session is on the high side of average. I think Kellymom says that an average pumping session is 1/2 to 2 oz total.

For a date night, just figure that your DC will eat an average of 1 to 1 1/2 oz per hour that you are gone.  Since it's not too much quantity, and since defrosted breastmilk is only good for about 24 hours, I would recommend freezing in 2 or 3 oz bags so you only need to defrost exactly what you need.

If you suspect oversupply, but it's causing no problems, then I wouldn't worry. I had a slight oversupply for the first few months, but noticed it level off at about 6 months. I pump at work and went from 5 oz per pumping session to 3 oz each time, but my supply is still good. Just FYI so if it happens to you, you don't interpret this as your supply drying up.