I hope I'm not overstepping myself here, but reading through this board I see a lot of moms who get very discouraged over not being able to pump a decent amount. I just want to remind mamas that pumping is not necessarily a good measurement of how much your child is getting at the breast. I know there are moms who want to bf, yet think their baby needs supplementing since they cannot pump more than a couple ounces.
As per KellyMom.com...
"Most moms who are nursing full-time are able to pump around 1/2 to 2 ounces total (for both breasts) per pumping session. Moms who pump more milk per session may have an oversupply of milk, or may respond better than average to the pump, or may have been able to increase pump output with practice. Many moms think that they should be able to pump 4-8 ounces per pumping session, but even 4 ounces is an unusually large pumping output.
It is quite normal to need to pump 2-3 times to get enough milk for one feeding for baby (remember that the pump cannot get as much milk as a baby who nurses effectively). "
I know this is old information for most moms reading this, but I get so sad hearing about people getting discouraged from not being able to pump a large amount, I thought it needed to be brought up again. (Obviously its a different kettle of fish for moms who pump exclusively, my hat's off to you). Even when my dd was 8 months and still nursing exclusively, I could never pump more than 3 oz total.
I just wanted to throw some encouragement out there...
As per KellyMom.com...
"Most moms who are nursing full-time are able to pump around 1/2 to 2 ounces total (for both breasts) per pumping session. Moms who pump more milk per session may have an oversupply of milk, or may respond better than average to the pump, or may have been able to increase pump output with practice. Many moms think that they should be able to pump 4-8 ounces per pumping session, but even 4 ounces is an unusually large pumping output.
It is quite normal to need to pump 2-3 times to get enough milk for one feeding for baby (remember that the pump cannot get as much milk as a baby who nurses effectively). "
I know this is old information for most moms reading this, but I get so sad hearing about people getting discouraged from not being able to pump a large amount, I thought it needed to be brought up again. (Obviously its a different kettle of fish for moms who pump exclusively, my hat's off to you). Even when my dd was 8 months and still nursing exclusively, I could never pump more than 3 oz total.
I just wanted to throw some encouragement out there...
