Many moms have asked me how and when to start pumping postpartum to stock their freezer and have milk ready for when they go back to work. When new moms look on social media at the many oversupply moms posting about their hundreds of ounces frozen away, it can set high expectations for them. However, it’s important to remember that your goal is to feed your baby – not the freezer.
When you nurse mmediately after birth, there will be small amounts of colostrum that your baby will get as they latch. A few milliliters is all they need per feeding at the beginning. Their stomachs are small – around the size of a cherry. Colostrum is also very thick and nutrient-dense, making it harder to remove from the breast. Your baby can remove the most milk by directly latching. Pumping during this stage usually does not work as well as in the mature milk stage. Hand expression is the best option for milk removal during the colostrum stage if your baby will not latch.
Most moms’ mature milk comes in between 3-5 days postpartum. Once it starts to come in, your breasts feel firm and usually leak during feedings. Moms will use collection devices while feeding to catch this milk. I like this option rather than immediately starting to pump since your baby needs to drink as much milk at each feeding as possible. All babies lose weight after birth – the goal is for your baby to return to birth weight by two weeks old. So the first several days after mature milk is in are important weight-gaining days for baby. It’s important to feed on demand and offer both breasts each feeding. That means pumping shouldn’t happen before or while your baby is latching in the first few weeks.
You can start collecting milk by attaching a silicone milk catcher to the opposite breast while your baby nurses for the first few days. Then after your baby has started adjusting to the volume increase, you can start pumping some after your baby nurses. I recommend pumping one or two times a day in the morning after you’re done nursing. You can pump both breasts at the same for around 10 minutes. You’ll probably get a small amount of milk like an ounce or two, but slowly collecting milk this way will help you start a freezer supply without being glued to your pump after every feeding. Here are the CDC’s milk storage guidelines:
Try freezing smaller amounts of milk per bag. Like 2-3 ounces. This way you will waste less. If your baby does not want more that 3 ounces at a time you won’t have milk to throw out. If they want more than 2-3 ounces, you can always just pour more milk into a bottle.
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