Keep pumping?

[isabel]

When you pump, do you cut it off after a certain amount of time or keep going until the milk stops flowing? I've been setting a timer for 15 minutes, but I'm still getting a lot of output. Do I keep going or stop?

[Deleted]

Keep going!

[shortstax]

keep going

[dana2006]

I keep going, usually for 20-25 minutes. The pump shuts off at 30 min, and a few times I've gotten to that point.

[isabel]

Follow up!

I'm keeping track of how long this goes. Should I reset my expectations and pump for that long next time?

[jewel]

When I was EPing, I'd pump until the milk stopped flowing, which was usually around 30 minutes. Sometimes, I'd still have milk going at 45 minutes, but that's where I drew the line. My nipples, and my sanity, couldn't take any longer.

[anna7602]

DS is 10 months old. At this point, I only pump for a set amount of time. My nipples and my workload can't go for much longer. But in the early days, I pumped until empty.

[spankswife]

Wow! My milk stops flowing after about 5 minutes. Not even. That's even after a second letdown (I think?). Maybe I should pump longer!

[halfpint]

I pumped until the milk stopped and felt empty - usually tried to get a few letdowns in there. I think I usually pumped 30 minutes unless I was in a major time crunch.

[Deleted]

This seems to vary a lot for people--I know some that will get 8 ounces in 5-10 minutes. I get 6oz in 30.

I go until the milk stops or is barely dripping. It takes 20-40 minutes. Normally 25.

I wouldn't stop early unless you want to decrease supply.

[felicity]

I go less by when the milk stops flowing and more by if my breasts feel totally empty and soft. Compressions help if it's not flowing but I can tell there's still milk in there. Usually takes around 30 minutes, sometimes longer if I'm particularly engorged.

[dottyblue]

If you stop pumping before your breasts are empty, you will see a drop in production within a week or two. Rule of thumb is to keep pumping until empty unless if you are trying to decrease supply.

Keep pumping!

[kershnic]

This depends on whether you're trying to build supply up or regulate an over supply. You should pump until you have enough milk for your baby. Most people find pumping for a few extra minutes to be less onerous than doing extra sessions, and a slight over supply is generally a good problem to have. If you stop before the milk stops your supply will eventually decrease.  If you want to build supply you should continue pumping for a few minutes after you're out of milk.

In the beginning I probably could have pumped all day (oversupply, twins) if I had to pump until there was no milk, so I stopped either at an arbitrary time or when it seemed like the flow had substantially slowed.

[jennistarr1]

Jun 9, 2015 13:11:33 GMT -5 dottyblue said:

If you stop pumping before your breasts are empty, you will see a drop in production within a week or two. Rule of thumb is to keep pumping until empty unless if you are trying to decrease supply.

Keep pumping!

how do you all do this at work?  Pumping 15 minutes has me gone from my desk over 30...how can you all do that more than once a day?

[linz]

I do 20 unless milk still coming. I usually get a letdown around 18.

[Poppy]

I pump until the milk stops flowing. But I'm very hands-on with compressions and that speeds it up considerably. When I was pumping every three hours, it was taking me ~10 min of pumping. Now that I'm going longer (twice during work, so about 5hrs), it takes 15-20.

[dottyblue]

Jun 9, 2015 13:36:13 GMT -5 jennistarr1 said:

Jun 9, 2015 13:11:33 GMT -5 dottyblue said:

If you stop pumping before your breasts are empty, you will see a drop in production within a week or two. Rule of thumb is to keep pumping until empty unless if you are trying to decrease supply.

Keep pumping!

how do you all do this at work?  Pumping 15 minutes has me gone from my desk over 30...how can you all do that more than once a day?

You get faster at it with time.  I actually pumped 25 minutes (I got a second letdown around 20 mins) and I would still only be away from my desk for 30-35 minutes. 

I also always took my laptop to the pumping room and worked while I pumped.  My team knew my pumping schedule and knew I was on email or IM if they needed me.

[Deleted]

Jun 9, 2015 13:36:13 GMT -5 jennistarr1 said:

Jun 9, 2015 13:11:33 GMT -5 dottyblue said:

If you stop pumping before your breasts are empty, you will see a drop in production within a week or two. Rule of thumb is to keep pumping until empty unless if you are trying to decrease supply.

Keep pumping!

how do you all do this at work?  Pumping 15 minutes has me gone from my desk over 30...how can you all do that more than once a day?

I answer emails while I pump and work some extra hours. This is also a big part of why I'm quitting about the time DS is 6 months.

[isabel]

Jun 9, 2015 13:36:13 GMT -5 jennistarr1 said:

Jun 9, 2015 13:11:33 GMT -5 dottyblue said:

If you stop pumping before your breasts are empty, you will see a drop in production within a week or two. Rule of thumb is to keep pumping until empty unless if you are trying to decrease supply.

Keep pumping!

how do you all do this at work?  Pumping 15 minutes has me gone from my desk over 30...how can you all do that more than once a day?

I've kind of been wondering that too. I do bring my phone with me, so I'm available via email if need be. Still, I mostly feel like it's useless because it's not really enough time for me to get set up and accomplish real work. I've been taking a really short lunch break or eating while working to compensate for my pumping time.

[winemaker06]

Jun 9, 2015 13:36:13 GMT -5 jennistarr1 said:

Jun 9, 2015 13:11:33 GMT -5 dottyblue said:

If you stop pumping before your breasts are empty, you will see a drop in production within a week or two. Rule of thumb is to keep pumping until empty unless if you are trying to decrease supply.

Keep pumping!

how do you all do this at work?  Pumping 15 minutes has me gone from my desk over 30...how can you all do that more than once a day?

I pumped three times a day until DS was 11 months old, and worked 9.5 hour days to make up the 3 30-minute sessions. It sucked. I guess it was worth it. But I was so glad to get back to a normal schedule.
I might do some formula for a second kid, working that late every day again would take me away from seeing kid 1 then.

I had to go to 20 minutes most of the time to get a decent amount. Strangely I seemed to get the most after the 10-minute mark.