The Goals of Pumping
Pumping breast milk for a preemie accomplishes two things: First, premature babies often have difficulty breastfeeding at first and with expressed milk, they can still receive the benefits of breast milk without having to nurse. Breast milk produced by mothers of premature babies has a different composition that is optimal for preemies. It is higher in protein and minerals and contains different types of fat that are more easily digested and absorbed. Second, pumping breast milk when your baby can’t breastfeed will help establish your milk supply.
How Often Should I Pump?
Full-term babies breastfeed often in the early days, sometimes as often as every hour or two. More breastfeeding makes more breast milk, so these frequent feedings help mom establish a good milk supply. To establish a good milk supply when you pump breast milk for your preemie, you need to pump often enough to mimic a newborn baby’s feeding patterns. Early on, you should pump breast milk about 8 to 10 times per day or about every 2 to 3 hours. When you time pumping sessions, time them from the start of the last session. If you start pumping at 8:00, your next session should start between 10:00 and 11:00. Pump around the clock until your supply is well established, including overnight. After your milk supply is well established, you can slow your pumping sessions down. To maintain your supply, pump breast milk at least 7 times per 24 hours, or every 3 to 4 hours through the day and night. If your supply starts to dwindle, or when your baby starts taking more milk, increase your pumping sessions back to 8 to 10 times daily to increase your milk supply.
How Much Time Should I Spend Pumping Breast Milk?
In the first couple of days after your baby is born, you won’t express much milk. In order to establish a good supply, pump for about 15 minutes per session. If you are pumping one breast at a time, pump each breast for 10 to 15 minutes. Once your milk comes in, use its flow to tell you how long to spend when you pump breast milk. When you turn the pump on, it will usually take a couple of minutes for the milk to start to flow. You want to completely empty your breasts, so pump for about 2 minutes after the flow stops completely.
