Pumping-induced oversupply

[@llli*kbcross]

Hi!

I've been back to work for seven weeks now, and DS is almost six months old. In the beginning I was *terrified* of losing my supply due to pumping at work, so I scheduled myself for three pumping sessions per day. (DS is nursed at 7am and 4:30pm, and he typically drinks 14 oz of EBM during that time.) In the beginning I would pump about 15-16 oz during those three sessions which worked out nicely. However, recently it seems like my supply is shooting WAY up -- yesterday I got 20 oz, and I'm on track to exceed that today!

Now, I have not noticed any adverse affects for DS. However, on the weekends I still feel a bit full after he nurses in the morning, and this past weekend I pumped and got 6 oz on Saturday morning and 7 oz on Sunday morning, in addition to feeding the baby! On previous weekends I did not pump and as a result had clogged ducts by Sunday evening. So it seems pretty clear to me that I have more milk than I need.

Assuming this trend continues, what's my best option for dealing with this?

1. Drop down to two pumping sessions per workday
2. Continue to pump three times but don't pump until I'm dry
3. Quit my job so I don't have to pump
4. Other?

Thanks for your advice!

[@llli*scienceteachermommy]

I like #3.

I worked off of just two pumping sessions for most of the time I was pumping with DS2 and it worked fine. If I read your schedule correctly, that puts you with about 3 hours between feedings/pumps which is reasonable with a six month old. Presumably that would make your work day easier as well.

[@llli*lovemygirlso1]

I'd say go down to two pumping sessions. You'll be full for a week or two probably. Otherwise your LO may start getting too much foremilk But if you feel comfortable and you DS isn't having any issues then you could always donate any extra milk you have

[@llli*joe.s.mom]

I did two pumping sessions a day for er ... almost a year. For me, if I spent a good 20-30 minutes pumping, I could get a second letdown in that time, REALLY empty the breast, and make plenty of milk. I think this mimicked the block-feeding (offering only one breast at a time and letting baby really empty it) feedings I was doing at home better than three shorter pumpings would have.

[@llli*kbcross]

Pumping twice instead of three times a day would certainly be nice! I pump in an empty office with a computer, so I can keep working while I pump (yay?), but it sure would be nice to cut back. DS used to eat every 2.5 hours (he could probably go longer now, but I tend to offer about that often) so I assumed it would be best to pump that frequently as well.

Other than foremilk/hindmilk imbalance and clogged ducts, what other downsides are there to oversupply? I certainly don't mind having the extra milk in the freezer, but I don't want to set myself up for issues later on.

[@llli*aprilsmagic]

Eventually you run out of freezer space unless you are able to donate and you might not ever need it. I pumped and had a big freezer stash that I never used with my first , and again with my fourth. I ended up throwing it away after my first, and I gave milk to a local mom recently to empty my freezer. I wish I'd been told to not bother having a big stash...most moms never need it.

[@llli*kbcross]

So, it occurred to me the other morning when I woke up with giant rock-hard boobs that I should probably wait to make any changes until DS is done night weaning. He's sleeping through about half the time, and when he does I have SO MUCH MILK the next day!

Of course once he's consistent my body will adjust, and then I'll re-evaluate the number of pumping sessions per day.

Thanks for your help!