How much milk should I be pumping?

Let’s talk about it.

We see moms every week, that come to us in a panic about their low milk supply. They see stashes on Instagram with freezers packed full of milk—hundreds, thousands, of ounces. They worry that their freezer full of 2-3 days of breast milk is too minimal, and they worry that their baby won’t get enough milk.

What if we told you, you shouldn’t be worrying? That you shouldn’t be comparing yourself to those Instagram moms? Because those excessively large stashes are likely the result of an oversupply, and that comes with its own challenges.

Moms with an average milk supply, usually pump about 0.5-2oz after a feed—both sides combined. That’s it! And collecting 4oz when pumping AFTER a feed, is considered an oversupply. The truth is, most moms don’t have that much milk, and most babies don’t need that much milk. It’s important to remember that giving really large volumes of breast milk, if not pacing the feeds, can cause breast refusal and may deter baby from nursing if mom doesn’t consistently make those large volumes each session.

If you’re getting ready to return to work, or you’ve gotten requests from day care to start bringing in bigger bottles and more milk, you are not alone—but that isn’t usually necessary. It can be really common for day care to request additional milk, larger volumes, bigger bottles—but most breastfed babies don’t need anything more than 1-1.5oz per hour that mom is gone. If you’re figuring out how to respond to these requests, we are happy to help navigate both the situation, and the conversation, to help protect the breastfeeding journey you’ve worked really hard for!