What is power pumping?
Power pumping mimics the cluster feeding of your infant which is seen in the early days after birth and during growth spurts. It says your infant feeding a lot which they are doing to either bring your breastmilk in after their birth or to increase your breastmilk supply later on.
You can use your breast pump to recreate this feeding pattern by emptying your breasts multiple times to signal to your body to make more milk.
When is the best time to have a power pumping session?
Usually throughout 2 to 3 days, you will pick an hour when you can power pump. Try early in the morning or when your infant takes a nap.
If you are using power pumping as a method to increase your breastmilk supply, then you would pump as follows:
- Pump for 20 minutes
- Rest for 10 minutes
- Pump for another 10 minutes
- Rest for 10 minutes
- Pump for another 10 minutes
- Finish pumping
- Total time pumping is 40 minutes
What other things can you do to make the most of your breast pumping session?
- Try adding some hand expressing to the end of your pumping session to ensure your breasts are well drained.
- Add warmth before a breast pumping session and breast compressions during pumping to help your breastmilk supply.
- The results of power pumping may vary. Many mothers report seeing an increase in their breastmilk supply after 48 hours of finishing one cycle whereas other mothers didn’t see results up until a week or so.
What are the best breast pumps to use?
It is important to consider the type of pump you are using and its effectiveness in removing your milk. Electric breast pumps are typically more effective with milk removal and efficiency especially if they have the option to change length and frequency of suction levels just like your infant.
References
Increasing your supply | Australian Breastfeeding Association. (n.d.). Www.breastfeeding.asn.au. https://www.breastfeeding.asn.au/resources/increasing-supply
Marsden, L.-J. (2018, May 25). Increasing Breast Milk Supply - Power Pumping. Pregnancy Birth and Beyond. https://www.pregnancy.com.au/increasing-breast-milk-supply-power-pumping/
TLN. (2021, April 30). Power Pumping (aka Cluster Pumping) to Increase Milk Supply. The Lactation Network. https://lactationnetwork.com/blog/power-pumping-aka-cluster-pumping-to-increase-milk-supply/
