Pumping at work for twins

Hi all,
I pumped for my first son at work for several months and I did not produce a lot. I pumped 3 times in 8.5 hours daily and often came home with only 9-12 ounces. He reverse-cycled.

How often or long should I pump in 8.5 hours for twins? Do I play it by ear? Will 3 times be enough?

I guess I won't know my production for sure until I start. Right now I can barely pump anything between nursing sessions.

Thanks!

 

I think three times should be enough. Just make sure you're relaxed, have a comfy place to sit, and that you have an awesome breast pump. When I switched over to a hospital grade pump, my output soared - so if you don't already have one, perhaps see if you can rent one to try it out. Bring in a small blanket that your kids have played on the night before and a picture of them and it will help with the milk let down.

 

I think 3 times is enough as well. I exclusively pumped because my babies were preemies and needed to have extra calories added to the BM. I found that eating real oatmeal (not the instant stuff) did wonders for my supply. Oh, and I used the Ameda Purely Yours pump, which worked just as well as the hospital grade pump I rented at first.

 

Some great advice already, but wanted to add that 9-12 oz from 3 sessions is great! I know it felt frustrating, but remember that our bodies aren't designed to let down for a pump the way they do for our babies, so pumping is already a trickier proposition.

Don't be afraid to tweak your pumping routine either - play with the settings & the intensity & see how it goes. Double pumping at each session is usually helpful. Picture your milk flowing out of you, take slow, deep breaths, think about your babies & try breast compressions/hands on pumping (see this video: http://newborns.stanford.edu/Breastfeeding/MaxProduction.html).

 

I pumped about three times in about nine hours when I worked. Lots of good advice here, i second the picture . . . That really helped for me. I also brought a video of my girls that I had made, I watched it while I pumped, now five years out, I bet I'd get let down if I watched it ( not really, but you know what I mean).

 

I pumped twice on my 7 hour days and three or four times on my 12 hour days. We did not need to supplement the EBM with formula because they had already started solids and seemed to prefer solids to a bottle while I was away and then made up by nursing a lot more on my days at home and at night. I will admit that I the nights were challenging, especially on my long office days, until we started night-weaning after their 1st birthday.

I tried to fit in pumping sessions around my usual nursing times, I managed to get an easier let down and more ounces at those times than when office appointments and calls dictated other times. Also try to avoid being rushed during pumping.

 

I think my biggest worry is producing enough to feed them both. I'm hoping my supply is higher than it was with one baby (although he nursed all the time and I was home with him 4 days a week) and I know pumping is not the same, but I cannot have two babies who reverse-cycle again. I have already decided to supplement with formula if that is the case because my mental health was in jeopardy having a baby who woke up every 1-2 hours to nurse all night and who wouldn't take a bottle during the day. And, yes, I coslept, but I am a light sleeper and spent much of the night uncomfortably awake with the baby next to me.

I do want them to have as much breast milk as possible though so am anxious about pumping at least enough to meet about 75% of their needs during the day.

I did order a new pump that I'm hoping will be better than my PISA (all the mold warnings about those didn't really have me wanting to dust it off after 1.5 years in storage). I got a Hygeia Enjoye.

ETA: THe babies already get one 2-ounce bottle of formula a day to keep them accustomed to taking a bottle and they have been getting it since they came home. Did I mention I need them to take a bottle? I really was a walking disaster with one frequently waking baby and these two are sleeping so much better already that I can't bear the thought of them being hungry at night and waking all the time because of it. OF course, I know whatever happens happens...

Thanks for the encouragement. I know logically that 9-12 ounces is normal but I never felt like I had enough milk last time. Perhaps I just know too many people in real life who are able to pump 9 ounces in one sitting (which I'm sure indicates oversupply but at least they have enough milk for their babies during the day). Oversupply is not an issue here. I have PCOS so I think I make enough milk for my babies but they do have to nurse very frequently. Babies only nursing eveyr 2-3 hours does not happen for me. It's more like every hour.

 

I'm seconding the suggestion to double pump-meaning pumping both sides at the same time. My LC said that will 'remind' your body to produce enough for twins and help keep supply up. Good luck!!!

 

I don't have experience with pumping, but I do have experience with a reverse cycle baby. (Who wouldn't take a bottle.) Are you going to try that again?

When do you go back to work and what age will your twins be at that time?

 

I would suggest pumping for a few minutes RIGHT BEFORE each feeding. The thought being that the babies can work harder than the pump to "empty" the breast. Breastfeeding is a supply/demand thing, the more the demand, the more supply that is made.

When I pumped for my twins, I would EASILY pump 13oz per session.

Another thing that I would do was to pump (hands free) while driving......I live 25 miles from my work. I would hook up to the pump before leaving my parking space (I used 2 windshield heat shield things to block the drivers window, the front window, and the passenger window while hooking up). By doing this, I added 2 pumping sessions that didn't take away from my work time. I have a Medela Latina.

 

I always double pump. I usually get milk for about five minutes, then drops for another five, then nothing. I do breat massage. I've tried stopping, massaging and trying again after five minutes. I've pumped for 20 minutes and never get a second let down even with massage and tweaking pump settings. I think I just don't respond well.

I will not be encouraging reverse cycling again. It almost killed me. I was a crazy person from lack of sleep and that was with bedsharing. I am not doing it wih two babies. I wholeheartedly believe in breastfeeding and go all out but a baby nursing every hour all night long (or two babies) is not something I can do again. These two are already better sleepers than my first and I'm not messing wih that.

 

I forgot to say that I go back to work in 2 weeks, when the babies are 12 weeks old. I appreciate all the advice and I'm doing or planning to do most of what you've discussed. I guess I was just wondering if I should expect to pump more per session because I'm nursing twins versus a singleton (i.e., will I get more than 9-12 ounces while nursing two?). Since I have not been able to pump more than an hour after a nursing session so far (since they nurse so frequently), I have no idea how much will be there after 2-3 hours.

 

I pumped 3 times in my 8.5 - 9 hr day and I did have supply issues. I also took fenugreek (a supplement) to help with production. I wouldn't say that necessarily worked but I know it's worked for others. Good luck!

 

Did you ever try using a hospital grade pump? (I don't know if the one you are using is hospital grade?) I was able to rent one for a very reasonable fee ($50 per month?) and I know you can also get them through Medicaid and WIC. I've heard it makes HUGE difference vs a standard double pump. Best of luck, I'm really hoping this works out for you!!

 

PPs recommended a hospital grade double pump, and that is the advice I got too. After a very frustrating few weeks (trying to build a freezer stash while still at home) I found out that I got significantly more per pumping session using a simple single hand pump (I think it was an Avent). Yes, it took more time, yes, it was not conveniently hands-free, but to me it was worth the extra EBM. I suspect that I could more closely imitate the babies' sucking, pausing, rhythm etc. and thus get more.