My baby is 5 mths old. I have exclusively breast-fed her for 4 months after which i have started formula once/twice a day. I will soon be joing work and want to express and store milk for my baby so that she can be fed while I am at work. I bought both a manual and automatic pump. manual didnt work for me. automatic works but i can only pump 1 ounce in 40 minutes!! is that ok? Can someone guide me on how to pump.... Nita replied. I express berest milk everyday. Have a glass of milk just before sleeping. Next day morning arround 6 am you will feel very heavy, this is the best time to express. You might want to drink some warm water or milk in the morning too while expressing. I think you can express every 4-5 hrs. A friend of mine uses to take a pump and bottles to her office and used to pump out every time she felt heavy. She used to freeze the milk after getting back home which she would give her daughter the next day.
Hope this helps.
Rgds,
Nita Nidhi replied. Hi. I am in Atlanta Georgia. My daughter is 11 months now and I have been breastfeeding her since she was born. But i started working when she was 3 month old. Medela dual pump in style is the way to go. It pumps both breasts at the same time and you can get atleast 4-6oz in 15 minutes. Atleast thats how it worked with me. Now you do have to remember that your milk supply works with supply and demand. Ofcourse when you start working it will go down because you dont have your baby at work asking to be fed every hour. Try to express milk at least 4 times in an 8 hour day. Remember the more you pump the more you will get. Now Keep the milk in the fridge, dont heat it on stove or microwave just put some hot water in a bowl and put the bottle in the bowl to warm the milk before giving it to thebaby. Takes couple of minutes. I have done lots and lots of research on this. My supply went down after I started working and I wanted to feed my daughter for one year. Now these days my problem is weaning her off my breast. Its a challenge.

Things to increase your supply: Drink Plenty of water, eat Fenugreek, dont drink caffeine or alcohol, relax, think about your baby while pumping, put a picture infront of you while pumping. These things should help. Also if you need more information try this site. I luv this site. http://wwwdotkellymomdotcom/

Let me know how it went. Luv NB casper replied. It would be nice to pump everytime you miss a feed to keep your milk supply up. I am sure, with work, it definitely does not quite sound doable. I guess you could pump around lunchtime. If you are using a good breast pump and are following the instructions correctly you should probably be able to express atleast a few ounces in around 15-20 mins.

You should pump till your breasts feel empty.

You could try home remedies to boost your supply, if thats a concern when you return back to work.

(Home remedies to boost bm posted in this message board.)

Hope this is informative!
casper replied. I am hoping that you are following the instrucions in the manual for pumping.
Drinking fluids while pumping, preferably warm can help let down.