How often you should pump breast milk

There are many reasons you might want to pump, hand express breast milk, or feed your baby pumped breast milk. Having expressed breast milk can allow your baby to drink your breast milk from a bottle.

When to Start Pumping

If you are planning to return to work or school or will be away from your baby for other reasons, you may want to start pumping a few weeks beforehand. This will give you the chance to practice pumping and will give your baby time to get used to feeding from a bottle.

How Often to Pump

When away from your baby or if you exclusively pump your milk, try to pump as often as your baby is drinking breast milk. This will help remind your body to keep making the amount of milk your baby needs.

How Much to Pump

Hand expression is one way to express milk if your breasts are feeling extra full, if you do not have access to a manual or electric breast pump, if you are unexpectedly separated from your baby, or if you want to make more milk. It is good for all mothers to know how to do this.

To hand express, you use your hand to massage and compress your breast to remove milk. While it takes practice, skill, and coordination, it gets easier over time.

Pumping as often as your baby normally drinks breast milk should help your body make about the amount of milk your baby needs. This amount may differ from baby to baby and can change as babies grow. If you find that you are not able to pump as much milk as your baby wants to eat while you are away, you may want to consider adding another pumping session to increase your milk supply.

How to Keep Your Pump Clean

Keeping the parts of your pump clean is very important. For information on how to keep your pump parts clean before and after use, visit How to Keep Your Breast Pump Kit Clean: The Essentials.

How to Make Pumping Work for You

There are many different types of breast pumps on the market and factors to consider when choosing the best pump for your situation. Talk with a lactation consultant for tips on how to help make pumping work for you.

How to Safely Store and Handle Your Breast Milk

By following safe preparation and storage techniques, you can maintain the high quality of expressed breast milk and the health of your baby. For answers to questions on how to prepare and store breast milk, such as where to store breast milk at work, and what to do when the power goes out, visit CDC’s Storage and Preparation of Breast Milk Frequently Asked Questions.

If you believe that breast milk is the best food choice for your child, but you are not able to breastfeed, or you don't want to, what can you do? That's where exclusive pumping comes in. Exclusive pumping is a great way to provide your baby with your breast milk without putting the baby to the breast.

Exclusive pumping is also called EPing and breast milk feeding. It is the process of removing the breast milk from your breasts at regular times throughout the day. You can then give that milk to your baby either by a bottle, tube feeding, or an alternative feeding method.

But exclusive pumping can be time-consuming and exhausting, especially if you continue to pump exclusively for a long period of time. Of course, the longer you can provide your baby with your breast milk, the better it will be for your child.

Reasons for Exclusive Pumping

You may decide that you'll exclusively pump before you have your child, or you may breastfeed for a while, then move on to exclusive pumping. There are many reasons women choose to pump exclusively. They may:

Have a premature baby who cannot breastfeed
Have a baby who has difficulty latching on to the breast
Need to return to work or school right away
Be worried about milk supply and prefer to see how much milk their baby is drinking
Find breastfeeding extremely painful, but tolerate pumping
Have multiples: twins, triplets, or more
Simply do not want to breastfeed

How Often to Pump

A newborn will take a bottle of breast milk approximately every 2 to 3 hours. So during the first few weeks, you should try to pump at least every 2 to 3 hours—about 8 to 12 times each day—to stimulate your body to produce a healthy milk supply.

As your baby gets older, they will take more at each feeding, but go longer between feedings. As long as your milk supply is plentiful, you may be able to go longer between pumping sessions, as well.

How Long to Pump at Each Session

At each session, you should pump for at least 15 minutes on each side. It can take a few minutes for your milk to let down, so give yourself enough time. You also want to try to fully empty your breasts, since this is an important part of stimulating the production of more breast milk.

After you drain your breasts and no more milk is flowing out into the collection container, continue to pump for one to five minutes longer. Since breast milk is made based on supply and demand, the extra stimulation will tell your body to make more.

You don't have to pump for longer than 20 minutes. Pumping for 15 to 20 minutes more frequently throughout the day will generally produce more breast milk than pumping less often for more extended periods of time.

How Much Breast Milk to Pump

Pump as much as you can at each pumping session. Then, put the breast milk into bottles or storage containers in the amount that your child takes at each feeding. Newborns drink less breast milk than older children at each feeding, but they eat more often than an older child will.

During the first few days after the birth of your baby, you will only be able to pump and collect a small amount of colostrum. Colostrum is the first breast milk. It is concentrated and very nutritious, so a tiny amount is all your baby needs.
After the first week, you should be able to pump two to three ounces every two to three hours, or about 24 ounces in a 24 hour period. You would need to double this amount if you have twins, triple it for triplets, etc.
After about one month, you will need approximately three to four ounces every three to four hours, or about 24 to 32 ounces a day.
By the time your baby is six months old, they will need about six to eight ounces every four to six hours, so approximately 36 to 48 ounces a day.

It's easier to overfeed your baby when you're bottle-feeding. So be sure you're giving your child what they need every day and in each bottle, but not more than that.

How to Maintain and Increase Your Milk Supply

It can be tough to maintain a healthy milk supply when you're exclusively pumping. It requires a good deal of dedication; you have to pump regularly and, if possible, during the night.

Invest in Your Breast Pump

Moms who pump exclusively spend a lot of time attached to a breast pump. So think about buying or renting a high-quality pump that is designed for long-term, daily use. A double pump will serve you well and save you time and energy since it can collect milk from both breasts at the same time.

Whichever pump you choose, be sure it's comfortable and the pump shields fit you well to prevent pain and damage to your breast tissue. If you maximize your time and comfort, you're more likely to pump regularly to maintain a healthy milk supply.

Pump Frequently

Frequent pumping stimulates the production of breast milk. While your child is a newborn, try to pump every two to three hours. As your child grows, you can usually pump less often. However, if you're struggling with low milk supply, pumping more often can increase milk production.

Try Some Galactagogues

A galactagogue is something that helps a breastfeeding mother make more breast milk. There are breastfeeding superfoods, herbs, and teas that you can add to your daily diet to support and promote lactation.

Exclusive Pumping and Family Planning

When it comes to the prevention of pregnancy, exclusive pumping is not the same as exclusive breastfeeding. The lactational amenorrhea method (LAM) of birth control may work during the first six months of exclusive breastfeeding, but it is not considered effective with pumping.

Therefore, if you do not wish to become pregnant again right away, you and your partner should use another form of contraception. Be sure to let your doctor know that you are exclusively pumping, though. Since some forms of birth control contain estrogen, they can cause a decrease in your milk supply.

A Word From Verywell

Exclusive pumping can be time-consuming and demanding. Fatigue and stress are known to decrease the supply of breast milk. So it's important to take care of yourself. Try to eat well, drink plenty of fluids, rest when you can, and relax while pumping. Don't be afraid to ask for help from your partner, family, and friends. Their support can make all the difference when it comes to how long you pump exclusively.

Verywell Family uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Keim SA, Boone KM, Oza-Frank R, Geraghty SR. Pumping milk without ever feeding at the breast in the Moms2Moms Study. Breastfeed Med. 2017;12(7):422–429. doi:10.1089/bfm.2017.0025
Jardine FM. Breastfeeding without nursing: "If only I'd known more about exclusively pumping before giving birth". J Hum Lact. 2019;35(2):272-283. doi:10.1177/0890334418784562
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Breastfeeding your baby.
Flaherman VJ, Lee HC. "Breastfeeding" by feeding expressed mother's milk. Pediatr Clin North Am. 2013;60(1):227–246. doi:10.1016/j.pcl.2012.10.003
Office on Women's Health. Your guide to breastfeeding.
Ballard O, Morrow AL. Human milk composition: nutrients and bioactive factors. Pediatr Clin North Am. 2013;60(1):49-74. doi:10.1016/j.pcl.2012.10.002
Becker GE, Smith HA, Cooney F. Methods of milk expression for lactating women. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016;9(9):CD006170. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD006170.pub5
Forinash AB, Yancey AM, Barnes KN, Myles TD. The use of galactogogues in the breastfeeding mother. Ann Pharmacother. 2012;46(10):1392-404. doi:10.1345/aph.1R167
Sridhar A, Salcedo J. Optimizing maternal and neonatal outcomes with postpartum contraception: impact on breastfeeding and birth spacing. Matern Health Neonatol Perinatol. 2017;3:1. doi:10.1186/s40748-016-0040-y

Additional Reading

Breastfeeding and the use of human milk. Pediatrics. 2012;129(3):e827-41. doi:10.1542/peds.2011-3552
Lawrence RA, Lawrence RM. Breastfeeding A Guide For The Medical Profession Eighth Edition. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Riordan J, Wambach K. Breastfeeding and Human Lactation Fourth Edition. Jones and Bartlett Learning.

By Donna Murray, RN, BSN
Donna Murray, RN, BSN has a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Rutgers University and is a current member of Sigma Theta Tau, the Honor Society of Nursing.

Thanks for your feedback!

How many times a day should I pump while breastfeeding?

Tips for Pumping Breast Milk: The majority of new mothers get the most milk early in the day. Plan to pump at least 8-10 times in a 24-hour period (if exclusively pumping) You can pump in-between, or immediately after, breastfeeding. Make sure the pump flanges are the right size.

How often should I pump to increase milk supply?

Increase pumping frequency Generally, moms should be pumping every 3 hours. Pumping more often can help stimulate breasts to produce more milk. Moms can try pumping both breasts for 15 minutes every two hours for 48-72 hours. Then moms can return to their normal pumping routine.

How long should I pump breast milk each time?

Aim to spend 15 to 20 minutes hooked up to the pump to net a good amount of breast milk (some women will need 30 minutes or more with the pump, especially in the early days). Pump until the milk starts slowing down and your breasts feel well-drained. Be sure to clean the breast flanges after every use.

Can you pump breast milk too often?

Increasing the milk supply too much through pumping can lead to engorgement, blocked milk ducts, and increased risk of breast infection (mastitis) – or worse, land the mother in a situation where she is reliant on the pump just to be comfortable because baby cannot remove as much milk as mom is making.

pump breast milk