"When can I drop my night pumping?" is one of the top common questions plaguing pumping parents. This often leads to moms rushing into a minimal pumping schedule that ends up with a dramatic drop in their milk supply. When that happens, they are sitting in front of me scratching their heads trying to figure out where it all went wrong.

Realistically, dropping pumps means telling the body to gear up for weaning so, is weaning your goal? If the answer is no, then it's probably not in your best interest to drop pump sessions. However, there is a point where dropping pumps to maintain a goal and your mental health can co-exist, but the embraced risk is that you supplement via formula or donor milk to meet your baby's full nutritional needs. When dropping a pump session it can take 2-6 weeks before you see the effect it has on your milk supply. The hormones help by giving a timeframe to allow stimulation to resume appropriately to keep that milk, but if that stimulation doesn't return then you will lose milk the hormones deem unnecessary. There should be at least a 4-week time given between each session dropped unless the goal is to rapidly wean.

A general schedule for lactation requires a minimum of 120 - 240 minutes of breast stimulation (AKA milk removal) every 24 hours. That's 2-4 hours in 24 hours spent nursing or pumping. That lower number does NOT guarantee a full milk supply though, so if the goal is to make enough for your baby, you need to focus on the higher numbers. In the early weeks, your milk supply is mainly determined by the massive surge of hormones that happens immediately after birth. This is the safety net of your milk supply, and is not a solid way to determine how much milk you have to spare.

Early Weeks: Building a Strong Supply

In the first 12-16 weeks postpartum, pumping for 30 minutes (or nursing) every 2-3 hours during the day and every 3-4 hours overnight is the simplest way to ensure you achieve the minimal needs for a full milk supply. If you start dropping pumps in this timeframe you won't see the effects of them until AFTER your hormones stabilize. Once hormones stabilize, if you realize you've dropped stimulation too low for the needed milk supply, you can work to improve your milk supply but it will take a lot of work and dedication on your part.

After 16 Weeks: Tailoring Your Schedule

After 16 weeks postpartum, your hormones will have stabilized and your milk supply will be completely reliant on how often and effectively the breasts are stimulated (emptied). Depending on your long-term breastfeeding goals, you may want to be much slower to space out pumping sessions to prevent losing too much milk before achieving your personal goals. Remember, limiting stimulation tells the body that baby is no longer milk-dependent and begins the weaning process. As lactation consultants, barring any health complications, we typically see that by the time a mom is down to 5 or 6 milk removals in a 24-hour timeframe her cycle returns, and the milk supply dramatically reduces as the body prepares for another pregnancy. Once ready, spacing out to every 3-4 hours during the day and 4-5 hours overnight should help get most moms to a manageable schedule, including for sleep.

Notice both timelines still have middle of the night pumping sessions! Babies are not designed to sleep through the night. Unless weaned, it isn't until 18-24 months at the earliest that infants/toddlers stop waking at night. It's more common for toddlers to wake at night until they are preschool age and daytime naps have stopped or dramatically reduced. That means that your milk supply won't be sustained if skipping pumping sessions at night. When you cut your MOTN (middle of the night) pump at first you won't see the major impact on your milk supply - most moms even think they've cracked the code because their first pump of the day is so large. The hormones will float you for a time until one day it suddenly doesn't. Usually, it's been weeks since MOTN pumping stopped and moms are confused as to how they almost "dried up overnight". Some try adding the MOTN pumps back to salvage the supply, but depending on how far postpartum you are, this may or may not work. This is why pumping overnight is usually one of the last steps in the weaning process.

There are MANY options for managing a schedule and milk supply, some are more creative than others but require a skilled pumping LC to help you determine what's best for you and your goals. If things become overwhelming, be sure to book with a lactation consultant so you can get the help you need and deserve.

General dropping pump tips space out each pumping session by 30 minutes every 5-7 days until you get to your desired schedule. Only go up to 1 hour every 4 -6 weeks when trying to monitor supply dips to determine your minimal schedule your body needs.

When looking to make the MOTN pumping sessions more manageable, you can work towards every 4-5 hours at night by increasing the spacing between pumps by 30 minutes. Keep your day schedule the same in hopes of limiting the impact on your milk supply.

These schedule examples optimize sleep at night WITHOUT cutting middle of the night pumping sessions.