Pumping gets a lot less milk than nursing. Try and pump on the side you aren't nursing on, you'll get a lot more milk that way. I had the same pump. Start on the lowest and just turn it up as is comfy. Make sure your nipple is going into the tube at the end of the cone straight.

Yay, a topic I know something about And i also have a pump in style.. they rock! First off, dont get discouraged, most woman do not get enough for an entire feeding at a pumping session.. alot of times I only get an ounce or so in the evenings, sometimes less. The best time to pump is between 2-6 am, because thats when prolactin levels are highest. Pumping first thing in the morning will also yield much better results.. I usually get 4-6 ounces first thing in the morning. Its perfectly normal to get less when you pump in the evening, and only an ounce or two is actually quite normal. Also pumping on a regular schedule will help establish that "extra" supply and once that happens you should get more at a session.. but even then itll vary from time to time and day to day Its also important to remember that everyone's body responds differently to a pump, so what works for me may not work for you.. the best way to figure it out is by trial and error. As far as settings, I always keep my suction at the highest setting and have since I first began pumping soon after delivery (with 2 preemies, they always had me start pumping ASAP). And it took me MONTHS to figure it out, but I actually get more if the speed is on one of the lower settings.. like 1-3 (depending on the time and day). I always used to put it on the fastest one, but turns out I get less that way :? I find that massging my breasts and/or using breast compressions while pumping gets me more milk, and of course if your engorged youll probably get more too, but its not necessary to wait until that point to pump. Some woman also find it helpful to use galactogogues like fenugreek to increase pumping output.. if once you get to work you find your having a hard time pumping enough thats always an option.. and if it comes to that point feel free to pm me, I have lots of personal experience and have done alot of research on that subject.

Also, before I went back to school, I felt so frustrated, because I felt like I was getting too little of milk, but when I went back to school and pumped during the day I got about five times the milk in a sitting, so don't get discouraged.

setting up a regular schedule. Pumping usually will not give you as much milk as nursing. nursing has the skin to skin contact which helps you produce more milk. Im so sick of pumping but i gotta do it. lol I used a lower speed in the beginning. Now im at the highest suction because i need to be to get these boobs to relactate. lol Ive gotten used to it. It doesnt hurt. (btw my cracked/cut areola is healing!) Before you pump try what they call MASSAGE STROKE SHAKE. Look at breastfeeding.com. It "wakes the breasts up". I pump right now about umm 12-15 times a day. yes a lot! Make sure your nipple is centered in the flanges/cones/whatever you call them. a little of your areola can be in the flange but make sure not too much.

think about your baby, like just imagine if they were sucking on you instead of the pump... ok this is sounding dirty..... but you know what i mean, if you think about the baby or look at a picture it might help

also i found that once some milk would come out id get all souped and pump more rapidly which helped.

like start slow and pace it then once you let down or a trickle comes out you can pick up the pace.

I also have the Medela. I agree with what the PP's have said about not getting as much with the pump, but you also need to remember that Theo is still a newborn and you really arent going to get 6 or even 8oz in a single pumping session just yet. I was thrilled to be able to pump an oz a session in the first month, then I got up to 2oz and now at 7months I still can only get 4 oz TOTAL in a session- at this point Im not responding to the pump so im only getting an oz! Try pumping in the morning, 45mins after he nurses(if he nurses every hour knock it down to 30mins to allow your supply to go back up). You can apply to 30-45 min rule to every feeding if you have time and want the stored up supply. Happy Pumping!

it's so aggravating! When my friend lived with me I helped her with getting a pump and right from the bat she got like 10 oz in a sitting. (then again she's got like triple d's so maybe that has something to do with it?) so I was frustrated to sit for that long and only get an ounce. I think I'll try nursing bub on one side and pumping on the other at the same time. As it is when I nurse bub even if the other side is engorged it leaks all over the place, I end up having to put a towel there to absorb it all, so if I can try and fix a bottle to there I might get better results.

naivete wrote:it's so aggravating! When my friend lived with me I helped her with getting a pump and right from the bat she got like 10 oz in a sitting. (then again she's got like triple d's so maybe that has something to do with it?) so I was frustrated to sit for that long and only get an ounce. I think I'll try nursing bub on one side and pumping on the other at the same time. As it is when I nurse bub even if the other side is engorged it leaks all over the place, I end up having to put a towel there to absorb it all, so if I can try and fix a bottle to there I might get better results. If you're expecting to get 10 oz, that's an unrealistic expectation. 2-3oz TOTAL is much closer to normal. Breast size also doesn't influence the ability to produce milk, either.

Thought i'd update this quickly So I didn't want to accept the fact that I just might not have that much milk to pump so last night during a feeding I used a breastshell on the other side, and just from leaking that breastshell collected 3oz in 5 minutes. So now I'm trying something new tonight, I spent about an hour looking up online about pumping and ran into one idea, that the breastshield I'm using might be too small, I read if the shield is too small that it will pump the front of the breasts but not the back, and that can cause very little milk during pumping even though you can still feel your breasts are super full. So I went and bought a bigger size shield and I'm using it tonight, so wish me luck!

How did it go?

I can get around 3 ounces now, but I got a blister so i think its still too small