Many breastfeeding and pumping women worry about their milk supply. You may run into a reason or need to increase your supply quickly. This can be done with power pumping to increase milk supply. Power pumping is basically taking one hour or two per day to spend pumping on and off. You will not do this instead of your regular pumping or nursing routine but in addition to it.
Power pumping simulates the experience we have when our baby goes through a growth spurt and cluster feeds. Emptying the breasts more frequently tells them to make more milk. When baby is having a growth spurt this naturally occurs and power pumping can have the same effect.
Reasons you may want to power pump
If you are exclusively pumping and you feel you are not pumping enough milk, power pumping may help to quickly increase your milk supply.
If you are breastfeeding and you feel the need to increase your milk supply. Maybe you think your baby needs more milk or maybe you would like to build up a stash.
If you are getting ready to go back to work it might be a good idea to have extra milk on hand for your child care. Breastfeeding will always do a better job of extracting milk than a pump so do not substitute normal breastfeeding sessions with the pump. It should be done in addition to breastfeeding if needed.
Even if you are doing a combination of pumping and breastfeeding but you still think you need to increase your supply. Basically any time you feel your milk supply is low or would like it to increase, power pumping can help to increase it more quickly than regular pumping alone.
There seems to be a few recommendations on the best way to go about this but the basic idea is to pump for ten minutes and then rest for ten minutes, repeatedly, for an hour or more. You will want to do this for a few days at least.
An example is to pick a time of day when you have an uninterrupted hour.
Try to relax and get comfortable. Keep your fluids up. Spend the first 15-20 minutes pumping, then take a ten minute break. Then pump for another ten minutes. Then take another ten minute break. Pump again for ten minutes. You will want to repeat this cycle for 60 minutes.
Once a day should be enough for a few days. You may not see much milk during the actual power pumping session but that’s okay, it’s all about the supply and demand and this is stimulating your breasts to make more milk.
Keep pumping and nursing your baby as frequently as you normally do the rest of the time.
A few tips to help
Make sure you use a double electric pump or rent a hospital grade pump. There is no way you want to try and power pump for an hour with a manual pump 🙂 
If you have access to or can buy a hands free pumping bra it will really help. Holding up the breast flanges and collection cups for an hour can be tiresome.
Set yourself up with some distractions. Your phone, TV or a book will help pass the time. Try to find a way to monitor the 10 minutes easily. I just use the alarm or stopwatch app on my phone.
A comfortable pillow can help. If you already have a boppy set it around you and prop your pump on it. Sit back and relax for the next hour.
Conclusion
Power pumping is an easy way to increase your milk supply quickly. Take one hour a day to set aside for pumping and help your supply increase. Keep up your normal breastfeeding and pumping schedule as well the rest of the time.
Please let me know if you have any questions about power pumping!
I gave birth to triplets and really wanted to breast feed.
Having a double electric pump made a huge difference. I wish that I’d had a hands free pumping bra especially because we went on a 10,000km roadtrip and I had to pump 8 times a day in the car. But, I only had one mishap in 18 months.
I did not produce enough milk for multiples and was stressed due to the death of my son so I got the support of Domperidone. I don’t even take Tylenol for a headache so having to take “medication” was a bit worrisome to me but I would do it all over again as it allowed me to provide milk to my kids.
For me, I found it really hard to get my pumps in as I didn’t have a spare minute but it is really important.
Great post, thanks for sharing.
Besos, Sarah
Journeys of The Zoo
Hi Sarah! Wow it sounds like you went above and beyond to do the most you could with pumping and I can’t even imagine how much work that was with multiples. I am sorry to hear about your son. Thanks for coming by and sharing your thoughts. Jen
Hye Jen.
I would like to ask you a question regarding power pumping.i have been trying power pumping since 3 days ago. I start to pump right after my son go to bed. My son will breastfeesd 2-3 hourly. It took 1 hour to power pump but the problem is after 1-2 hours my son will wake up to breastfeed and he doesnt feel content/ become fussy because the ’emptiness’ of the breast.
How can i cope with this problem?
Thank you!
Hi Lina,
Thanks for reaching out. I think it might be best to try power pumping in the morning? That’s when most women have the most supply. Is that possible for you? As you continue pumping and nursing your supply should go up as well, so hopefully this doesn’t continue to be an issue. I would make sure you are nursing more than pumping and pump after nursing since babies empty the breast better than a pump.
I also recommend contacting La Leche League and seeing if there is someone local you can talk to.. they also have forums on their site where you may be able to ask a question and get more answers. I almost always pumped in the morning so I don’t have much experience with what you are experiencing. Here is a link for the LLL resources http://www.llli.org/resources.html. I hope that helps!! Jen
Do you pump in the morning as in before or after 6am?
It’s been awhile since I pumped at all but I always did it in the morning. Usually after nursing first. That was when my supply was the highest and I could pump the most. I was pumping for storing milk though, not as much for building a supply. I think for power pumping you can do anytime of day that works for you.
Hi, great read. My supply has diminished and baby is fussy after feeding from 3pm to 10pm. I supplement with formula and would eventually like to wean him off and breastfeed exclusively. I power pump last night at 10 and my boob was rock hard in the morning but I pumped and nursed which brought it down . Should I power pump in the day so I have more milk for the late afternoon? Not sure if it works that way. Or does my body just make more milk throughout the day from the night pump session!
Thanks so much! I was i. Tears about this but now I am determined to get my milk back!
This was a saver
Hi Fran,
I don’t believe the time matters for power pumping as much as being consistent and doing it for a few days at least. I personally found pumping in the morning easier but whatever works for you. It should increase your supply overall not just after the pump. I would cut back on the formula as much as possible and nurse as much as you can too. The more you supplement the less your baby takes from you and then the less you produce etc. It’s all about supply and demand with the boobs and pumping usually isn’t as effective as nursing. Good luck!! There are some good tips here too.. http://kellymom.com/hot-topics/pumping_decrease/
Thanks so much for getting back to me! I pump after every nursing session so I should sneak in some nursing time in between and maybe baby won’t be fussy after the usual feed… Eventually. He’s almost 5 months, will my body be able to produce more milk after such a long period of being low? This has been so much more helpful then the nurses I have been seeing. Thank you so much
Hi, that’s good that you are pumping and nursing. I think your body should be able to produce more, 5 months isn’t too late.. everyone is different though but just keep trying. Good luck!
hi jen, i just gave birth last three weeks. I just wanna know if i do the power pumping in the morning and continue with every two hours pump to feed my baby, would my milk be enough to supply within that two hours? How long does it takes to supply back to my body?
Hi Nurul,
Congrats on your baby! You should be able to power pump in the morning and then keep pumping normally throughout the day. I am not sure if it will reduce your output within the next two hours but if it does it should be only temporary. In general power pumping will up your overall supply. Good luck!! If you need more help with this check out http://kellymom.com/category/bf/pumpingmoms/pumping/ too, they have plenty of info.
Hi Jen, you have a great info about power pumping here. I recently found that power pumping does not necessarily pump 10-rest 10-pump 10-rest 10, pump 10-rest 10 mins in an hour. I was surprised at first, but after digging more info, actually power pumping (or some people call it as ‘cluster pumping) can be scheduled around your daily routine, which is great for busy moms like us.
I wrote more about this in my recent power pumping article (link on my name above). Feel free to check it out and I hope this will help your readers, too.
Hi Rina, Thanks so much for this info. I will definitely check it out and encourage my readers too also! Hope you are doing well.
Hi,
The 60 mins power pump is for both breasts if you are double pumping. How about single pump? Do we need 60 mins for each breast, or alternate breast during the 60 mins?
You could definitely try just alternating breasts during the 60 minutes and that may be enough. The 60 minutes is just a guideline but you can do whatever you need to stimulate your supply. Also, check out more ways to do it here from my friend/blogger Rina, Good luck!
If I pump normally every 3 hours and want to power pump, do I just replace a session? That is what I have been doing and I do it a few times a day here and there. It doesn’t seem to helping increase my milk. Am I doing it wrong? I need extra milk for while I’m at work and I exclusively pump as my daughter doesn’t get enough when nursing. She is very stubborn and won’t take a bottle to finish off and now doesn’t want to even nurse. I really need to have a stock incase of emergency. What do I do?
Hi, Typically breastfeeding will always give your baby more milk than pumping will produce. You say she doesn’t get enough while nursing but how do you know this? The only way to tell that your baby is not getting enough is if she is not gaining weight or having enough wet and poopy diapers. If you do want to exclusively pump long term it will take more work and effort than doing it in combination with nursing. I would continue to try and breastfeed too if you can. As far as building a stash you can either replace a pumping session to power pump or add another one in. Usually morning will produce the most milk for pumping. You can try power pumping for an hour with 20 min of pumping, then 10 min rest, 10 min pump, 10 min rest and continue that for the whole time frame. The more you pump and breastfeed the more milk you will produce. It is all about supply and demand. So even if it doesn’t seem to be working right away it will over time. Good luck!!
Hi Jen,
great article!
I’ve had my little boy 2 weeks ago and from the beginning it was just a nightmare, I didn’t have colostrum, my nipples are very small and flat and I have to use nipple shields (which I hate but at least he can latch on to them) and my milk never really “came in”, just a few drops here and there, I have slightly tubular breasts and very little breast tissue, so my concern is that I can’t produce enough milk, no matter what I do…
Just finished my first power pumping session a few minutes ago, aditionally I’m taking fenugreek, eating lots of oatmeal, nuts/seeds and drinking lots of water.
Still, he needs about 60-80ml of formula every meal to be full (not talking about calm and satisfied, but not looking to nurse any longer).
Can I power pump twice a day or is that too much?
Sophie
Hi Sophie,
Sorry it has been so rough. I had trouble with my first baby and getting my milk to come in too. At the time I was also using a nipple shield and pumping after every feeding to try and bring my milk up. Eventually it did work for me. As far as power pumping, you can do it twice a day but I have seen recommendations that say not to if it will cause you to get burned out or tired from pumping so much. You need to do what works for you. If you are up for it though it should not hurt. Good luck!
Hi Jen,
thanks for the answer 🙂
What actually helped me accepting it (supplementing with formula) and not feeling like a total failure as a mother was reading that other women have the same problems, too.
Okay, I’ll try power pumping twice a day, see if that works for me or if it’s too much. The session yesterday already helped a bit, after my nap my breasts were quite full. Not enough for the little one, though 🙈 but it’s just been one day, so I have to be patient.
Any tips on how to wean the baby off of nipple shields?
Lots of love!