Since breastmilk is produced on supply and demand, a mother's body will make as much milk as the baby needs. Sleep training and/or night weaning will cause a dip in milk supply. Once the baby cuts feedings throughout the night, the mother's body will adjust to producing milk when the baby needs it.
Pump At Night When Needed — But Do Not Drain
Do not fully drain your breasts as that will tell your body to continue to produce copious amounts of breast milk overnight. Over time, your body will adjust and you will no longer wake up feeling uncomfortable.
Night weaning breastfed children
It's OK to think about night weaning for healthy breastfed children from 12 months of age. At this age, most children are getting enough food during the day for their growth and development. But before 12 months, night weaning breastfed babies can reduce your milk supply.
Letting your baby sleep for longer periods (usually at around 3 months of age) isn't going to hurt your breastfeeding efforts. Your body readjusts your milk supply based on when you nurse and how much your baby needs.
Whenever you drop a pumping session, there is a risk that your milk supply can be affected. Anything can happen – your supply can stay the same, it can go down, or it can even go up. This risk is something you have to keep in mind when deciding whether or not to continue pumping at night.
Ultimately, if your baby has reached its birth weight and you're pumping enough milk during the day, it's okay to sleep eight hours without pumping at night. Keep in mind there is an adjustment period for your body as it begins to acclimate to the decrease in overnight milk removal.
These sessions don't need to be evenly spaced, but you should be nursing/pumping at least once during the night in the first few months or anytime you notice a decrease in supply. Avoid going longer than 5-6 hours without pumping during the first few months.
Try not to go longer than about six hours without pumping if baby is eating during that time. That means, don't skip more than one breastfeeding without pumping. Note: If baby is sleeping longer stretches at night, you should be sleeping those stretches, too.
Newborns generally sleep for two to three hours before waking to eat, day and night. As they get older, babies are usually able to sleep for increasingly longer stretches of time at night without waking to eat. Between the age of 2 to 3 months old, healthy babies are often able to sleep for six hours without feeding.
As newborns get older, they'll nurse less often, and may have a more predictable schedule. Some might feed every 90 minutes, whereas others might go 2–3 hours between feedings. Newborns should not go more than about 4 hours without feeding, even overnight.
According to the Journal of Gynecology and Neonatal Nursing, women produce about 440 to 1220 milliliters (15 to 41 ounces) of breast milk per day once lactation is established. This is just 0.5 to 1.7 ounces per hour. Pumping just 1 or 2 oz of breast milk in a few hours is normal. This includes pumping both breasts.
1. Nighttime feedings are key Know that these nighttime feedings are important. Your body produces more prolactin (the hormone that promotes milk production) when you breastfeed at night, so night feedings help to keep up milk production.
Power pumping is a great way to increase your breast milk supply if you feel like it's dropping as your baby is sleeping through the night. “Power pumping is a technique that's designed to mimic cluster feeding, and in turn, encourage your body to begin producing more breast milk,” explains Healthline.
However, if you're exclusively expressing or if your baby isn't breastfeeding at night but you want to maintain your milk supply, it's important that you plan on breast pumping at night. In those early days you should pump every 3-5 hours until your milk supply is well established (usually around 10 weeks postpartum).
Low milk supply at night
But your body produces more prolactin (the lactation hormone) during night feedings. Therefore, your overall prolactin levels could drop if you skip on night feedings, leading to a low milk supply.
Many experts recommend night weaning around the time babies are 6 months old, because at that point most babies don't physically need to eat at night. At this age, most babies wake to eat out of habit.
Taking milk out of breasts signals the body to make more milk." But this can mean different things for different moms, she continues. "Some people can skip a feeding here or there with no long lasting effects, however, other people can skip one feeding and it can wreak havoc on their milk supply."
This question comes up often as more breastfeeding moms are pumping and often times, exclusively pumping to produce breast milk. Another common related question that moms ask is does pumping burn as many calories as nursing? The answer to this helps answer the first question, which is a resounding Yes!
Though every breast milk feeding journey is unique, decreased breast milk supply frequently happens around the six-month postnatal mark due to a combination of three major factors.
Keep your extra pumping session at a consistent time each day, and you shouldn't have issues with your supply. The only problem with never pumping at night is the risk of clogging your milk ducts or getting mastitis.
It's best to wait until after the first 12 weeks to start eliminating pumping sessions. Frequently draining the breast every 2-3 hours will ensure your body produces enough milk and avoids engorgement.
3 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. You can stop pumping every three hours when your baby is around 3 months old.
Pump at least 8 – 10 times in 24 hours until you are certain that you have more than enough milk for your baby. In the early months, you will need to pump at night, and most mothers find they cannot go longer than 4 hours between pumping sessions.