Power pumping is a method used to increase milk supply.  It can replace a normal pump session or be temporarily added at a time you would not normally pump. 

A Deeper Look:

Power pumping is a technique that is meant to mimic a baby cluster feeding and trick your body into producing more milk.  Since breast milk works on supply and demand, the greater demand for milk, the more your body produces.  Essentially, to power pump, you pump breast milk for an extended period with timed breaks. 

You can power pump as little or as often as you want.  How often you power pump really depends on your goal.  Are you power pumping as a preventative measure to keep your supply from dipping because you need a little flexibility in your regular pumping schedule?  Maybe you power pump once a week.  Are you trying to increase your milk supply?  Many sources suggest power pumping 1-2 times a day for a few days in a row before resuming your normal pumping routine.  

Some mothers experience an increase in milk within 2-3 days of power pumping, others may not see an increase until a week of power pumping has gone by.  A small number of mothers may never see an increase with this technique; however, to be most successful, make sure you are truly emptying your breasts of milk both during your power pumping sessions and at all of your regular pumping sessions.

If you are power pumping to increase your supply, you should take care to remove milk often enough at your normally scheduled pump times in order to retain the benefits of the power pump.  Remember: the less milk you have in your breast, the more you are telling you body to make. The fuller your breast is, the slower your body makes milk, so you never want you breasts to sit too full for too long.

NOTE: If you have clogged ducts or engorged breasts, encouraging additional milk may exacerbate your issue!

You may find power pumping helpful if:

• Your baby experiences a growth spurt and needs more milk for a time
• You missed a few pump sessions and need to get your supply back up
• An illness or dehydration affected your milk supply

Most sources suggest you pump for 10-20 minutes until as much milk as possible has been released from the first let-down. Then rest for ten minutes. When you resume pumping after your rest time, you will have “tricked” your breasts into another first let-down.  Make sure you are using the correct flange size and fully emptying your breasts by massaging and compressing during pumping and hand expressing after. 

For more information on flange sizing, click here.
For more information on massaging and compressing and hand expressing, click here.

If you notice that you have no milk or very little milk flowing at the end of power pumping—that is normal!  In fact, you are signaling your breasts to increase their milk production.

(Pictures detailing how to power pump using a dual pump and single pump)

The EP&Me Take:

When I was first introduced to the idea of power pumping I thought: I have to willingly tie myself to my pump for an entire hour?  Where am I supposed to find that kind of time?  Generally, I made power pumping work by pumping before my little was awake, after she had gone to bed for the night or, while I When I was first introduced to the idea of power pumping I thought: I have to willingly tie myself to my pump for an entire hour?  Where am I supposed to find that kind of time?  Generally, I made power pumping work by pumping before my Little was awake, after she had gone to bed for the night or, while I was at work once my maternity leave ended.  If I was power pumping at home, I would save an episode of a favorite a show or put off reading a book I enjoyed until I was power pumping so that way I looked forward to that time and was relaxed.

I used power pumping as a means to help maintain my supply when I dropped pumps.  The way I chose I primarily used power pumping as a means to help maintain my supply when I dropped pumps.  The way I chose to drop pumps was agonizingly long—I pushed back the pump I wanted to drop by 15 minutes each day—but once I had finally dropped that pump, I would power pump at the time I used to pump the dropped pump.  

For example, when I pumped four times a day I pumped at 7:15 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m.  When I wanted to drop my 12:30 p.m. pump, I pushed it out to 3:30 p.m. over the course of many days.  The first day that I would have only had to pump 3 times, I power pumped at 12:30 p.m. and I did that every other day for about 5 days.  I did not always alternate days with my power pumps, sometimes I power pumped every day after a dropped pump for 2-3 days.  It really depended on if I saw that I was a little low on the number of ounces I got those days.  

I can’t say for sure if power pumping did anything to my milk supply because I never used it to just I can’t I can’t say for sure if power pumping did anything to my milk supply because I never used it to increase my supply.  What I do know is that my milk supply did not drop any of the times I dropped pumps until I dropped from 2 pumps a day to 1 pump a day.  At that time, I was intentionally weaning and thus not power pumping anymore!

I often pumped for longer than 20 minutes during the first section of the power pump because my milk I often pumped for longer than 20 minutes during the first section of the power pump because my milk was still flowing and the whole idea is to completely drain your breasts and then tell your body “But I still need more!”  Generally, I needed to pump between 22 and 25 minutes.  Then I would rest for 10, pump for 10-11 (until I had a let-down and then my milk flow stopped), rest for 10, and pump for 10.

I usually took off the flanges and hand expressed after each pump section (so 3 times during the power pump) because milk always collected in the part of my beast near the flange tunnel that would never make it out of my breast and into the flange tunnel no matter what I did.  I also used coconut oil on my nipples to ease any friction that may occur from the extended pump time.

Hopefully this has cleared up any confusion surrounding power pumping.  Good luck mama!