Should I Pump at Night if my Baby is Sleeping?

When Will my Baby be Sleeping Longer Stretches?

Every baby is a little different and will reach developmental milestones at different times. Some moms may see their infants sleeping longer stretches after a few weeks and others might not see that happen for several months. Whatever the case is just know that it is normal and you are a great mom. Although it can definitely be rough if you find yourself as the later.

Typically you will see infants start to sleep more than 3-4 hours at a time starting around 4 months, but many won’t reach that milestone until 6 months. Again sleep needs are different, don’t compare your baby to your friend or neighbors. If you are at all concerned please talk with your pediatrician.

Do You Need to Pump for Your Comfort?

You might find that as your baby sleeps longer stretches you may be waking up engorged and in a lot of pain. The key to remember here is the natural messages we send our body to influence milk production.

Remember the more your baby eats or your breast empties the more milk your body will try to produce. Your breast milk production is based on demand. So if you continue to pump at night while your baby sleeps your body will continue to make enough milk for that feeding every night. That means you will continue to wake up and feel the need to pump. If you are building up your milk supply and you don’t mind getting up you can use that pump session to build up your supply, but you can do that at other times of the day as well. Read more about building your milk stash here.

If you are looking to get some sleep while your baby is asleep then your best option is to simple hand express or pump enough to be comfortable. Just do not empty your breast completely. By emptying completely it signals to make more. Leaving your breasts even half full will help to slow your milk production at night.

Don’t sleep through the engorgement. Doing this can lead to clogged ducts and mastitis. Mastitis is something I know far too much about and I would suggest doing whatever you can to avoid it.

Do You Need to Pump to Maintain Your Supply?

For most mothers you will see that your baby will be eating more during the day to meet their caloric needs. Due to them eating more during daytime hours your milk supply shouldn’t suffer. Your body is quite smart and should still be able to provide for whatever your baby needs.

However, some moms might feel like their milk supply suffers a little as they sleep longer at night. If that is the case for you, you have some options.

1. Make sure you are either feeding your little one right before they go to sleep and pump to empty your breasts if you feel your baby isn’t emptying your breast.
2. Squeeze in a dream feed or a pump session right before you go to sleep if you don’t go to sleep at the same time. This should help maintain your supply since you are adding back in another feeding during the night.
3. Try adding in another pump session at some time during the day to see if you can increase your demand for milk during waking hours so you can sleep more at night.

Side Note About Maintaining Supply

I know as a breastfeeding mom it may feel like you need to be all or nothing. If that supply starts to drop when your little one starts sleeping more at night make sure you weigh the pros and cons of taking drastic measures to maintain your supply. There is no harm in trying some things, but your health matters too. Postpartum mental health disorders are common and prioritizing your own sleep and nutrition can significantly decrease your risk of these challenges. Please ask yourself?

• Am I doing this because I want to or because I feel like I should?
• How am I feeling mentally?
• How would getting more sleep impact my ability to be the mom I want to be?
• Am I okay with supplementing with formula occasionally?

I know with my first I was so hard on myself and did all sorts of drastic things to maintain my supply. It really affected my mental health. I wish I would have let go of that all or nothing mindset. The moment I let go and was okay with supplementing with formula once a day I felt so much better. I allowed myself to get more sleep, prioritize my own health, and my baby was still getting all the benefits of breastmilk.

I’m not trying to dissuade you from exclusively breastfeeding. I just want you to consider that with all the demands you have as a new mom sometimes sleep is more valuable and being a happy mom can greatly impact your newborn too. Take some time to determine what is best for you.

How Can I Sleep Longer Stretches with My Baby?

If you are down for getting longer stretches of sleep with your infant there are a few things you can do. Here are some of my best recommendations, as someone who loves to prioritize sleep.

Go to Sleep With Your Baby

Most newborns will go to bed sometime around 7p-8:30pm and have a longer stretch of sleep at that time. At least that was the case with my babies. I would usually stay up and get things done, but really going to bed then and getting 4-5 hours of straight sleep would have been so much valuable.

Some babies will have a longer stretch later in the evening. Whatever the case may be try to go to bed when your little one likes to sleep their longest stretch. Even if it is early it will be totally worth it.

Try Dream Feeding

This might not work for every baby, but if it works for yours it can extend the time between wake periods. You put your baby to bed at bedtime, but then feed them again while they are still sleeping when you are ready to go to bed. Pick them up while they sleep and rub your nipple on their upper lip. This will signal the sucking reflex and they may just feed while they are asleep. Burp and put them back to sleep without waking or while they are still drowsy.

Again this doesn’t work for every baby, but some women swear by it.

Express enough for comfort

If you wake up uncomfortable keep your Hakka or manual pump at your bedside and pump just enough to get you comfortable again. Try to keep the lights low so that you can stay drowsy and go back to sleep quickly.

Mini fridge or thermos at bedside

If you do want to do a full pumping session keep a mini fridge or a breastmilk thermos at your bedside. This way you don’t even have to get out of bed in the middle of the night. You simply pump, transfer your milk to your thermos or put your bottles in the mini fridge.

That way your milk stays fresh and you don’t have to walk all the way to the kitchen. This sometimes makes it easier to go back to sleep quickly.

Final Thoughts

Sleep is an important part of postpartum recovery but is hard to come by when you have a brand new baby at home. There really is no way around that, but once your baby starts sleeping longer stretches you should totally take advantage. Remember that there is no right or wrong choice. You need to decide what works best for you and your baby. I hope that some of these tips will help you to maintain your supply and get better sleep yourself.