How Power Pumping Can Change The Nursing Game

A breast pump can be used for a lot of things — to build up a "stock pile" of milk for later use, to allow other people to feed your baby for you, to relieve engorgement, to keep up your supply while you travel. The list goes one. But there is another use for your breast pump that you might not know as much about. Power pumping is a helpful technique that can solve an issue that many moms deal with. But what exactly is power pumping? The name is pretty self-explanatory, but you may not know how is might be useful for you.

According to Lansinoh, one of the leading breast pump brands, power pumping is a simple technique to use to "trick your body into producing more milk by rapidly emptying the breasts." It's meant to mimic the way some babies "cluster feed" during a growth spurt, thereby increasing your milk supply.

To practice power pumping, Fed Is Best recommended finding one uninterrupted hour each day where you can pump. In that hour, you will pump for 10 minute intervals and rest for 10 minutes in between. You can also practice twice a day for 30 minutes, if blocking off a whole hour won't work.

Lansinoh also pointed out that power pumping isn't meant to replace your normal pumping or feeding schedule. Instead, it's meant to "supplement" it, enhancing your milk supply within an already established routine.

Power pumping can be a great solution for moms who are concerned about low supply — the Fed is Best article above stated that most moms who practice power pumping report pumping 50 percent more milk than with their normal pumping routine.

You may need to power pump for two to three days before noticing a significant difference, but it should drastically boost your supply in a short amount of time.