Skipping 1 pump cycle

Question

I’m 8 days PP, started pumping at 6 days PP as direct latching is too hectic for me. Tried hand express too but caused my hands to lose strength. I noticed my supply decrease over the cycles of pumping the past few days.. despite pumping every 3-4 hours. I’m sleep deprived and want to skip 1 pumping session at night. Will there be any issues if I do so? FTM here… my supply used to be around 80ML per side. Now it’s down to 50-60ML. My LO requires min 60-70ML per feeding and waking up for milk every 1.5 hours. I’m so drained and unable to keep up with the schedule.

Anonymous · Answer

Yes. Especially night sessions which you will yield more, if you drop that session, it’s gonna signal your body that you don’t need it that supply. No demand = no supply. If it’s too draining for you, you can do mixed feeding. Don’t have to force yourself to do full bm, because if it stresses you out (due to lack of sleep), your supply will drop too. I personally only transited to full bm at 1.5m. Or try to talk to hub to get him to do night feedings alt days. I used a handsfree pump which I find that it works better for me even thou it pumps shorter (20mins). I am not blessed with a good supply, so I had to try alternatives to push my supply up. I took sunflower lecithin and most importantly, spam more water. Use your phone while pumping if you need to stay awake or distract yourself. Goodluck!