Power Pumping (Breastfeeding)

Information for parents and carers

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Power Pumping (Breastfeeding) Leaflet – PIAG 341 (636kB)

Introduction

At Alder Hey, we promote breast feeding as the most natural way to feed your baby. Sometimes, for various reasons, you may find you are struggling with your milk supply, and we have advised you to try Power Pumping.

What is power pumping?

Power pumping is a technique that mimics ‘cluster feeding’, which is when a baby has lots of feeds in a short period of time. By mimicking this and stimulating your breasts more frequently, you may see an increase in your supply.

How to do it

There are no hard or fast rules to it, so do what suits you. Here are some ideas …

Pump for 20 minutes…. Have a 10-minute break…. Pump for 10 minutes…. Have a 10-minute break…… Pump for 10 minutes
Listen to your favourite album. Pump for one song and have a break for the next etc.
Watch a TV programme and pump during the adverts

Ideally doing this for an hour would work best, but do whatever you can. Once a day is great, but if you can manage it, replace another one of your regular pumps with power pumping.

This leaflet only gives general information. You must always discuss the individual treatment of your child with the appropriate member of staff. Do not rely on this leaflet alone for information about your child’s treatment.

This information can be made available in other languages and formats if requested.