An exclusive breast pumping schedule is very similar to that of the breastfeeding schedule. If you plan to exclusively breast pump immediately after your baby is born, then you must use your breast pump every 2-3 hours to get a good breast milk supply - including nights. Of course, with exclusive breast pumping you will be able to tell how much the baby is taking and determine whether you will need to breast pump more often or can stretch it out the whole three hours.
An important thing to remember is that even if your baby is not taking all of the breast milk you are breast pumping, you should still continue to breast pump at least every 3 hours for the first month or so. Eventually, your baby may begin to eat much more, and your frozen breast milk supply will come in handy.
As you begin to stretch your schedule to 4-5 hours, remember that the baby’s appetite may increase, and you may need to revert back to the 2-3 hour schedule, causing you to be breast pumping more breast milk. After 2-3 months, you will be the best judge for your schedule. However, don’t fool yourself, after a few months you may begin to tire of the late night breast pumpings. Do your best to continue this particular pump to make sure that you don’t go a very long stretch without pumping. This will cause your milk to begin to dry out.
