Pumping Schedule Generator – Newborn, Work & Supply

A pumping schedule generator for newborns, work days and supply

How often should you pump, and at what times? This pumping schedule generator lays out session times for a whole day. In Exclusive pumping mode it spreads 8 to 12 sessions across 24 hours with at least one at night, as the NHS suggests when you are expressing all of a newborn’s milk. In Back to work mode it follows the CDC’s advice to pump about as often as your baby feeds while you are apart, spacing the sessions evenly between leaving and getting back.

Tick Add one extra session if you want to build supply — adding a pumping session is the CDC’s own tip. Then print a one-week pumping log with the times down the side and a box for each amount.

This page is information only, not medical advice. Every body and every baby is different; a midwife, health visitor or lactation specialist can tailor a plan to you.

How to use the Pumping Schedule Generator

1. Choose Exclusive pumping or Back to work.
2. For exclusive pumping, set the sessions in 24 hours, your first and last daytime session and how many night sessions. For work, enter when you leave, when you are back together and how often your baby feeds.
3. Set the minutes per session, and tick the extra session or 24-hour clock if you want them.
4. Read the times, the longest gap and the total pumping time.
5. Pick mL or oz and a paper size, then print or download the pumping log.

Pumping Schedule Generator features

How the times are worked out

Exclusive pumping: with N sessions and M of them at night, the N − M daytime sessions are spaced evenly from your first to your last daytime time, and the night ones are spaced evenly through the night. With the defaults — 8 sessions, 1 at night, 6:00 am to 10:00 pm — that gives 6:00, 8:40, 11:20 am, 2:00, 4:40, 7:20 and 10:00 pm, plus 2:00 am. The longest gap is 4 hours, either side of the night session. Times are rounded to the nearest 5 minutes.

Back to work: the number of pumps is the number of feeds your baby would have while you are apart. Away from 8:00 am to 5:30 pm with a baby who feeds every 3 hours, that is 3 feeds, so 3 pumps, evenly spread: 10:25 am, 12:45 pm and 3:10 pm. You feed (or pump) before leaving and feed when you are back together.

Pumping schedule to increase supply

• Milk is made on demand, so the main lever is frequency: the CDC suggests adding an extra pumping session if pumping enough is difficult.
• Keep a session at night in the early weeks — the NHS guidance for expressing for a small or unwell baby includes at least one.
• Avoid long gaps. If one stretch is much longer than the rest, move a session into it.
• When you are new to it, allow 30 to 45 minutes per session; once you are used to it, emptying both breasts usually takes about 15 to 20 minutes (NHS).
• Build the pump’s suction up slowly — starting on high can hurt or damage the nipple (NHS).
• If supply is still a worry, ask for help early: a midwife, health visitor or lactation specialist can look at the pump fit, the schedule and your baby’s feeding.

Breast pump schedule for working moms

The CDC suggests starting to pump a few weeks before you return to work so you can build a supply of frozen milk, and thinking ahead about how often you will need to pump at work. In the US, the PUMP Act gives most employees reasonable break time to express milk for one year after the child’s birth. Store milk safely — the breast milk calculator covers storage times and how much to leave — and log sessions alongside feeds and nappies in the baby tracker. If you are planning your return date, the maternity leave calculator helps.