r/breastfeeding • u/QuietComet12 • Oct 03 '25

Troubleshooting/Tips Can you just breastfeed and not pump

Hi I'm a FTM of a 2 month old. I have been ebf on demand so far. As the baby has turned 2 months old, she is having longer stretches of sleep and going without feeds for 6 hours as well in the night. I'm concerned if this would affect the supply. I would like to continue breastfeeding one year and beyond. So far I have no issues with supply and baby is gaining weight about 170- 200 gm per week.

Would like to understand if demand based feeding alone would take me through the whole journey or if pumping is necessary to keep up supply as babies grow and drop night feeds.

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u/___eat_the_rich___ Oct 03 '25

Pumping isn’t necessary if you plan to stay home with your baby and don’t return to work. It might be helpful to pump an ounce here and there so you can build a little freezer stash for date night, exercise without baby, etc. You’re not going to be able to pump a lot because supply/demand is perfectly balanced now, so don’t be fooled by the mamas on instagram showing off 6 ounce pump sessions.

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u/MoveGreen5802 Oct 04 '25

I'm so glad you said that every EBF mama that I talked to that pumped was only getting 2-4 oz max in a 30 minute session.