Breasts Not Feeling Empty After Pumping? Here's What To Do

How to Empty Breasts Completely

How do you know if your breasts are fully empty after pumping? Not knowing how to fully drain your breasts can be worrisome because it can quickly lead to milk supply troubles and serious problems, such as clogs.

After you finish this article, you will walk away with some pumping tips and resources that should help you be able to ensure you are completely emptying your breasts when pumping.

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The Benefits of Fully Emptying Your Breasts

Why do you want empty breasts in the first place other than to avoid complications and a decrease in milk production?

There are actually several interesting benefits to routinely empty breasts and those are as follows:

Empty breasts help to increase the fat content in your breast milk.
Emptier breasts signal a stronger supply and demand signal and an increase in milk supply.
Some studies show that emptier breasts more often help to improve the nutritional quality of the breast milk.

What Happens if I Don’t Empty My Breasts?

Did you know that your breasts are never truly empty of breast milk? This is because while you are lactating, your body is always in milk-making mode.

Think of it this way, it’s just like a running faucet. However, it is still important to remove as much sitting breast milk from the breasts as possible.

Having said that, what happens if you aren’t able to fully drain your breasts of breast milk after you pump or breastfeed?

Not Fully Emptying Your Breasts Could Lead to Clogs and Mastitis

A clog is no fun and you know what it can lead to, right ladies? Mastitis? Yep, unfortunately that’s right. Mastitis, the three syllable word all breastfeeding moms fear!

Mastitis is inflammation of the breasts that causes pain, swelling, redness and sometimes an infection.①

Signs and Symptoms of Mastitis:

Breast tenderness
Warmth
Redness
Thickening of breast tissue
Pain
Burning Sensation
Fever
Feeling flu-like symptoms

Causes of Mastitis:

Clogged Milk Duct: Mastitis can be caused by backed up breast milk that sits too long in the milk ducts, causing a nasty clog that can lead to an infection.

Bacteria: Bacteria can enter the milk ducts through contact with baby’s mouth, pump parts, and not fully emptying breasts leading to a breeding ground for bacterial growth.

How do I Prevent Myself From Getting Clogs?

Fully drain the breast milk from your breasts.
If nursing, allow your baby to drain one breast before switching and make sure your baby is latching on properly.
Use lactation tools like these warming lactation massagers (10% off code: LOVEOURLITTLES10) to help loosen and warm sticky milk ducts.
Sunflower Lecithin (find it here at Amazon) can be taken and is thought to help keep milk ducts lubed to help them drain with more ease.
Try hands-on pumping or breast massage before, during and after a pumping session.

Now that we’ve covered what can go wrong by failing to fully drain your breasts properly, let’s jump into the other pumping tips I promised to share with you today!

How to Know When My Breast is Empty When Pumping?

Let’s first make some notes on how to tell if your breasts are empty when pumping. It is important to note that there is a difference between breasts feeling full due to sitting milk versus breast tissue that may be inflamed.

Be sure to evaluate that carefully before you attempt an aggressive routine of trying to drain them further.

The Signs of Empty Breasts:

How do you know your breast is empty after pumping? Here are some signs you can look for to help you determine if you efficiently removed your sitting breast milk:

Your breasts will feel flat and flaccid (floppy).
It has been over 10-15 minutes since your last let-down and the milk has stopped flowing.
Hand expressing is getting little to nothing extra out.

11 Tips to Help Fully Empty Breasts with a Pump

In this section, we’ll address each tip thoroughly to help you best empty your breasts with a pump.

I was able to come up with these tips based on the expertise of many exclusively pumping moms, as well as my own experience.

1. Hand Express While Pumping

This tip is a must learned skill for pumping moms! A good pump can do a lot of the work for you, but sometimes they still need our assistance.

Hand expressing is a superb way of manually forcing breast milk out of sticky and stubborn milk ducts.

It is a good idea to always massage while pumping and finish with hand expressing.

In fact, using a breast massaging tool such as this lactation massager will help make this task much easier.

This is a good place to recommend the added help and expertise of an online course that will guide you through all of these pumping techniques.

Milkology’s course, The Ultimate Exclusive Pumping Class is where I would recommend you begin building up your pumping and lactation confidence.

PSSST… If you choose to enroll in this course through the link provided, I’ll send you another very helpful breast pumping course for FREE! Contact me after you have enrolled with a receipt screenshot and I’ll make sure to get you that second course free of charge!

How to Hand Express While Pumping

To use this tip to ensure you are fully emptying, simply apply massaging pressure and work your way down your breasts toward the nipple as you pump.

I find that this method works best if you are pumping one breast at a time without a pumping bra getting in the way.

2. Initiate Multiple Let-Downs

Triggering multiple let-downs while pumping is a key tactic to ensuring you are fully emptying your breasts during a pumping session. Here are some ways you can trigger a let-down in case you want to shoot for more milk removal and those are:

Breast and nipple stimulation.
Hearing, seeing or smelling baby.
Breast massage.
Heat and vibration using a special lactation tool like these from LaVie (use code LOVEOURLITTLES10 for 10% OFF!).

3. Use A Manual Breast Pump

The usefulness of a manual breast pump is sometimes overlooked, but don’t disregard it as an afterthought.

A manual breast pump is actually really good at getting out clogs too!

If you feel like you may still be full after the use of your everyday pump, bust out the manual pump for a few minutes and see what happens!

4. Change Positions of the Flange

This is a really effective pumping tip when you see milk ceasing to flow, but you think you could still drain your breasts some more.

Simply begin to move the flange around your breasts and apply tension to different sides where you feel like you could possibly pump more milk from.

I can attest to this tip, as it worked every time for me and I could not go a pumping session without performing it.

5. Dangle Pump

What is dangle pumping? Dangle pumping is pretty much as it sounds.

To perform, you literally dangle the flange from your breasts as you pump, using gravity to help further empty the breasts or to achieve multiple let-downs.

This technique takes some practice, but once you have it mastered, it will be one of your favorite pumping hacks to use!

6. Add Heat

Using moist heat especially, helps to loosen up the milk ducts and create a smoother flow. You can use warming lactation massagers, a warm moist wash cloth or take a hot shower.

Remember to pump directly after using heat for maximum results.

7. Try Different Pump Settings

You may want to experiment with your pump’s settings to see if switching things up will help you have more letdowns and in turn pump out more milk.

As an example, most breast pumps have a “suckling mode” which mimics a baby’s nursing motion (like these Liquid Shield Kits from Pumpables).

This setting can help you achieve multiple letdowns by returning to it after milk has stopped flowing.

8. Nurse On One Breast Until Breasts Empty

If you are nursing, let your baby fully drain one breast before offering the other.

Your baby’s ability to empty your breasts is more effective than any other method or tool. After all, that is what they were designed for!

Have you noticed when a newborn latches, it’s like lock jaw?

I almost thought I could have stood up, let go and she would have still been attached me! OUCH!

Another tip for new moms hoping to breastfeed is to grab your seat in the BEST online breastfeeding course there is!

The Ultimate Breastfeeding Class is a first time mom’s must-have milk supply and breastfeeding guide!

P.S. Also get my regularly updated pumping and milk supply course for FREE when you enroll in The Ultimate Breastfeeding Class today!

Contact me when you finish your enrollment and I’ll send you the other course straight to your inbox, quick and easy!

9. Try Sunflower Lecithin

I’ve written about the power of sunflower lecithin a lot of times before, but that’s because it really was a game changer for me! It came in especially handy when I was in the process of weaning from the pump.

It’s not uncommon for milk to become a little sticky at times. This could be a result of your breastfeeding diet or hormonal changes.

Sunflower Lecithin (linked at Amazon) helps to prevent sticky milk ducts that can make it hard for breast milk to flow as easily.

Always consult with your doctor before taking any type of supplements or medications while breastfeeding.

10. Dry Your Pump Parts

While pumping, it’s normal that your flanges will begin to accumulate some moisture.

If you notice the seal between your breasts and flange isn’t quite solid and there is a loss of suction, try wiping down the insides of the flanges and start again.

I had to regularly do this throughout my entire pumping sessions. It’s a super simple task that can have a big impact!

My pumping course (free when you purchase any course from this list) has a complete guide with printables on how to properly clean and care for all of your pumping parts and equipment.

This information is so nice to know without having to scourer the whole internet looking for it or doing it wrong and leaving room for common, but potentially dangers pumping mistakes!

11. Change Your Breast Pump Parts

If you are not fully emptying during your pumping session, your breast pump parts may be causing the problem.

You should be changing out your pump’s parts regularly to keep your breast pump performing optimally

12. Use A More Powerful Pump

If you are consistently changing your pump parts, but are still having a hard time feeling fully empty when you pump, it may be that your breast pump is not performing up to par.

To help you determine if you are missing out on a better milk supply, see this breast pump buying guide with pumps for every occasion and need.

You may be using the wrong breast pump!

A powerful pump doesn’t have to mean a big pump either!

If you are looking for a compact, quiet and extremely powerful pump, you must check out the BabyBuddha! This little portable breast pump is my top recommendation.

You can shop for the BabyBuddha at LaVie with a 10% discount using the code LOVEOURLITTLES10!

If you haven’t yet, you should be applying for a free breast pump and supplies through insurance.

It’s a quick and easy process that could save you big money!

FREE pump log and pumping schedules to instantly download!

This is what I need!

Final Words on How to Fully Empty Breasts

In summary, fully emptying your breasts must be dealt with after every feeding or pumping session. Not doing so often enough can potentially lead to a serious issues.

To check if you have properly emptied your breasts, feel for any remaining fullness.

Finally, try out the pumping tips you learned today and do them often. Not only will these practices keep you from acquiring an infection, but regularly performing them may help you improve your milk supply.

Here’s one last look at those tips:

Hand express while pumping.
Use a manual breast pump.
Change positions of the flange.
Dangle pump.
Add heat.
Nurse on one side until empty before switching.
Try different pump settings.
Sunflower Lecithin can sometimes help.
Dry your pump parts while pumping.
Change your pump parts.
Use a powerful breast pump.

Once again, I want to remind you to head over to Milkology and take a look at the wonderful resources they have for breastfeeding and pumping moms.

Breasts Not Feeling Empty After Pumping? Here’s What To Do