Printable breast pumping log

When a pumping log is useful

A log can keep a short pumping plan out of your head. It may help when you are expressing at work, sharing stored milk with another caregiver, building an inventory for a brief separation, or following a plan made with a feeding professional.

Record the session, not a verdict

Note the start time, side, rough duration and amount collected. Use the final column for a detail that may explain the session, such as discomfort, a changed flange, a missed session or a pump setting. The storage rows give each container a date, amount and location so the label and the list can agree.

The NHS advises using a sterilised container or breast milk storage bag and labelling and dating milk before freezing. Follow its current storage guidance, plus any different instructions from the hospital if your baby is premature or unwell.

What an expressed amount does not prove

The amount collected in one session is not a direct measure of your overall supply or what your baby can take at the breast. Pumps, timing, comfort and many other factors can change an individual result. A small number is information about that session, not a grade.

When to get support

Pumping should not bruise you or catch the nipple in the funnel. If expressing is painful or difficult, the NHS recommends asking a midwife, health visitor or breastfeeding supporter for help. If a hospital has given you a pumping or storage plan, use that plan rather than the general notes on this printable.