Expressing queries-how much to aim for etc

[MsPea]

Hi again-sorry, more qus! Being a mum seems to generate a lot of them.

I expressed yesterday for the first time. I did it while dd was on the other boob. My qu is, should I be able to get a whole feed in one go? If I can't, does this mean I'm short of milk or is it a reflection of the fact that she fed off the one i am now expressing from 3ish hours ago? Or the fact that pumps aren't as good as babies at getting milk out?

Also, when do babies need to feed from both boobs at one sitting- and how do you know this has become the case?

Thanks.

[TheUnholyTrinity]

pumps definitely aren't as goosd at the getting the milk out, when I used to express I could onl get 4 ounces on a very good try.

[determination]

With expressing you CAN'T get a true reading of how much milk you are producing. The only real way to tell this is by monitoring your baby and the output she has... How many wet/poo nappies does she have per day? Is she contented? Does she latch and feed well?

What age is your daughter? How much did you express? The fact that you managed to get something on the first attemp at expressing is FANTASTIC ;) some mums can't ever express. So your ahead already!

I used breast collection shells whilst feeding, this allowed me to collect the milk from the other breast when i was letting down- without actually having to work at it. Sometimes i was able to collect over 1oz!