when to express???

[milkysmum]

ds is 19 days old and am so far managing ebf (only managed 3 days with dd due to extreme damage to nipples and being to soft to get through the pain!!) still having a few problems with left nipple due to bad latching in first few days but so far struggling on as pain does decrease after first 20 or so secs once latched on correctly. Ds has a clear preference for right breast though and can't always get him to take from both sides equally but am trying my damdest! Feeding on demand every couple of hours. Would like to soon start expressing a little so dh can sometimes give a bottle of expressed milk last thing at night so I can get more than 2 hours sleep and keep my sanity! Is there a time that is better to express and should I be expressing from the side ds takes feeds from least often in order to keep supply up on this side? Any advice welcome as am still getting the hang of things and do want to be able to continue to ebf for as long as possible this time around.

[coffeemaker]

Hi Milkysmum,

I have has similar problems!
What I did was to express milk every 3 hours which means ideally do it 8 times a day.Use a double breast pump such as Medela.It only takes 10 mins or so.
At night I used to give a bottle feed as I used to skip one pumping, that means I am assured of atleast 6 hours of sleep.

Once you get in mode of expressing milk, have so much more flexibility.Can plan to go out atleast for 3 hours and baby is assured of getting breast milk right on time.

The only downside is be very carful with sterlisation of bottles and pump equipment.

[milkysmum]

Hi Coffeemaker- so are you feeding baby and expressing every 3 hours?? that sounds a lot. Would I need to express that often if was only planning to give one feed a day from a bottle? I have just ordered a medela pump but a single not double.

[entropygirl]

Personally I express the other boob after the last (expected) feed of the day. I usually get around 5oz that way. But most people have more milk in the morning. So you could do the opposite and express the other boob after the first feed of the day. Basically there will be a better time for you but you have to find it. It is perfectly fine to express for a bottle once a day - or even less frequently although it will be easier on your body trying to match demand if you do something fairly consistent. If this gives you extra milk some days, pop it straight in the freezer and then you can bunk off feeding occasionally with almost no notice :)

If you are pumping at a time you dont usually feed then it may take a few days for your body to get the hint...in that case it might be worth pumping several times in a few hours just to reinforce the message.

Whatever you decide to try do, make sure you are topped up on calories and fluids. You body is definitely reluctant to relinquish extra resources if it thinks you are struggling yourself!