Exclusively feeding expressed breast milk

[FreddieRocks]

After real difficulty getting my DS to latch on as a newborn I have ended up feeding him expressed breast milk and its going really well. I started off having to express every 2 hours and still wasn't able to keep up with him, resulting in the odd formula top up. I've now been able to drop back to expressing every 3-4 hours and am producing enough to put some in the freezer (I can't tell you quite how satisfying that is!). At the moment I'm expressing every 3-4 hours during the night but unfortunately this rarely coincides with when DS wakes up (hes started going 5 hours or so on the first block of sleep) so I'm not getting much sleep.I really don't want to adversely affect my supply but wondered what those who have been exclusively feeding EBM do in the night, expressing gap wise, once their supply is established?

Also, my health visitor said that in this heat it can be worth offering FF babies some cooled boiled water in case of thirst. I know BM is more watery in the heat, particularly the first bit of a feed. However with EBM the whole feed is obviously mixed together. DS really feels the heat (and has been pretty grumpy at times), and appears to be drinking a bit more than when it was cooler. Should I be offering him some boiled water? He's been putting on a pound a week in weight so no worries on that score.

Thanks!

[scallopsrgreat]

I did EBM with my first as he never latched on. I only ever expressed once during the night (as in between 11 and 7) and it always coincided with DS waking up. I got a double pump and an expressing bra which meant I was hands free so could feed him and express at the same time.

In terms of keeping your supply up I kept a spreadsheet (yes really!) so I could see if supply dipped. But generally the rule is more often rather than longer. I got some great advice off a thread on the Bounty site and I think Kellymom is good on this too. Basically the advice went along the lines of pumping for about 120mins on each breast per day (hence why I got a double pump!) So if you were pumping 8 times a day then it would be for 15 mins each time.

Another good tip I found was once they were sleeping through (if they do!) was to a kind of super pump in the morning which I think was 15 mins on, half hour off, 15 mins on.

I don't think that he will need water. Just more frequent feeds. But maybe asking a lactation consultant or a BF helpline just to make sure?

Hope that helps and good luck!