Combining breast and bottle

[Thaisdel]

Hello!
I'm a first time mom to a hungry little 4 and half week old boy and am looking to start expressing so I can share a couple of feeds with my OH and generally just give my boobs a break!

As I have no experience I'd love your thoughts/help/suggestion on the best way to tackle an expressing and bfeeding schedule so I have a healthy supply, as I'm worried about getting it wrong and either ending up with a low bfeeding supply or mega engorged breasts!

Getting my lo to bfeed was such an ordeal and a triumph that i'd hate to mess things up now we've managed to latch on and eat properly so any suggestion/advice based on your experience would be most welcomed by us both :)

So I guess my questions are (and sorry if this is all obvious, being a first timer makes every thing baby related quite daunting):

• when is the best time to express (if there is such a thing as a best time?)
  
• should i express from one boob while he feeds on the other or just express once he's done and if so should i just do it from one or both breasts?
  
• how much should i store per bag?
  
• I'm only looking to give him a couple of bottles per day to start with (2am and 6am feeds) so he gets used to the bottle but doesn't forget the breast so how much should I be expeessing to have enough for that?
  

-how slowly can I introduce more bottles (say for exmaple if his dad takes him out) so I can ensure he doesn't get nipple confusion? Should i wait a few weeks?

Anyway sorry about the long post and all the questions, I guess I just want to get it right for my lo and ensure both him, me and my OH enjoy sharing feeds!

Thanks for taking time to read and for sharing your experience, us first timers really appreciate it!
Xx

[Superworm]

Congrats on your LO

The best time to express is in the morning as that's when you have the most milk. Ideally express after a feed. If you get into a routine with it and do it around the same time your supply will adjust and it will be easier to express.

Kellymom has some good info on amounts and storage you might find useful.

The only thing to be aware of is maintaining your supply. BFing is obviously it's a supply and demand system. If you have a large gap between feeds, say not feeding overnight, it can impact in your supply and reduce it. Four weeks is still early days, so it's something to bare in mind.

[PeaceLillyDoge]

I'd echo what was said above. I've been expressing since day two as she was a very sleepy baby who wouldn't wake to latch properly. gHave been giving her bottles of expressed milk since day six. Her latch had improved and we've not had any nipple confusion thankfully.

I express most in the morning after she had breast fed, using both boobs and can get about 200ml. I then keep it in the fridge and top up her feeds of I think she needs it (this advice was specific to us site to her weight loss so May not be applicable to you).

I may do another Express later on so that I can give her a big feed before bed in the hope that she sleeps longer for a bit. I think at this age a full feed is considered to be about 80ml every 3 hours, so I always aim to give her about this before bed or of dp is giving me some sleep respite and doing a feed for me.

Hope that helps, , it's working really well for us so hopefully will for you too.

[ALittleFaith]

We did this for a while and it worked really well. I'd express first thing in the morning and when DD was that age I could express about 80-100ml. As I got better at breast feeding I was able to express one side whilst feeding her the other! Try to get bottle that are 'close to breast feeding'. We started with Tommee tippee closer to nature but later switched to avent.

DD cluster fed in the evenings so I'd feed her in the afternoon, DH would give her half the bottle, then bath, then the other half. It bought me half an hour to myself which was bliss! :)