Just started expressing - how much is ok?

[SteadyFreddie]

Morning
My DS is 16 days old and so far I have been ebf. I am feeding him every 3 hrs.

I’d like to start expressing so that my DH can do a late night 10pm feed so that I can get a little more sleep.

I’ve hired a Medela Symphony pump (a double pump) and l first started using it yesterday.

So far, I seem to have been able to express about 90 mls across both boobs in one session (yesterday am). This took about half an hour.

I’d like to know if this amount will increase over time, when my body gets accustomed to pumping more, or whether it is likely to stay at this amount.
Am I pumping for long enough?

This doesn’t seem very much milk! I was somehow expecting more.

I’m not using nipple shields and I’m worried that I’m just not producing enough milk.

[lloveroftobleone]

Please don't worry, that sounds like loads! You have plenty of milk if you are getting this much.

[Mrsyorkie]

That's a good amount for the age of your baby! It will also depend what time of day you express. Some people find expressing AM gets more milk. I will express in the early hours as my son gets a formula feed then and I usually get 5oz- more than any other time if the day... although I'm sure that there aren't many people who want to express at 3am!!! X

[CWG17]

That’s a great amount, especially if you are feeding directly as well.

At my peak (DS was fed EBM exclusively) I would get around 1L from my morning pumping session (500ml/breast) then another litre or so throughout the day. By that point I was pumping 3-4 times per day. I had enough to feed twins!

In the beginning I remember the first time I got 100ml, which was when DS was about a month old. It felt amazing, haha!

Unless you plan on expressing full time, I wouldn’t recommend doing it too much as well as feeding directly because you’ll overstimulate and produce too much milk. That happened to me (see quantities above!) which meant I wasn’t able to feed directly as let down was too fast etc and DS vomited it all back up every single feed. Expressing once or twice per day after breastfeeding will be plenty, and also express at the same time your partner is giving the bottle.

[user1493413286]

That’s really good! It’ll increase as your baby gets bigger as your body will know your baby needs more. Be careful not to pump for too long though, twenty minutes with a double pump is normally plenty.

[PastysPrincess]

Thats a great amount to start with. It will increase as your supply stabilises and your expressing technique gets better. Babies are much more efficient than expressing so don’t worry if it doesn’t seem like much.

I think the most I got to begin with was about 10 ml. A few months down the line (admittedly after a missed feed) I got 500ml. I will also add DS was a large birthweight so my boobs had to up their game quick

[SteadyFreddie]

Great; thanks so much everyone - really appreciate the advice.

[IneedtoLTB]

I would be weary expressing too much at this stage as you can very easily end up with too much milk, problems with engorgement, mastitis and all the issues with over supply.

Mornings are a good time to express as it's when you have the most milk. Express after a feed and try too chose a set time if possible and express then daily. Your supply will regulate in a few weeks and it will then be easier to express more at the same time.

[GreenGoblin0]

The amount you can pump is not the same as the amount you baby can drain from your breast directly. babies are far more efficient than pumps.