Did you express?

[FGSholdthedoor]

I'm currently EBF , my DS is only 2 weeks old.
I'm getting bad anxiety at the thought of no one else being able to settle him as he comfort feeds and not being able to have any downtime for the foreseeable future. I'm struggling with sore nipples and the fact that DS comfort feeds a lot is making them worse as they don't get much "healing" time in between feeds.

I've heard that people combo feed with expressed milk in bottles and BF. And I've also heard of a few people exclusively pumping and not offering breast at all.

My question is how do you establish that? I'm concerned about my supply going through the roof if I express one side whilst feeding on the other and I'm also worried about my overall supply not matching the needs of my baby.

Has anyone got any experience in establishing this ?

[Caterina99]

Hi. Not quite the same, but my 8 week old DD is breast fed but has one bottle of formula per day. Usually on an evening, but if I need to be away from her then she’ll take it at any time. If it’s a long time away from her I do express for comfort, or at this point I just feed her when I get back. She was supplemented with formula from tiny though as she lost too much birth weight, so she’s always taken a bottle and formula.

I tried expressing for that feed but it was too much work with toddler DS around and I barely got enough milk out, so formula it is. Several friends do the same though and easily express enough for a feed. Best time apparently is usually on a morning after their morning feed

[tealandteal]

I started to try to introduce a bottle around 7 weeks, express in the morning as this seems to give the most and then feed in the evening as this is when he takes it best. It took a few weeks, we had to vary the temperature to find the best for him. We started with Mr giving the bottle, then DH giving with me in sight and now I can go out. I know some people find baby takes it better if someone else gives the bottle. I only express once a day, usually give a bottle every other day or two on, one off and freeze the milk on off days. That way I am building up a stock for longer periods away. This way if I can't/don't express then I won't get engorged. I found it too fiddly to express and feed at the same time and spilt a lot so I do it when he is asleep

[NameChange30]

If your newborn is feeding constantly, it will be very difficult to find time to express. You could get a Haakaa pump (or similar) which you use to get milk from one breast while feeding from the other. But I would wait until baby is spending a bit less time feeding before doing any “proper” expressing.

It’s normal for newborns to suckle a lot but very frequent/long feeds can also be a sign of tongue tie, so it would be wise to rule that out.

My DS had tongue tie and we got it divided when he was about 2.5 weeks which reduced the time he spent feeding considerably. Then I was able to express a bit. I think we introduced a bottle when he was about a month old, which is good timing IMO. Personally I wouldn’t leave it later than 6 weeks.

There should be breastfeeding clinics and support groups near you, do go along for some face to face support and advice. Mumsnet and phone helplines are good but there’s no substitute for in person support really.

[8pawsgood]

I seem to remember it was about 6/7 weeks to establish a routine. I expressed like billy-o so I could go out (rare, but necessary) and so Hubby could be involved.. plus filling a bottle all by yourself is immensely satisfying.😁...both babies were ok with it. Remember though, the more you pump the more you make..uncouth I know but i have stark memories (that should read mammaries) of missing a feed and gaining gigantic leaking boobs....The wonderful joys...😉

[FGSholdthedoor]

Thank you for the replies.
He seems to have regulated his feeds more, he now goes a quite regular 2hours between feeds sometimes a tiny bit longer at night. These last couple of days we seemed to have had a bit of a breakthrough and I'm a lot less sore too. Fingers crossed it will only get better.

I've bought some MAM bottles and ordered a Haaka type pump from Amazon. Going to see how I go with it, just not sure how to schedule it all and when to start.

[NameChange30]

If you’ve ordered a Haakaa style pump you won’t need to schedule it in, just remember to pop it on the other boob when feeding!
It’s finding time to express with an electric pump that can be tricky. I try to do it when DS is napping but he’s a terrible napper (and night sleeper) so I don’t often manage it!