Anyone have any advice on increasing amount of BM I can express every day?

[womblingalong]

Have 7 week old DS1 and am only able to express between 2-3 oz a day. This is much more than I was able to with DD so am feeling good about that however HV says that at this age and weight (my DS is 11lb 10oz) he should be having 6 oz each feed so I would like to be able to express this amount. PLease, does anyone have any advice or tips to increase how much mlk I am able to express?

Thank you!

[whomovedmychocolate]

Yes, STOP LISTENING TO THE HV!!!!!

Expressing will only ever get out one to two thirds the amount a baby will get out. I'm assuming you are direct bfing too?

As long as you put the baby to your breast every few hours (and at his age I'd say every two hours would make sure your supply was boosted) in 72 hours you'll have enough milk.

Or are you trying to build a stockpile?

[womblingalong]

Hi,

Thanks for that, I didn't know that expressing only gives between a third to two thirds of what a baby will get out.

I would like to stockpile, and also other ladies in my antenatal group are able to get 6 oz in abut 10 minutes whereas it takes me up to 40 mins to get 3 oz, even with an electric breastpump. Will have a go at feeding every two hours and see if that helps build supply up!

[NineUnlikelyTales]

Read this from Kellymom

Your HV is misinformed about the amount of EBM your DS should be having at each feed (how surprising!) and anyway, isn't it kind of up to your DS to decide how much he needs?!

My DS is 8m and apart from in the evenings, has very rarely taken a feed bigger than 4oz.

Some people find it easy to express, others don't - it has no bearing on your milkiness generally.

You can try expressing first thing in the morning, and after a bath, to see if that helps.

[womblingalong]

Thanks nineunlikelytales

that Kellymom site is really good. i do express in the morning will def try after a bath & see if that makes any difference.

WA

[maxbear]

My ds is quite big and unless I am really full after a good night I can only normally get one or two oz expressing, but he is piling on the pounds and feeds little and often. I reckon he probably only gets a few ounces per feed as he feeds every hour or so and I never get that full (apart from mornings) Every mum and baby is different.

[mozhe]

Express as often as you can bear for 24 hours.

Use a hospital grade machine.

Drink loads of water.

Express whilst holding your baby or looking at a picture of him.

Massage your breast in downward sweeping motion whenever your flow starts to dribble.

Wear drip catchers in your bra during the day,( I regularly get 6ozs a day this way...bear in mind it is fore milk so mix it in with other EBM ).

Good luck !

[Judy1234]

Why do you need to express? It's a nuisance.
At work once I got going with it I could get 4 oz I think each time once we were all established etc. a few times a day but I can't remember how old the babies were by then. Do it quite regularly every 2 hours or so I think to keep it coming.

[wildholly]

It really depends why you are expressing. If your baby cannot breastfeed from you the paeds will be telling you your baby needs about 180ml/kg per day. I can tell you that before my LO was weaned he did NOT take as much as that, I'm sure there is some individuality in it. I am sure the fluid requirements are only based on bottle fed infants but paeds have variable opinions on breastfeeding depending on where they have trained. Be prepared to ask lots of questions and try La Leche League for support.

As to expressing, some people can express loads and others not very much. If you are trying to build a stockpile so you can go out, then try expressing in the morning. If you have an electric pump then an expressing bra is really helpful (got mine on Ebay) as you can play with your baby at the same time as expressing.

It's not true that you can only express 1/3 to 2/3 what your baby will take, but expressing is never as easy as BFing a baby. Take heart that some incredible women manage to express what their baby needs when they cannot suck and completely meet their nutritonal needs.

I'm now at work and bubs is established on solids - I normally use a manual pump at work but use an electric when fed up and I want to sit and read magazines. I'm trying to keep my milk supply over what he needs so I have a freezer surplus ready for a busy day at work where I can't express or a night out. However expressed milk is like liquid gold so don't over stress yourself - it's not your HV that has to express it! If you get 1oz it's still valuable to the freezer stock.

Also wanted to add that although I am very pro exclusive BFing if you can't express the milk you need please don't feel bad about giving your baby the odd bit of formula, you are doing a fab job by breastfeeding what you can and you should never feel guilty for wanting a bit of a life too.

[wildholly]

Oh and just to say that my LO never takes more than 5Oml per bottle feed (EBM). Don't compare a BF baby to a bottle fed one.

[quadrophenia]

right my advice to you would be this.

Express in the morning, express from one breast whilst you are feeding from the other, this way your let down kicks in. For some reason i only managed to express enough by doing it this way, and i managed to express enough for twins. HTH

[womblingalong]

Wow,

Thanks all for your replies, I am breastfeeding him directly, all the time but was hoping to build up a supply of frozen breastmilk for emergencies/when I need to go out without him.

the breast shells ans breastfeeding bra are great ideas to help, as is all the other advice.

WA

[Judy1234]

If I could breastfeed twins then I suppose you could feed on one side and express from the other to make double quantities but it's a huge nuisance expressing. I never liked it at all. It was just the solution to going back to work whilst still breastfeeding and I really only mostly did it whilst I was at work so missing a feed and expressing instead at that time etc.

My sister had trouble starting breastfeeding and for weeks or may be months was expressing and feeding them her milk (she had twins to). Eventually it all worked and they fed until they were 2.

[morocco]

agree with quadrophenia
try expressing from one breast while feeding with the other, esp in the morning. then see if there's any milk left in the other side afterwards as well. that works much better for me than expressing at a different time of day/without bf at same time.

[woodworm]

I never got more than 2-3oz a time with a big industrial pump thing. If you don't need expressed milk at the moment don't worry too much about building up supplies. some BF babies never take well to a bottle anyway. Do it if it suits you, but I found I had enough to be doing with a small baby.

[kiskidee]

if there is a time your baby reliably sleeps, you can 'build in' a feed. say, an hour after your baby has had his last feed, and is asleep, you can express.

it takes about a week to build it up.

the first night express for 30 mins even if you only get 10mls.

the second night, the same.

by the third night you should get an appreciable amount in about 20 mins. keep expressing for another 10 mins though for the extra stimulation.

by the fifth night you should get 2 letdowns. the second one may only be say 1/2 an oz but it will look different from the first letdown. (thicker and slightly different colour, the so-called hindmilk.)

by the 7th night you will probably get as much as you will get in any given pump session but in about 10 mins or less in my experience.

[woodworm]

Xenia tha's what I did, expressing at work when I missed a feed. I agree about the nuisance. I have tried the BF on one side and expressing the other, it does work, but it was so awkward I gave up, kept spilling milk over myself.

[dueat44]

I expressed all feeds for quite a few weeks. Breast compressions helped, and swapping frequently between breasts. Also, oddly enough, visualising the recent James Bond film rather than visualising my baby - good for an extra ounce, truly.

[mears]

womblingalong - since you just want to stockpile for emergencies, do not aim to express a full feed at a time. I always used a breastshell when i was feeding and collected drip milk. Any time i felt full and baby was sleeping I expressed some milk off. I was stockpiling as well as expressing for a SCBU.

I kept a bottle in the fridge that I froze after 48 hours for my own baby. SCBU milk I froze straight away. You just add all the little bits obver a period of time for a whole feed. At 7 weeks though you may still be finding your way a bit so please do not obsess about expressing. It is a preesure that you don't need. 2-3oz a day is pretty damned good BTW

[womblingalong]

wow,

Thanks for all these, some great advice. haven't had a chance to check posts for a few days, so sorry for delay in acknowledging posts.

Prob silly question, but what is double pumping?

Thanks again

[elkiedee]

I wanted to say thanks for all on this thread, I wanted to breastfeed and it hasn't worked out well so far, so I've been expressing a little but not producing nearly enough milk - sadly my baby's growing but on formula milk - and this has given me a few ideas that seem well worth trying and persevering before my supplies dry up.