My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Infant feeding

Just can't express even though milk there....

14 replies

Feeltrapped · 20/06/2009 22:12

Thought I posted this a minute ago but can't find it now, so apologies if I've duplicated it... or even more likely posted it in the DIY section or something

Anyway I'm going to throw the bloody pump out the window in a minute. 20 mins and about 1/2 an ounce

What really frustrates me is that the milk is there, it just doesn't seem to come out when I express. The first few sucks are fine and then nothing... I've tried both manual and electric pumps, doing it in the morning/afternoon/eve, when I'm feeding/with DS etc etc. Nothing seems to make much difference.

I can actually express more by hand than either the manual or electric pump - but obviously that's not hugely practical for large volumes!

I'm getting so stresses because I've got my sisters hen weekend in 4 weeks so need to stockpile as I will be away 2 nights.

Has anyone else experienced this where the milk was there but just wouldn;t come out. What can I do?

OP posts:
Report
chocolatebunnies · 20/06/2009 22:18

I sometimes have this problem as my boobs become so engorged with milk that it wont come out, I use an electric pump and massage the boob im expressing and that seems to get things moving, you may have tried it, but if not, i just gently squeeze all the way round in that same rythm as the pump.

Report
PacificDogwood · 20/06/2009 22:19

Oh, Feeltrapped, been there, done that and hated every minute of it! My sympathies.

Let down of milk is much harder with a pump, which is one of the reasons why how much you manage to pump does not say anything about how much milk there is.

Try some massaging of the breast before pumping, consciously relax, think of your baby, have something that smells of them, have a photo of baby in front of you. Have a good quality electric pump. If you are large of norkage make sure that the pump flanges (the trumpet shaped thing the boob goes into) is sufficiently large, this makes it more comfortable too. Try and pump the same time of day every day for a period of time, ideally in the morning.

How old is your baby? I am impressed that you manage to use pump whilst feeding baby; this is ment to be v good, but I never managed.

Also, even if you manage 1 oz at a time, keep freezing all those little ounces and eventually you will have enough for a weekend, non?

There is a book about expressing, I will have a look for it and link if I can find it. I found it useful when I was trying to exclusively express for preemie DS2.

Hope some of this helps a bit.

Report
thisisyesterday · 20/06/2009 22:22

some people can just not express! which is why how much you can express is not an indication of how much milk you're making

things that may help:

start off slowly. it can be tempting to whack an electric pump right up, but you need to start off slow and build up

try and mimic baby. so a lot of little quick sucks until you get letdown, then longer and harder

try and relax! the more uptight and stressed you feel the harder it can be to pump (well, in my experience anyway- may not be scientific lol)

I would hand express as much as you can if that's the most successful way for you. just try and make time to do it a couple of times a day if possible and i'm sure you'll soon build up a supply. once you get a fair bit stored you might feel less anxious and be able to use the pump a bit more?

Report
PacificDogwood · 20/06/2009 22:26

I had this on loan from my local LLL group.

Report
stainesmassif · 20/06/2009 22:33

Also bear in mind that the more you do it, the more you will produce. I found expressing really frustrating in the early days, 1 - 2 oz at a time. But after carrying on and doing it at the same time each day it fairly quickly built up to 6 oz at a time. definitely worth continuing, though i agree, it's boring and frustrating in the extreme. enjoy the hen do!!!

Report
JackBauer · 20/06/2009 22:45

I found the only way I could express enough was to wake before DD (takes some effort) and express off the night's engorgement.
And I agree with stainesmassif (love the name btw) that the more you do it the more you will manage, it's just like the supply and demand from the firts few weeks after they were born all over again!

Report
stainesmassif · 20/06/2009 22:46

thanks jack. we're big fans of yours here in the massif.

Report
JackBauer · 20/06/2009 22:49
Grin
Report
ilovemydogandmrobama · 20/06/2009 22:51

I wasn't able to express anything with DD, but think I left it too late.

When DS was around 3 months, I would express a bit in the morning. I would do it after a feed and then around the same time.I found sitting up straight helped. I used a medela swing which seemed to be good at the let down stage.I also used a hospital pump at one stage which was great!

Report
hanaflower · 20/06/2009 22:52

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

stainesmassif · 20/06/2009 22:54

hana - i had been really worrying about having enough milk to go back to work, however now that we've introduced solids ds has pretty much weaned himself off day time feeds. so got loads to store. now if i could only wean him off the 2,4 and 5 am feeds i'd be sorted!

Report
hanaflower · 21/06/2009 09:31

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

PacificDogwood · 21/06/2009 15:32

Some babies will "reverse cycle", ie not drink any milk at all whilst separated from mum and drink lots and lots at night. In that case you'd not have to have a lot of expressed milk stored.

Report
Feeltrapped · 21/06/2009 17:45

Thank you all so much for your help and support .

Its actually such a relief just that you believe me that the milk is there its just a problem expressing - several lovely RL friends just don't seem to be able to accept this is the problem and keep giving me advice on increasing my milk supply!

Your suggestions all make sense and I have already started giving them a go. I decided to get up after DS's 5am feed and have a go then on the other side - I managed to get about 2oz which is a big improvement on recent attempts. I also tried again to express at the same time as feeding - not hugely comfortable but got another couple of ounces

Thank you all so much, especially PacificDogwood for the link etc - will check that book out. Have taken all your other suggestions on board and will try them all. Think I just got myself completely stressed out last night - I just find the whole expressing thing so frustrating, especially as DS feeds so well.

xx

OP posts:
Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.