Expressing for late evening feed

[cornflakegirl]

My son is four weeks old and we're trying to use Gina Ford's routines. A few days ago, I started expressing (couldn't face it before then!) at 7am and 10am as suggested, and also at about 9.30pm. My husband then uses this milk to give him his 10.30pm feed.

At the moment, I'm finding that between these 3 expressings, I get just about the amount that he wants - but I'm a bit concerned that this might not last (generally only manage to get about 2oz from each breast at 9.30pm). Not very concerned, as I know I can always just stick him on the boob if there isn't enough expressed milk - but just wondered how other people got on with this?

[kbaby]

I found that expressing in the evening gave me the least amount of milk. In the morning I could get 4 ozs but at night barely 2oz. In the morning express of the breast that LO hasnt fed from as its generally full. I stopped trying after a while and just expressed in the morning. Plus I found it tiring enough bf dd let alone trying to squeeze in 2 lots of expressing a day.

[FlounceyFlossam]

I expressed first thing in the morning, and maybe once in the afternoon. Did it in fits and starts but was hard work.

[bakedpotato]

I did the same thing and always found the evening express fairly unproductive. But I felt that if I wasn't feeding at that time and I was so happy to give up that feed and get to bed slightly earlier at least I was doing something to keep my supply up while getting bfeeding established. Expressing does get easier/quicker, but I don't think I ever got more than 4 oz at bedtime (and I kept expressing at bedtime til 12 wks).

[Tommy]

I'm sure as you keep at it, you will be able to get more from expressing. 4 weeks isn't very long to have established it all yet. I found it difficult to express much in the evening but once I'd got into it, I could do 8oz in the morning in one go and then had a whole feed to give later (not that he ever took it but that's a whole other story )

[Ruthiebaby]

Not a fan of Gina Ford. However, I used to express my milk in the evening for my ds to ensure he was getting a nice big feed before going to bed.

Found it easiest to feed him from one breast then on the next feed to feed him from the same breast. Then I would express after that feed from the breast that hadn't been used and I could get 4-5oz out in one go.

I gave up doing this when he was about 6 weeks. I still do this little routine if I ever need to express if I'm not going to be there.

Alternatively, as the other girls have suggested, it's good to express in the morning - but if he's feeding every 2-3 hours at night too then this may not be better. It's the hours at night when he's not fed that your milk still tends to build up and you have an abundance of in the morning.

One more thing, if you carry on expressing at set times and feeding at set times as Gina Ford advocates, then your body will get used to this and will probably supply you as required when you get the pattern established.

[beansprout]

Again, I don't think I would be able to get v much out at all if I expressed in the evening. BM will keep for about 3 days in the back of the fridge so don't worry about trying to get it out on the same day as you feed it to him. Good luck.

[themothership]

Apologies for hijacking this thread, but can I just ask those of you managing to express over 4 oz in one go, what kind of pump you used? I've got a medela mini electric and am wondering whether it's worth getting a double pump so I can get more out in a shorter amount of time.

[Tommy]

I used the Avent one - not electric or double!

[themothership]

Wow! I can usually only manage 2.5 oz from both breasts in one session (although I do often get interrupted by dd who refuses to sleep). She's only little though - just over 8lbs at 6 weeks, so is it likely that I'll be able to express more as she gets bigger?

[cornflakegirl]

thanks for the tips guys

am i okay to try to empty one breast expressing in the morning? i've been stopping at 3oz (when i get that much) at the mo, because i didn't want him to not have enough food to last him 3 hours...

[beansprout]

Cornflakegirl - I used to worry about that but your baby will always, always be able to get more out of your breast than you can. You can't run out, it's not how it works. Plus, it is all supply and demand, so if you pump more, your body will make more.

I used an Advent hand pump and can get the 6oz I need each morning, no problem. That said, I doubt I could do that in the evening! I have always expressed from both side to get what I need. It often involves going backwards and forwards but I get there in the end! Top tip - make sure the pump is pressed firmly to your breast! HTH