If you know about expressing..

[OhToBeASeahorse]

DD has gone from 50th to 9th centile due to a missed tongue tie (I had a private consultation 10 weeks ago,.they said she was fine).

I've been told i need to express every 3 hours to stimulate my milk production. She gave me lots of advice but it was a lot to take in.

Cleaning. She said I could have a bottle in the fridge, then put the pump bits in the fridge, decant the expressed milk into the bottle and then use them again - only sterilising once a day. Is this correct? Did I hear right!?

Thanks in advance. It's been an awful day.

I used to do this. I used to keep pump bits in. Ziploc sealed bag in fridge.

Thanks, that's a good idea. I think terilsimg every 3 hours and looking after a newborn and a toddler might push me over the edge

How’s your baby feeding now? If you have a decent latch now, your baby will be many times more effective than a pump at stimulating supply. Especially if she’s got some catching up feeding to do . Also a lot less hassle than pumping.

But yes keeping bits in fridge is ok.

@minipie it will be a couple of weeks until I can get the TT cut. I hate expressing. I'm going to try just keep offering her my breasts as often as I can because as you say it's more effective and less feckin hassle.

This week has been absolutely shite.

@OhToBeASeahorse

DD has gone from 50th to 9th centile due to a missed tongue tie (I had a private consultation 10 weeks ago,.they said she was fine).

I've been told i need to express every 3 hours to stimulate my milk production. She gave me lots of advice but it was a lot to take in.

Cleaning. She said I could have a bottle in the fridge, then put the pump bits in the fridge, decant the expressed milk into the bottle and then use them again - only sterilising once a day. Is this correct? Did I hear right!?

Thanks in advance. It's been an awful day.

That’s what I did, only sterilised once a day. BM isn’t like formula.

Then there’s the rule of six, it lasts, six hours out of the fridge, six days in the fridge and 6 months in the freezer.

I exclusively expressed for DC1 for a year and donated around 1500oz of milk.

I used a spectra s1 double pump that did me and a few friends a couple of kids each? The was donated to my breast feeding support group - I was always welcome at group too, despite all DC1’s milk being from a bottle.

Good luck

Yeah I only ever washed and sterilising the pump once a day, kept in the fridge the rest of the day and just ensured nothing was touching any of the parts that would come into contact with milk.

Can you afford private? It’s not that hideously expensive and will still be running. They’ll see you Monday next week I would have thought.

As soon as you get that cut you’ll probably notice a difference. And then don’t worry about expressing, just feed (with your top off for skin-skin) as much as possible.

In the meantime you need to be power pumping. It’s a bit of a pain, but it bloody works. Got me from almost no milk to producing so much Dd used to almost drown! Good luck! lansinoh.com/blogs/pumping/power-pumping-how-to-increase-your-milk-supply

@Ostryga so this is my tale of woe. Called HV when DD was 3 weeks - was told only phone appts with lactation consultants were available.

So I went private. They said she had a small TT but it was tiny and not worth cutting, it wasnt stopping her feeding.

12 weeks of self doubt later I get to see an NHS lactation consultant and DD is dropping centiles and has a TT.

F. .F S.

Sterilising once a day was fine when I did - was a milk donor for premies.

Keep trying to do live feeds OP!

Yes, you don't need to be anywhere near as careful with sterilising for brest milk. Formula can contain a bacteria that can make baby ill if a tiny bit of milk is left on the bottle and the bacteria multiply. As breastmilk comes out sterile, there isn't any of the harmful bacteria there to multiply.

If I'm hand expressing I dont even bother sterilising, just make sure the bottle is clean. I probably would still sterilise the pump daily, but only because it's fiddly to clean, so I wouldn't be as confident that I hadn't missed a bit.

I exclusively pumped for 4 months waiting for a TT release. I heartily recommend putting the pumping equipment in the fridge but sterilise it thoroughly at least once a day (be sure to scrub out the fatty deposits with a brush). Usually, I would give the pumping equipment a damn good rinse in boiling water about twice a day.
Good luck!

[quote OhToBeASeahorse]@Ostryga so this is my tale of woe. Called HV when DD was 3 weeks - was told only phone appts with lactation consultants were available.

So I went private. They said she had a small TT but it was tiny and not worth cutting, it wasnt stopping her feeding.

12 weeks of self doubt later I get to see an NHS lactation consultant and DD is dropping centiles and has a TT.

F. .F S.[/quote]
Ah that’s rubbish OP, usually it’s the NHS who misses it and private finds it (was for us) but I guess it all depends on the person.

You can get the TT snipped privately, I know it may feel like throwing good money after bad though.

@minipie we have taken your advice and got another private appt on Tuesday which is a home visit.

I'm just scared they wont see anything either!!

Good luck! Is it definitely someone who will snip TTs not just diagnose them?

Thanks! Yes it is, I'm just worried they will say there is nothing there!

Ah good. Well both practitioners you have seen did find a TT, it’s just the first one said it was small and not worth cutting. That’s now been proved wrong by the centile drops. So hopefully you should be ok on Tues.

(by the by, I’ve been told it’s impossible to say a tt is “small and not worth cutting” based just on how it looks. It depends on the baby’s mouth shape, your breast/nipple shape, flow speed, how developed their coordination is etc. Need to look at how feeding/latch is going as well as the baby’s tongue. Some babies can feed fine with quite large TTs. Others struggle with small TTs. Also posterior TTs can appear small but actually be quite deep/large.)

Thanks - that's helpful! The first ones did watch her feed but... who knows. I'm talking to them.as well tomorrow, we will see what they say.

God my toddler is insane but at least there is less guess work!