Expressing novice - help required (long post - sorry!)

[Trillian42]

My baby is 4 and a half weeks old, and I hoping to start expressing so that I can get out of the house for long enough on my own to get my long hair cut to something that takes less time to wash & dry! Okay, hoping also to be able to get my husband to take over one of the night time feeds occasionally as well but my immediate aim is the hair cut, or else I'm going to get the scissors out and cut it myself.

The background - at about 10 days, I expressed about 90ml (3 oz approx) from one breast after the baby had fed from the other. It took about 20 mins. I've a Medela Swing electric pump. It wasn't painful, but when I took the pump off, it took away some skin as well on the areola, which prompted lots of baby blues inspired tears about how I couldn't even express milk properly, I wasn't going to be able to feed baby from that breast until it healed and was a bad mother etc. A couple of days later I tried the other breast after the baby had fed and only managed 15ml (0.5oz) and gave up because I was worried about the skin coming off again.

So questions... in your opinions/experience

1. Is there a best time to express? (The info I found said morning, but baby is going for 6 hours mostly at night between feeds, so snacks a lot in the morning to make up for it. She also cluster feeds in the late evening for the same reason)
2. Should I let baby 'drain' one breast and then pump the other? Or 15 mins each side?
3. How much should I be aiming for in a sitting initially so that I'm not depriving baby of food when she's hungry later?
4. Based on 3, how long does it take to increase this amount - should I do it over a week, a fortnight, more?
5. May be an obvious question, but do I lean back or forward when pumping - ie if I lean back the milk gathers at the seal where as if I lean forward it goes straight into the chamber.
6. Would lanolin (lanisoh) on the areola help avoid the skin being pulled off issue? It's as though the seal is so good that when I try to take it off the skin comes with it. I also wondered if it was because I was leaning back so that the skin was softened by the milk which made it come away more easily.
7. How long should I pump for without stopping? The guides I've read say until the milk slows, but I'm a little traumatised by the skin being torn off so wonder if I left it too long the last time.

Phew, I think that's all the questions. Any other tips/tricks/suggestions very gratefully received.

Thanks all!

Hi Trillian

Firstly, congrats on your baby!

Ouch about the skin! Sounds sore - I also have a medela swing and nothing like that's happened to me. Could it be that the breast cup is too small? I only use the larger, flexible breast cup with my medela swing and it's quite comfy. For breaking the seal, I sort of squish my boob and the cup pops off easily when the vacuum is broken.

I'm going to point you to Kellymom - an absolute font of breastfeeding info - here's the link to the expressing stuff. It's an American site, and American women get such short maternity leave that expressing can be vital to breastfeeding a baby. I found the tips very useful.

Anyway, I'm no expressing expert so won't try to answer all your questions (Kellymom should tackle some of them). Personally, I found I get most milk at 10pm ish. I co-sleep with my DS (16 weeks) so he tends to be on and off the boob from about 5.30am onwards, so mornings aren't hugely productive for me! I'd suggest you just express at various times during the day and see what works for you and your baby. 4 weeks is still early to be expressing as growth spurts will boost your supply as the weeks pass. You may find that while the morning isn't great now it may pick up so an hour after the morning feed you have plenty of milk.

I wouldn't worry about depriving the baby - as long as you're not expressing right before a feed I imagine it's fine. Your baby is far more efficient than any pump and will get the milk he or she needs (so don't worry if you get only small amounts when expressing - your baby will be getting plenty of milk!). I saw someone on here describe breast milk production as like a river rather than a bucket, ie it flows continuously, as the breasts are constantly making milk to match demand, rather than being containers that are "drained" and need to "refill".

Re leaning forward or back, I'd say do what feels comfortable.

Sorry to ramble on!

I'm no expert, so I won't answer your points in turn, but generally:

10 days was really early to start expressing. I would try to forget about that bad experience!

I loved the Swing, it was really good. Lansinoh is probably a good idea though - I had no problems but by the time I was using it I'd been feeding for over 6 months and had nips like asbestos

I would express whenever you feel you have a gap to do so, but remember your body will think that it's your baby asking for more supply so will increase production. I used to express from one side while feeding from the other but wouldn't advise that at this early stage as baby should be getting the chance of both breasts - maybe if baby isn't that interested in the second breast you can then express from it?

Don't worry about the amounts you get being small - unless you're planning loads of trips away you won't need much, and it's good frozen down in small amounts so there's no waste.

Great info here

cross posts!

If you have any more questions after reading the link, then just come back.

To be honest though, most of it is just about finding out what works for you. Don't worry about depriving the baby, they survive growth spurts after all.

I find expressing at the same time everyday helps to increase supply, takes me about 4 days to see a difference.

Also after the 6 week feeding frenzy expect the amount you express to drop as your body fine tunes how it regulates your supply. This was a bit of a shock to me and so I had to work for increasing the expressed supply.

Hi
I used to use a manual pump and expressed whilst in the shower...sounds odd but the warmth of the water really helps.
Congrats on baby and give yourself time it is early days yet xx

Thanks for all the replies. I read a lot of the links while baby was feeding last night - the kellymom website in particular is excellent. I haven't tried expressing today - I think baby is going through a growth spurt or a developmental spurt because she's been hungry every couple of hours today.

On the plus side though she's started smiling! Not wind smiles, proper ones where she's engaging with her Dada and I! Absolutely amazing

Tillian, sounds like you are still trying to get fully established with bf'ing, so I wouldnt stress too much about it as its still very early days. I waited until week 6 as I felt my DD and I had really got to grips with feeding by then. Like you, I expressed to let me go to the hairdressers!

I have found mornings best. I do it after a feed on the breast thats been fed on the least. I do it for about half an hour as thats all I have the patience for. I find expressing easier after a warm shower, where I have let the water spray against my breasts for a while. Massaging them also helps.

Lansinoh cream should help - I have a medela pump and have never had this prob with the skin. Sounds very sore.

One quick question that I haven't found the answer to elsewhere - no. 5

1. May be an obvious question, but do I lean back or forward when pumping - ie if I lean back the milk gathers at the seal where as if I lean forward it goes straight into the chamber.

Thanks!

Trillian - sounds painful - I wouldn't express until 6 weeks when BFing established.

re: haircut, feed baby just before the haircut and get your partner or a friend to take the baby for a walk while your hair is being cut. Otherwise I fed DD whilst having hair cut when she was tiny, she was under the cape thing!

I only express now in the morning as DS2 has slept all night since 8 weeks so I have lots of milk then. I just have avent hand pump and can quickly express 2oz or 3oz from the 2nd side (fed DS2 from fullest side, then express from other side, then offer him second side).

re: night time feed - I could never get this to work.

I personally lean slightly forward or sit upright, but I don't think there's a right or wrong way (at least not what I've come across), just what ever works for you. This is also how I feed her. I like to avoid the milk spillage the leaning backwards causes when you pull the pump away, though most of the time I'm still unsuccessful.

I use an Avent Isis hand pump and find the best way is to pump while the baby is on the other breast. It can be awkward but I get stacks this way.

Trillian, I always find that I lean slightly forward to avoid the milk gathering and then trickling out, but I think its just what makes you most comfy.

I agree with MumNW, its best to be fully established with breastfeeding before expressing and most people advise around 6 weeks.