Where to begin with expressing

[kipper31]

Hi

My DD is now 3 weeks old and has been exclusively breastfed on demand, but now I would like to express one or maybe two bottles a day to make evening life a little easier (the plan is hubby will give 10/11 pm feed so I can go to bed at about 9 and get some sleep!). She has been suffering with colic and know that some bottles are supposed to be better than others. So far I have bought a TT manual breast pump, but would like some guidance on various things -

1. When is best to express?
2. How much will she need?
3. Does she take it cold or do I need to

heat the milk?

1. Best bottles / teats etc.

Thanks

I think expressing two bottles a day is a little unrealistic, but see how it goes. Also bear in mind that more than a 6 hour gap between feeds at that stage could affect your milk supply.

To answer the questions:

1. When your breasts feel fullest. Maybe in morning give DD one side while you express from the other. It would be normal to just get 1-2oz. Expressing is not any fun!

1. At 3 week she'll probably want 3-4oz. It might take 2 gos to get the full amount. She is much more efficient at extracting than a pump.

1. She'll want it warm - freeze or fridge it and warm it sitting in jug of hot water before serving.

1. I have standard avent ones. If you have TT pump maybe try them first. At 3 weeks she should accept anything.

I started expressing at around 2 weeks - MW suggested we give it a go, as DS had good latch, strong suck, was generally doing well (this is only relevant cos she said babies who aren't well established BF-ing can get 'nipple confusion' if you introduce a bottle).

Her advice was just to express a little at the start/end of each feed, and not to go mad in a single pumping session, as my supply might go into overdrive.

My DS is currently 4 weeks, and my DP usually does 2 feeds at night, across about 5 hours. It is SO helpful in letting me get more than 2 hours sleep, it really has made the exhaustion of BF-ing more bearable.

(I'm no expert, btw, this is just my experience and what is working for me atm).

1. I express mainly in the morning, and not really at all in the evening, as I have less milk then. I express a bit at the start of a feed, and some at the end, and mix it. This is cos the early milk is thinner and more watery - the later milk yellowy and more creamy looking. I feel like that 'mimics' a full boob feed, IYSWIM.

1. My DS takes between 70-150 mls over a couple of bottle feeds, across 5 hours max (growth spurts aside!). It depends how big his last feed before that was. I tend to get 50-70 mls from pumping either side of a feed, so it's pretty easy for me to build up this amount each day. Offering several smaller amounts rather than one big bottle means if there's any left over in the fridge, it can be frozen.

1. Warm it up in a jug of warm water. DS refused to touch (accidentally offered) cold milk!

1. I just used medela bottles and a slow flow teat as that was what I had. DS was fine with that, I haven't experimented further.

When we tried it, my thoughts were - whatever I express, if DS gets through it and is still hungry, then DP can wake me and I'll feed him. If I've had more than 5 hours 'off duty' feeding-wise, and DS still has some left in the bottle - DP will wake me up. I find going more than 5 hours without feeding leaves me with uncomfortably full breasts, and apparently going that long without feeding at night can affect supply. (my supply has been fine so far).

Long post, sorry. I'd also recommend Colief, if you haven't already tried it, and your baby is small and colicky. Good luck!

Hi, i'm not sure I would advise you to give any more than one expressed bottle a day if you want to keep breastfeeding as this would affect your supply unless you pumped while she was being fed the bottle, but that would defeat the purpose imo. As mumnwlondon says, you might find that you can't physically express enough to do this anyway. To answer your questions...

1. I find its best to express in the morning when I am at my fullest. I struggle to express at the same time as feeding so I do it immediately after the first feed of the day on the breast that my dd has taken the least amount from.
2. I would prob leave 4oz for one bottle but you might find that she won't drink it all the first time. This is only based on my own experience though.
3. You don't need to heat the milk. My dd will take it is soon as it comes out the fridge though we usually sit it at room temp for a little while.
4. We initially used the anti colic avent bottles but now use the tommee tippee closer to nature. Find that my dd feeds better from these and gags less.

Hope this helps. Once you start to express you will find a time that suits you best. I try to have a warm shower first and to massage my breasts. Some people put a warm flannel on their breasts too when they pump.

I agree with everyone else.

1.In the morning
2.3-4 oz
3.whether to heat the milk or not depends on the individual baby, will certainly make your life easier in the long run if baby will take it cold or room temp.

1. Tommee Tippee closer to nature.

Also just wanted to add that expressing can be very difficult. I remember being in tears over it. Don't be surprised if you get very little at first but my experience was that it got easier and quicker. Some people get on better with electric pump, I had much more success with TT manual.

The key to successful expressing is...

baby on one boob
(electric) pump on the other

Really. The only way - esp at first.

Just goes to show it's horses for courses - I shelled out for a Medela swing electric pump, which a lot of women swear by -

Can't get more than a gnat's piddle out of my bosoms with it. But the Medela manual pump - 100 mls plus in less than 5 mins. My only problem would be RSI hands if I expressed full time!

Adding Medela swing to the 'must e-bay' pile.... I've also never been able to have baby on one breast and pump on the other at the same time, manual or electric. There seems to be too much baby in the way! (I am a fairly clumsy person though).

The encouraging thing seems to be that there are quite a few different approaches to expressing, so be prepared to give them all a go, and hopefully you will find one that suits.