Expressing and supply

[mollycuddles]

I've read that if needing to express you should start before 6 weeks because after that your supply is established and it's harder to increase your quantity later on. I just couldn't start then as dd was feeding constantly and then I had thrush badly so now at 3.5 months I'm starting in earnest pre starting back at work in November. If I express whenever possible - during, before, after or between feeds then surely my supply will increase. Dd still feeds about 2 hourly in the day and goes about 6 hours during night but majorly tanks up on waking. Any advice of how I can build up an ebm supply most efficiently. I will be working 2 half days and 3 full days although dh will bring dd to me on one of the full days at lunch time. In a full day I will have time to express 3 times and once in a half day. She'll be with dh when I'm working. I expect she might just have started some blw by me starting back (based on when her big sister got into solids) she'll be 5.5 months but don't expect solids to be much nutritionally until she's about 9 months. Due to family history of asthma and eczema I don't want to use formula at all - didn't with dd1 but worked one fewer day a week back then.

mollycuddles - what you have read is a bit rubbish misleading. What have you been reading?!

Breastmilk quantity can be increased at any time.

What often happens with well-established bf is that the amount produced by the pump decreases - mothers who might happily get 100 mls at a session find they get a lot less. Cue posts to mumsnet saying 'help! my milk's going!"

In fact, they may truly be producing less milk than before - but the excess milk they were producing has levelled out. In addition, older babies may take less milk and therefore the body produces less.

Your expressing plan sounds ok, but very demanding. My guess is you will not need to/have time to keep that up long term, but you will still be able to provide EBM for her, without expressing as often as this. Later, when you are at work, you may need to express a couple of times when you are not with your baby, and maybe once or twice a day when you are.

The point is, you don't need to worry quite so much - you can play it by ear a bit when you are actually in the situation. :)

Thanks tiktok. I won't be able to express as much some days as others as dd is now such fun we go out quite often especially as my older dcs are back at school and as dh is the sahd for this dd it's like when we first had ds 12 years ago. I've got 2oz already today and plan to freeze in 4oz batches.