Expressing - before or after feed?

[cat811]

I want to start expressing every now and then from next week (dd will be 4weeks) and have read that morning is the best time - but how long before or after her feed do I do it so it doesn't affect her feed/my milk?
Does it make it harder that she feeds (relatively) randomly so I can't predict when she'll need it?!
Thanks!

Congratualtions!!!

The morning is the best time. I used to express after her first feed as not to affect my supply. Usually this would be about one hour and a half before her next feed so I tended to have enough time to fill up(soemtime though she would demand a feed sooner and it seemed to be ok as I had lots of milk in the morning). I then expressed again at about 10 pm at night(and gave a midnight bottle of expressed milk, so knew expressing would not affect supply.)

HOwever, I don't think it works too well to just do it now and again. I found that I would need to express at the same times everyday and eventually my breasts would make more milk for those times. Also it will take a while to build up how much milk you can express so doing it now and again may not work without tkaing away her milk.....you could freeze it if you don't use it immediately.

Hope that helps a little

Expressing every now and then is fine if your not worried about getting loads or a regular set amount.

People tend to find they get more out in the morning, but tbh just goes with what fits in with you. I used to express when DH got in from work and was starting her bath/putting to bed etc.

I've had DD want to feed 30mins after expressing and she's fine. Takes her a while to get to let down sometimes, but then is fine (but I do suffer from slow let down). She'll get enough, your breast are never empty. Worse case is she doesn't go as long until the next feed.

Just be warned that the amount you express may dramatically drop after growth spurts (especially the 6 week one) as your body starts to regulate supply effectively. At which point you may want to switch to expressing to a routine if you a certain amount of milk consistently

I express in the morning after the first feed. Because DS goes about 4 hours without a feed at night time I find I'm rather full in the morning, with more milk then he can take, so I express a little to soften the breast and then feed and express the rest, this happens between 7 and half 8. He feeds again about 10ish and I always find I have plenty of milk.

Expressing is definitely easier when done regularly. And I find it easier in the morning or while dd2 is feeding. I sometimes express before a feed and dd2 is so much better at getting milk from me than the pump that even if I put on straight onto a boob that's just been pumped I quickly hear her gulping down milk that the pump couldn't access

I used to express in the morning and would express from one breast whilst DD fed from the other. Sounds tricky but I found it easy. I was usually pretty full, so even if the pump had 'emptied' a breast, DD would still get more out of it once she had emptied one. I did this every morning and DH used the milk to do the early evening feed so I could chill out or go to the gym.