Is it true, the more I express the more milk I will get???

[bgt]

I am breast feeding my little girl who is 3 weeks old, she had lost a lot of weight and we are trying to get her up to birth weight again.Currently I breast feed her on demand during the day and top her up with breast milk every 3 hours. I am expressing and the amount I get varies considerably. I am using a double pump and am only managing to get around 80ml. My dh says I need to express more and then my milk supply will increase, its trying to find the time to express as well as feed her as she can take up t 40 mins to feed very 2 - 3 hours.
I am just so tired and not sure how long I can keep it up for, I also miss spending time with my ds.

Have you seen a bfing counsellor?

The more milk you remove from the breast, the more you will make. That is true.

The most effective way of removing milk from the breast is to bfeed. Especially with a 3wk old.

What help have you got atm?

I'm not an expert, but I'm sure one will coem along soon

in the meantime, can i ask why you are expressing and not just feeding her more often? was she premature? its just babies are much better at getting milk out than pumps

no wonder you are tired, its exhausting with a new baby and toddler, let alone expressing as well

breastmilk is produced on a supply and demand basis- the more you take out (by baby or pump) the more you then produce. As the others have said though, a baby is much better at getting the milk out than a pump.

Yes, taking milk out of the breast sends the message for more to be produced.

Poor you though, that sounds absolutely exhausting! Can you go to bed for the baby with a few days (or even just part of each day as I see you have a toddler as well) and have lots of skin to skin and cuddles and constant feeding? That is the best way to get supply up (and get more milk into her) with such a tiny one.

The key issue is that she isn't getting the milk out herself. That needs addressing before you worry about expressing more (which is hard work, I know - my son couldn't feed so I expressed the lot. It is not a route you want to start down if you can help it).

You need proper help. Is there a baby cafe near you? Where are you based?

Try to keep in mind that milk is only part of it. I exclusively expressed until my son was 7 months (he refused food and formula at 6) and then combined for another month after that. In retrospect, I think that was a mistake. There is more to mothering than milk alone, and expressing on that scale takes a huge amount of time and energy that I would have been better advised to use elsewhere. At 3 weeks you definitely have the time to focus on the feeding relationship, and with the right help I'm sure you can crack it, but I wouldn't allow it to become the focus of your family. As you say, you have two children and a marriage as well.

Again no expert, but the concept of topping up with expressed milk doesn't make so much sense to me (unless the baby is hard to feed, e.g. sleepy).

Agree with speaking to qualified help. Ring one (or more) of the helplines and look up help in your area. You can also pay to have a expert come round to your house (a bit pricey but an option around 70pounds).

Breastfeeding counsellors from the volunteer orgs make home visits or have the mother come to them - and they don't cost anything :)

OP: a discussion with someone knowledgeable in real life would really help you. The regime you are describing may not need to persist - as others have said it's very demanding. If your daughter is feeding well and thriving, then more frequent bf might be just fine :)

Cause she lost so much weight we had to top her up to see that she was getting enough milk. She is still not up to birth weight. Currently I feed on demand plus give her 90ml - 100ml every 3 hours which she normally takes. This feeding plan was given to us by yhe community midwives and the hospital

I think it would still be worth meeting with a breastfeeding counsellor to draw up a plan with the aim of reducing the top ups and getting back to full breastfeeding. Midwives specialise in childbirth and not breastfeeding, so their knowledge varies greatly depending on what experience they have, courses they have done, etc - it sounds like the top ups were/are necessary, but they should be helping you to move back to full breastfeeding (if that's what you want to do :)) once things have improved and it doesn't sound like they are doing this or have given you a time frame in which you could start moving towards this.

bgt - can you contact the midwives again and ask to review your feeding plan?

You are giving a lot of top ups - the total amount would easily be sufficient to feed most babies without any direct at-the-breast feeding, and the risk would be the supplements are taking the place of effective bf.

You can protect your milk supply by frequent expressing, but the best thing is to fix the direct bf.

Any bfc who does her job properly would want you to discuss changes in your feeding plan with the midwives first.

Thanks for all the comments. Midwife is round to today to weigh and if she has reached her birth weight :) I think I will just stick to breast feeding. Will ask midwife to review feeding plan. At night I only breast feed which seems to satisfy her. ANy ideas how often I should be breast feeding a 4 week old?

bgt - good that the midwife is coming.

No rules about how often to feed :) However, with a baby of this age whose weight has caused some concern, you'd be aiming at responding to every small feeding cue with an offer. That's likely to be pretty often - which is a good thing.

how did you get on today, bgt?