Expressing when established?........

[Dozeyland]

My DD is 12 weeks old tomorrow, and i think I can safely say we are "established" in feeding.... she is feeding 2-3 hourly/on demand in the day and evening, then 1-2 night feeds all of which are not normally longer than 5/10 mins in duration.

I am going back to work in Aug (I know this is ages away) and i will probably only be doing a couple of mornings a week, and DD may well be weaning along with breast milk by then (she will be 10 months)

How can i start to build up a store in the freezer without dramatically effecting my supply now...........

*As i am established now, they are never FULL iyswim, they only go a bit harder when its the let down when shes feeding..

so whats the best way to pump/hand express - after i've fed? in between feeds? how many times a day?

What do you store yours in, the sterile bags?

hi, not going to take over this thread, just answer! please forgive typos & lack of punctuation, typing one handed while feeding...

I've been expressing for a while, to allow the odd night out. have you got a pump?

I'm using tommee tippe closer to nature manual pump with the storage bottles that hold about 2oz at a time and freezing them. If they don't get used for a feed I'm planning to use them to mix up baby riice later.

I've found the only time I can express is during the morning. One side is usually enough when she wakes, as I'm full so I'll let her have just one side and express about 2-3 oz off the other not long after (so I know she doesnt need it) Some say do it during a feed as it's quicker. Any other time of day and my milk won't let down for some reason.

I always express if I feel she's missed a feed during the morning too as sometimes she will fall asleep on the school run and delay a feed. I'm hoping this will keep supply up.

I'm wondering if expressing gets easier when youre weaning as the volume of milk is the same but the demand is lower?

arm is aching now!!

Hey,

I have a tommee tippee manual and electrical but find it easier to
Hand express!

Yeah I find that I have more milk in the morning or during the day when DD doesn't finish
Her feed and rather snack feed, so I'm left still a bit fuller where she's triggered my flow!
So is it best to express after you've fed or whilst feeding?

I've seen advice from others that say express after a feed, as it stimulates supply, but I can never get a second let-down which means I pump for 20 mins and get half an ounce. If you have more success after a feed I would go with that, because you'll be telling your body to 'make more'

If you're short on time, however, express during a feed, from the other side as its faster.

I suppose looking at it, it doesn't really matter - either way you're still telling your body to produce more. Whatever you find easiest

Yeah because when I'm feeding, my let-down is strong
On both sides, so if I have a cup or shield it could collect it otherwise its a waste
Into the breast pad! Then I can hand express after I've fed maybe..
When would you say I should start amd how often to get a stock for aug? Also so it doesn't over supply and I get engorged..?

I don't think theres much of a risk of getting engorged at this stage, not now you're established, you will just adapt.

What are you wanting to use it for? Are you planning on building up a stash for complete feeds or just to mix in with food?

As far as I'm aware you can only freeze it for 6 months. Mine's being rotated in return for an odd night out so I haven't checked on that, I could well be wrong.

I gave up with the breast cups and shells because I was worried about continually adding 'collections' and keeping it all sterile. Now I just use the pump.

This has given me food for thought to be honest, I'm back at work in September just 2 days a week and I hadn't really thought about how much milk DD will need at that age.
Something to look into perhaps?

I'm not always mumsnetting, honest

If she's 10 months and your only doing mornings I really just wouldn't bother.

DD is now 10.5 months and we can get her though a day now without milk. From 7 months she was on just one bottle at lunchtime (I went back at 4 months so had the freezer stash and twice daily pumping).

She still fed from loads in the days I wasn't working. Mainly becase we were out and about at weekends so solids was hard to give as doing BLW. Now she's more used to it, she takes more solids if we're travelling.

Sarah from 6 weeks babies take 25oz a day which is roughly 1oz/hr (19-30oz) this doesn't change until weaning when the amount starts to drop. BF babies often take more than they need though leading people to think they can't keep up with expressing.

Also with milk, even if it's over 6 months it's worth a go. It's only off if it smells off (and trust me after leaving a bottle in a nag one day it is just like gone off cows milk). I'm using milk from July atm.

Expressing at the same time as feeding is great. If you do go for a freezer stash, then it won't take long to build up a sizable supply, so once a day will help with supply (though not likely to be a problem). Boots do some good cheap bags. Freshly expressed milk is fine for up to 8 days in the fridge.

The kellymom expressing section (the pumping mom I think they call it) has a wealth of information.

sorry that was a bit long

Just pick a time to pump which you can make the same time everyday. I did mine watching Emmerdale after I had done the last daytime feed. I didn't get very much but just added it up each day until I had a stock. Your body will just adjust to the pumping session after a few days as if it were an additional feed, which is why it is best to make sure you do it every day. You could use a double pump if you always get a lot from both sides. Expressing is v complicated before you start doing it but then it doesn't take very long to get the hang of it & you feel like a cow getting in line for the milking machine!

Elvisgirl - did you freeze the smaller amounts straight away to add to or did you keep adding it together in the fridge?
Sometimes when I've expressed and put it in the fridge it's separated very quickly and looks sour (even though it smells fine) so I've thrown it away after a couple of days.

Penguinarmy - not too long at all! Just really helpful, thanks! Can you really keep it for 8 days? That's really surprised me.

DD is actually my 3rd but with the other two I introduced the odd bottle of formula because information wasn't so readily available then (DD1 is 12) and it really affected my supply, so I'm keen to only use breastmilk this time round and keep going with bf for as long as poss as this is my last baby and I love it

I've pushed it to 7 days and currently using milk that's been frozen since July. Depends on how good your fridge is. Don't store it in the door as this will have the most temperature fluctuations.

It's normal for milk to separate, that's not a issue at all. To mix you're supposed to swirl gently versus shaking as apparently it can denature some of the proteins.

You can add smaller amounts to milk, just date it from the oldest amount. It's better to freeze in 3-5oz as when you defrost it you only have 24 hours (+12 hours defrost time if doing in the fridge) to use it. Saves throwing some away. If you defrost in hot water then it's 4 hours. Trust me having got used to putting milk in the fridge and just using sometime in the next week, this becomes a PITA.

The information of when to transfer to the freezer is a bit vague. I think it's fine for a few days (this is what I did) and then freeze as you use it quickly on defrost anyway. I used to freeze milk within 3 days, but it had no scientific basis (despite being a scientist ).

The kellymom site has lots of links to papers for the information it gives, makes for interesting reading. Good reading for when you're expressing and bored.

Thanks, I took a look at Kellymum and now it's a lot clearer!