No luck with expressing - any advice?

[gillymin]

My dd is just over 6 months, and I plan to return to work at beginning of May when she will be nine and a half months. So far I have not had to introduce formula and I've got this far so I would prefer not to. Problem is that I have had no luck with expressing. I have manual Nuby pump. Absolutely nothing comes out the few times that I have attempted to use it. If I hand express straight after a feed and after some massaging I can get a steady trickle, but it still adds up to less than quarter of an ounce. Any advice on how to choose a pump or how to make hand expressing more lucrative?

I think someone else will be able to give you more definitive advice, but I have had the same problem-getting 15ml in 20 minutes. I looked on here to see what others could achieve and found some tips:

You get more out in the morning
Keep well hydrated
Massage the breast-as you have done
Look at/cuddle your baby to get the endorphins pumping
Relax
Watch TV to try to forget what you're doing

I think it's quite person to person as to whether electric or hand pumps work best for you. Maybe you could borrow or hire an electric one to see. Good luck!

Does she take both breasts one after the other? If she only takes one, express the other. It seems to work really well for me but my baby is much younger than yours.

It can easily take 5 minutes to get a let down when expressing in my experience. An electric pump means that you don't get cramp expessing for longer.

If you buy a pump, I've found the Ameda Lactaline double way better than my Medela Swing and it's not nearly as expensive as a Medela double!

Now that my supply is settling to what DD wants, I've found I can't express at random times of the day. You need to think of it as adding in an additional feed and slowly build up your supply to adjust. Always pump at the same time of day, keep pumping for a bit after the flow stops and persevere with it and your supply will adjust just like if you had to add in an extra feed for baby.

My tips for expressing (been expressing for all 9 weeks of DD's life as she was in SCBU to start):

Double pump if you can.
Stay well hydrated and as rested as possible.
Relax.
"Think baby" when expressing unless you're feeding at the same time. Though some people find that thinking of something else, e.g. when watching TV can help them to relax more.
Stick with it - I've sometimes thought nothing is coming out and started to get frustrated, then got distracted, relaxed and then realised I've expressed a few ounces without noticing!
Apply warmth beforehand - warm shower/bath, hot flannels or warm Breast Nurse gel pads.
Massage beforehand.
Apply breast compressions during pumping.

Pump off one side while feeding baby on the other? It's the only way I've ever been able to get anything by expressing, with all 4 of my dc.