Advice needed on expressing

[Jenninha]

I'm after some advice on the basics of expressing milk please. My dd is 8 weeks old and bf is going reasonably well so far, she feeds about every 2-3 hrs in the day and 3-4 at night. I've only tried expressing twice (about 5oz at once both times) and both times I have ended up v engorged. I want to start doing it a bit so that dp can give one feed in the evening and I can actually go out once in a while for the evening! My main question is when / how much should I express to avoid being engorged? Specifically:

1. Should I express a whole feed in one go?
2. If I don't express in one go but do a couple of oz at a time, how do I collect and store each bit? Do I need to collect them in separate bottles so they don't go off?
3. Is it better to express before or after a feed? I've got too much milk and a forceful let-down and so I hand express for a minute or so to avoid making her cough / splutter and to reduce indigestion (advised to do this by hw and hv) so I could just keep this but that would be foremilk so I thought it would be better to express hindmilk?

Thanks for any tips you can give me!

Hi. From experience i would say express a whole feed in one go but do it after a feed, that way you totally empty the breast which should prevent the engorging.

If you are expressing a few times a day its not a problem putting the milk into the same bottle, just label it so that you know the exact date and don't keep the milk in the fridge for longer than 5 days.

hope that helps :)

I have found it best to choose a time when you can express everyday so that your body gets used to it - for me I do it at the first feed of the day (7am ish). Mornings tend to be best for milk production for me.

I recommend you start off just pumping for 10mins at a time - longer than this can be a bit uncomfortable when you are just getting started. At the moment I express from one side for 5-10mins while DD feeds from the other (get about 3oz) - but in the early days I used to feed her then express while she dozed afterwards.

I would pump by time (e.g. say 10mins everyday) and just keep whatever you get - you might find you get more efficient as you get used to it. You can either keep whatever you have collected in individual milk bags (available in boots, tesco etc) and freeze for up to 6 months, or keep it in a bottle in the fridge for about 5 days. It is OK to combine milk from the same day before freezing as long as you chill it before you combine them.

I don't think you should worry about foremilk/hindmilk if it is just for one feed a day, it will be fine.

If you have a strong let down you might also find breast shells useful for catching leaks from the other side - waste not, want not!

Hope that is helpful.

A pump will never be as efficient as a babay at emptying the breast, so if you were expressing instead of feeding and got engorged it makes sense. Do also remember that expressing is usually an additional demand for milk so your supply will increase to compensate - this is why expressing a small amount at the same time each day and slowly building up a stash may be better for avoiding engorgement than trying to express a few feeds in a few days for a special occasion when you don't normally express at all.

Kellymom.com has great advice on the storage of breastmilk. When storing in the fridge it needs to be used by a certain amount of time (or when it goes off) so adding bits together can mean you might have to chuck or use up more as the use-by date would be based on the earliest pumping not the last. Freezing may be easier - I pump around 50-60ml each day (can do this off one breast in the morning when DD is on the other) and freeze in these quantities. Multiple batches can then be defrosted if needed. Do remember if combining batches to chill the new milk first so milk is being warmed up and cooled.

Ideally you want to express until the milk slows right down so you get a balance of nutrients in the batch. What you could do in your situation though is try expressing before and after a feed. Or do one boob like I do.

Thanks everyone for that advice - I'm now expressing for 5-6 mins every morning after feeding DD (from the other boob) and getting quite a good stock in the freezer! This so far hasn't made me engorged. Going to try defrosting some this week and letting DP give her a bottle for a feed so we can work out how much she takes.

You do know it's fine in the fridge for up to 8 days so could be worth just leaving one feed in the fridge and you've got a week to use it. If not you've only lost 3-4oz