Expressing 101... Help!

[MrsGubbins]

DD is 3 months old, I want to start expressing. Main reason is to leave her with DH for the day whilst I goto an event in 2 weeks time, but now I've got over my PFB hysteria I can see the selfish benefits to not having to provide the milk holders every 3 hours!

Where do I start? what time of day, before or after her other feeds, how much would I need to express? I need a plan as I can't see the milk for the boobs! DH is doing a good job of convincing me he will get her to take a bottle.

Any help/experience shared greatly appreciated.

I do it first thing when i wake up.

do last feed of might and first feed of morning off the same side, then express from the other 'full' side.

I usually get about 4oz. She won't usually drink all of that though.

get your DH to try to feed her when she can't see you, so there's no 'better offer' IYSWIM

Find if i don't think about what i'm doing, the let down comes easier, then if i sit there staring at the pump.

HTH

Will it be a whole day? For 24hrs you'd need about 25oz or 750ml, less if you're feeding her in the morning and evening.

Expressing first thing often seems to be the best. What I do is express of one side while DD feeds off the other. She can then get more out of the pumped side if she wants it. As you haven't pumped before, you'd probably find it easier to feed off one side and then pump off the other. Massage and breast compressions can really help with output.

Your supply will respond to the demand, which is why it's best not to try and suddenly express a large amount for a one-off occassion as you could get engorged. Best to express at the same time each day so your supply adjusts just as if it were an extra feed.

Thanks for the replies, it's for an afternoon/evening and then I should get back to do the 3am feed. I've just kellymom'd and found the feeding calculator so I'll use that as a guide and get pumping!

And don't forget you may need to pump when you're out to replace the missed feeds, depending on how many you miss and how engorged you get.

I did this, but around 6 weeks (it was a very heavy drinking night so she ended up having EBM for most of the morning as well.

What's great about EBM is that it keeps in the fridge up to 8 days so you can build up a good fridge supply over the week. Which IMO is a lot easier than dealing with defrosted milk.

Also, have you checked that your DD takes a bottle?

Look up techniques for how to bottle feed the breast fed baby (there's a section on kellymom) and leave that with the DH/other care provider, since it's for a few feeds. The aim is to stop a bottle preference.

When DH fed DD there was never a problem, when my mum did (former FF) we had a full on nursing strike once and always fussy behaviour even when only fed once.

oh I really hope I don't have to pump when I'm gone... I can't imagine cracking out the medela when I'm dancing around to Stevie Wonder!! maybe I should have a test run and see what happens? I was hoping I could last the 10ish hours.... naive??

How long would you go without feeding normally? If its only a few hours you'll need to pump or you'll be very uncomfortable and risking blocked ducts or mastitis!

I'm pretty sure I'd be very uncomfortable after 10 hours, and probably leaking (DS 17 weeks). But everyone is of course different, my DS has never gone longer than 6 hours without a feed, but if your DD occasionally goes longer you may be ok?

You'll probably need to pump, but it doesn't have to be a proper pumping session. Just enough to get comfortable and then just throw the milk away.

Now that I've thought about it, I think I'll have to pump just before the concert and immediately afterwards, it's a 2 hour drive away so I can do it in the car... good job I'm going with good friends!!

Thanks for all your help, I had my first go earlier and got 50mls after the baby had fed, doesn't feel so daunting now!