Probably stupid questions about collecting milk

[toomuchteaching]

My DD is 7 weeks and EBF. I have not expressed for a variety of reasons, including her frequent nursing (I would never stop if I was expressing too) and probably sheer laziness!

However I know at some point I will need to be able to leave her and I don't want to introduce formula.

I have for the first time today used a breast shell to collect while feeding her. So, some possibly stupid questions...

1. How much do I need to collect for it to be enough for a bottle? There doesn't seem to be very much.

2. I've got some bags that go with my pump, they measure 5oz. The collection from one feed (that I've just poured in) is less than an ounce if I spread the base of the bag so it stands up. Is this the right way to measure? And is that as much as I'll ever get?

3. Can I reopen the bag to add to my collection as I feed through the day today? Or do I need to start lots of tiny bags and then add them up when they go into a bottle eventually?

4)Is this going to be a way of collecting sufficient milk for one feed so that DH can give it to her, say in the evening, or am I going to need to get on with pumping?

Thanks in advance!

1. Try this info from kellymom.

1. this is how to measure, though not very accurate to measure using the bag. Does the pump collect into a bottle that has measurements on?

1. You can add together milk over 24 hours and then freeze. Freeze flat so they are easier to store and defrost quicker. And date with the oldest milk IYSWIM.

1. Bit difficult to say, some women leak loads when feeding, and inbetween, others not at all. It all adds up, and it is better to have lots of say 2oz bags than one big 8 oz bag that ends up getting wasted when your baby only takes 3 oz or whatever.

I think you are probably right to leave the pumping for now if she is nursing so often, it is just adding a lot more hassle for not much benefit. If and when you do start expressing then look up some advice first (I mistakenly just started randomly pumping whren I had time and ended up with quite an oversupply which wasn't much fun.

The bags aren't great for measuring.

I only get a max of 15ml when using a shell when feeding/pumping so while that's worth it to add to a pumped amount, I'd need 6-10 times that for a feed! You can keep a bag going for 24 hrs (in the fridge) before freezing as PP said.

FWIW it's best to express at the same time most days so your supply can adjust. I pump once a day, first thing and just usually do one side so DD can have the other. If I'm using bags I can actually pump while DD feeds, but now I find it's best if I pump just before she gets up (she's a great sleeper now). I get 120-160ml a day doing this.

Thanks both for your advice, especially the link. I've added up the collections for my feeds over 24hours, except the middle of the night, and got 3oz, so whilst it's not enough if I want to do any serious bottle feeding, it might give DH a chance to try out a bottle. And it wasn't any extra hassle.

Might still have to get on with expressing at some point though.

Thanks again!

expressing from one side whil feeding from the other might might be worth a go? Having said that 3oz is pretty good tbh.