Storing tiny amounts of breast milk advice please

[wolfcubEm83]

So, i am having a go at expressing.....its not really very successful!!

I tried a manual pump and it really hurt so i am doing it by hand, following instructions from my green book. My milk doesnt 'squirt' out like it says in the book though, just drips and I can only manage 20mls at a time until the milk stops and i can only express when i can feel my milk 'come in' (is that what its called? The tingly feeling followed by leaking breasts) any other time nothing comes out.

I just wondered can i add to the 20mls breast milk i have in the fridge as and when i manage to get some out say over a 24 hour period? DD (3.5weeks) is happy to take a bottle and id like to be able to offer her one in the evening when shes attatched to me for 4 hours, my milk supply seems low at that time and she gets very agitated and unsettled. Im a first time mom and i dont like to see her like that, it might not help but i want to give it a go...and expressing is always useful!!

Thanks

Hi,

Yes, you can add to the store over the 24 hour period, classing all the milk in that batch as the oldest that is in it.

Try to not worry about having a low milk supply in the evening. It is normal and "right" for this to happen, even though it's very frustrating. Just keep swapping boobs when she finishes one. She's building up your milk supply and getting herself filled up for night time. This is called cluster feeding and while it feels like it's going wrong, it's actually really important behaviour, telling your boobs how much milk to make.

I would have said what carrotcake just did. My DS (now 5.5 months) would feed literally all evening between 6pm-10pm with a short nap in-between, until 12 weeks when I decided I needed anevening and to be alble to cook myself dinner and eat when DP was away - I of course still fed him as much as he woke for throughout the night, and tried to cluster earlier 3pm, 5.30pm 6.15 (small feed) 7pm.

The point to my post is, it will not go on forever, so don't panic that this is life from now on. Just go with it for as long as possible, enjoy the snuggles and swap sides when you feel necessary. If you need a break in the evening, then popping baby in a sling and going out for a short walk and fresh air works wonders.

Good luck and enjoy your baby. They are not tiny for long!

I'm sorry OP, Tarlia is right, although cluster feeding is normal and what should be happening, it's not always easy. It does pass, as she says, and there are ways of making it easier.

• using a sling to get up and around
• getting your partner or a friend to hold her while you have a bath or some you time
• get easy to eat foods that you can eat with one hand, and drinks all set up. One of those non-spill cups that keep heat in (from camping shops etc) are great for cups of tea!

A stroll out in the evening is really good for everyone, and is ok when you've only got one!

You're doing great :)

Damn you, now I'm drooling over the thought of a slice of carrot cake with creamcheese icing

Just wanted to mention, there's a skill to the manual pumps. You dpn't need to depress the lever all the way, is that why it hurts? (it took me 2 babies to learn this). What works for me is a burst of quick little squeezes till the milk starts to come out then depress the lever just enough to make the milk squirt/drip and hold it till it stops, repeat. If it hurts press less hard.

Also with any pump it could hurt if it's too small for you. If your nipples are rubbing the sides it will hurt. It's worth learning how to hand express I say.

You can add to your milk in the fridge over 24 hours.

I was always told you can add milk expressed over 24 hour period but to NEVER add warm freshly pumped milk to milk already in the fridge.
I almost always had two bottles in the fridge - one cooling the freshly pumped milk then I'd add that to the other bottle. Does that make sense?