Expressing for my 5 week old - how much?

[Newmom2b]

Hi ladies, I have been exclusively breast feeding by ds since birth. He is 5 weeks old today. I'm just after a bit of advice really on when the best time to express is (I have a manual pump) and how much to give in a bottle?
I haven't slept for more than 2 hours straight for over 5 weeks and my nipples are about to drop off! Would love for DH to be able to do at least one night feed.
Any advice much appreciated. Thanks x

I started by expressing at about 9pm. Would get just over 3oz and this seemed to be enough. Dh would then feed ds whenever he woke up (usually between 10 and 11). I then got a lovely sleep.

I have a friend who pumps at 6am every morning as she says it's easier and she produces more milk then. I'm way too lazy for this. The only problem I have is if ds cluster feeds in the evening I don't have time to express.

I'm sure someone far more knowledgable will be along soon

You won't want to hear this but... Please don't start expressing! Its the road to formula feeding!

Get to 8 weeks and I promise things will magically fall in to place.

The milk you produce when feeding a night is the best quality milk your ds gets in 24hrs. Also it is through feeding at night that your body knows how much milk to make for the following day. So if you miss a feed at night you'll muck up your supply.

If you decide you must give ds a bottle, I'd give it on a saturday or sunday in the day when your dh is home and give ds formula and go for a long nap.

Keep the faith, things will get easier.

I always found I had more milk in the morning and was waning slightly by evening so I would say the morning, feed baby from one boob and express from the other.

I personally don't think giving baby a bottle at night to let you get some rest will do that much harm but that is just my opinion!!! Agree though that if you can keep going a few more weeks it does get a lot eaiser

It does get easier between 6 and 8 weeks. I really don't think expressing is the road to formula feeding . Ds wasn't really missing a feed. I just found that I got to sleep while dh was feeding him, whereas it was taking me over an hour to feed him. Hope that makes sense.

I started expressing around 6 weeks and ds is now 12 weeks. Don't express as much any more as I'm getting more sleep and don't need to.

For lots of amazing advice have a look on Kelly's mom website.

It's tosh that expressing leads to formula feeding. I'm BFing my second child. Both DCs have had expressed milk in bottles once a day from being under 2 weeks old. I BFd DS for 7 months and am in month 2 with DD. I do find expressing an enormous faff but I do it because it gives me a break ( I can go out for the evening occasionally) without having to give formula and my husband gets a lovely additional way of bonding, which he really values.

I express a full feed (about 5 oz - although it often won't all get drunk) in the evenings, in fact am doing one right now and it gets used either that evening or following day. I also usually, but not every day, do another couple of ounces while DD is having her first feed of the day - this goes in the freezer to be used if I'm out and don't want to BF or if we have a sitter (haven't done this yet with DD but I'm sure we will soon).

More or less everyone I know has expressed and I haven't come across anyone who's had an issue with this leading to FFing. And the vast majority of my friends have BFd for at least 6 months. If you want to express and think it will be a good option there's no reason for it to get in the way of BF-ing the rest of the time.

at tosh

i think its best to start expressing after 6 weeks tho i'm not sure as i could never get more than an oz every 24hrs