Practical advice please, on expressing.

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Would be really grateful. Have just tried and succeeded in giving ds2, 5 mths a bottle of expressed milk. I know nothing of bottle feeding amounts, could anyone give me some guidance?

I am exhausted by this baby and would like dh to be able to do the odd night now. How much should he take, how often, and do I really need to express in the night (really?)?

I have only ever ebf on demand previously, which was so simple! Appreciate any advice or tips.

A really good time to express is first thing in the morning or when you're feeding.
If you express regularly you can collect EBM and freeze it (Boots do some really good sterile breastmilk storage bags that are handy for space saving). Freezing milk in icecube trays is also handy as you can defrost it quickly and use only a small amount when you need a little top-up.

Also if you are expressing regularly your supply will increase and it will become easier to express more on each occasion. If you are struggling with getting enough expressed milk then night expressing can help because prolactin levels are high at night.

Because breastmilk is different to formula I wouldn't get too hung up on set amounts. Follow your baby and let him feed on demand - albeit using the bottle instead of the breast every now and then. You know your baby best so you know how long his feeds are and this could guide you with regards to how much milk to warm and prepare. It is easier to get milk from a bottle rather than the breast and so he might take more milk over a shorter time.

HTH

That's a really informative post. I need to express some milk for a funeral.

Baby is 3 weeks old.

If I do I ice cube tray and build up my supply how can I transport it on a 3 hr car journey?

Thank you, that's great. It feels like a big leap; I never felt the need with ds1. Hope, really hope, I wasn't judgey of people who did. In hindsight, I was lucky and had an 'easy' baby. You live and learn.

I felt really sad giving him that bottle this morning.

sleepevader I have used small cool bags to transport EBM on longer journeys (got mine from Wilkinsons). You can put the small bags in the freezer and they get really cold. You could also try a freezer pack that you use in picnic boxes. I also took a flask of boiled water with me to make sure I could heat the milk up when I needed it.

Good luck both

I'd never be judgy of this - sometimes you need a break, and actually expressing can be helpful in building up an emergency freezer supply.

Funnily enough, I was the opposite of you - dd tricky and I did express from about 6 weeks to get supply for dh to take over occasional longer stretches at night. I found the best way to actually get milk banked was to express at the same time as feeding dd from the other side, in the morning. Just couldn't get a let down with the pump otherwise. Never really bothered with ds1 or ds2.

I found that as she got easier I built up a nice store in the freezer that I mostly ended up using for first weaning on cereal and so on.

I used an avent hand pump with the breast milk storage bags initially, and then the via cups which can be attached directly to the bottle top.

sleepevader With regards to transporting for funeral, could you freeze at home and then use the car journey as a time for defrosting ready for use? All deep dd on the timing.

Thank you all. I'm going to use the time between now and funeral to get baby used to a bottle and do as you all suggest re transport and reheating. 3 bereavement in only a few weeks. Really need to ho to this one.

Just been out and bought another bottle and teat ('breastflow') and some freezer storage bags.

How much should a bottle contain to offer as say, last feed before bed. I really have no idea at all! I just feed to sleep every night, can be 10 minutes or 40 minutes. I don't to waste loads of milk but dont want to run out and have to refill.

If you google kellymom.com there is a page on how much breast milk you need for a feed, depending on how often your LO feeds. What's very different is that the amout needed doesn't increase after 1mo. So you are unlikely to need the bigger bottles. (I'm guessing our BM gets creamier over time)?

Thank you, what a great website.

MY DS is 14 weeks and he has a occasional bottle from DH. He has never taken more than 4oz in one go and his breastfeeds vary from 5mins to 30mins. I can only ever express 2 oz at a time (I can't seem to coordinate expressing and feeding ) so I put a bottle with the 2 oz in the fridge then the next evening express another 2 oz into another bottle, chill it overnight then combine it in a freezer bag for a feed.

what helped me was the fact that milk is fine expressed in the fridge for a week. I found I had been freezing milk when I didn't have to (and having the associated use within 24 hrs time frame hassle afterwards or 4 hours once out the fridge).

I translated 25oz a day as 1oz per hour plus a little extra for good measure, so if they go 3 hourly then a 4oz bottle.

I wish I was coordinated enough to express whilst feeding! Any tips?

Well it sometimes went stickily wrong if the pump got caught in my bra! Was a bit of a contortion, but worth it for not actually having to pump - a couple of quick depressions on the lever bit and wahay!

Worked better when I got an electric pump- the avent one had a rubber inner to the nozzle bit that would always get caught.