Baby is ill, shall I express?

[Catsu]

dd is 3 months and ill with bronchilitis. She is feeding much less than usual.
I don't feel uncomfortable but am wondering if I should be pumping to keep up my milk supply for when she is better? Or will it be ok to just go with the flow and it will pick up when she demands it again in a day or two?

At 3 months your supply should be fine with reduced feeding for a day or so, but it's still not a bad idea to express anyway as it reduces the risk of a blocked duct or even mastitis.

You could freeze any milk you got for future use :)

Hope she's better soon :(

Not to scare you at all, but DD2 has recently been in hospital and needed feeding via a tube with expressed milk, and I really wished I had got a bit of a stash already. I am sure your DD will be fine, but it won't hurt to express a little to keep you comfortable and maintain your supply. Make sure you keep an eye on her nappies - if they are not as wet as usual & feeding doesn't pick up you should see GP.

(Am sure your supply would be fine either way - your body will adapt to demand)

Thanks. Good to know supply would be ok at this stage.
I think I'll see how her feeding is this morning and if it doesn't pick up I'll express later today.
She won't take a bottle so use for any expressed milk so don't want to unless it's necessary really
Hopefully we will be able to avoid hospital as we have started antibiotics and hopefully caught it early
Thanks

You can freeze it for up to 6 months and use it when starting weaning if you want to by mixing it in foods if you offer breakfast cereal, etc. Or in a cup :)

I posted a similar thread yesterday. Once we got to the 2 day mark I started expressing.

DS hasn't taken bottle yet but DD has been drinking it instead. Since she's ill as well I figure bonus all round.

A bit off topic (hoping your DD picks up early catsu) but I expressed loads with DD1 before giving up on her taking a bottle - I donated my freezer stash to the local milk bank, so expressed milk need never be wasted.

(I totally understand wanting to avoid the faff off expressing if you can, though!)