Expressing questions

[mashpot]

Hello,
I have an EBF 10 week old DS and I am starting to express milk so that I have the option of giving him a bottle sometimes, so I can go out in the evening etc.

I bought a medela swing and pumped this morning and this evening and got about 90mls combined.

My questions are:
do I need to express at the same time(s) each day? Most people seem to advise pumping first thing but I got more from the evening session. For routines sake I can see morning would be best though.

what time of day is it best to try DS with a bottle? I will get DH to give it to him to start with but I usually feed him to sleep in the evening so worry about trying a bottle at this time.

once we have tried him with a bottle, do we need to bottle feed him once every day to keep him used to it? Or just a couple of times a week or something? I'm not expressing enough for a feed atm and the idea is to build up a stash of milk in the freezer for when I need it so I don't want to have to feed him everything I manage to pump each day!

Gosh, there might have been more questions but that's all I can think of for now.

TIA for any help.

I am currently having to express all of DD's feeds as she has a sore throat and so is in a lot of pain when breast feeding, but can manage an easy bottle.

Normally though I'll express in a morning, after DD (nearly 11 weeks) eats. I go to bed with DD at 9pm (her last breast feed being at around 8pm then bath, cuddles, bed) and DH will give her a bottle (only slightly waking her so she goes straight back to sleep) of 4 ounces just before he goes to bed (between 10.30pm and 11.30pm).

Apparently the morning milk is fattier so helps them last a bit longer between feeds if given at night.

I also have a Medela swing and when searching the internet to find ways of pumping more effectively I discovered that you can pump more in one session if you pump for a few minutes on one breast then switch sides and pump for a few mins on the other, then switch back and repeat until you are no longer getting milk. This method enables me to pump 4 ounces in a session. Also hand compression helps.

Sorry, I can't say what you should do with regards to when to pump/bottle-feed etc, but the above works for us.

Good luck.

Thanks very much Choc. I got enough for a full feed from pumping this morning and the evening pump must've been a fluke as I got barely anything yesterday evening. But if I can get enough for a feed from the morning pump that's ok.

DS took a bottle from DH no problems on Saturday. We'll try him with another one tomorrow. I'd still be really grateful for any advice on how often we should bottle feed him to keep him used to breast and bottle if anyone can help?