To express or not to express, this is the question??

[Gina1981]

Dd is 13 weeks now and is ebf. We've had our fair share of problems, with oversupply, fast let down, and other issues! I'm sure most know of me and what I've been through!

I've still got an oversupply issue as I generally wake up with very engorged breasts but I don't know whether that's because DD is sleeping a little longer through the night! This isn't always the case though! I'm thinking of starting to express and freeze for when it comes to weaning! Should I do it with my issue of oversupply???
Will it not make my oversupply worst?

I have expressed in the past but haven't managed to express that much! I have a medela breast pump which allows to do both breasts at the same time!

Has anyone had any experiences with these issues??

TIA

Is there anyone that can offer advice??

Hi, I have zero expertise except from having bf'd ds with lots of your problems, but expressing every day or two helped me simply because of the ability to then have more naps etc, and didn't make the oversupply/leaking/squirting etc any worse.
I found a little expressing for a couple minutes in the night helped the engorgement.

No idea what the 'official' advice is - just started reading here again as dd is nearly a week now...

Hmmm well I expressed to relieve engorgement for all 3 of my dds and I always had enough milk as and when I needed. I struggled to express much volume so little and often helped me stock up enough. I actually donated with my youngest - only got to do the minimum of a litre but was well worth it for those premmies I'm sure.

I chucked most of my stash out. You say you wanted to use it for when weaning, but what for? You can use full fat cows milk from 6mo. I froze mine in too large quantities to be of any use. You only need 1 or so tbsp each time to make cereals. And if you are thinking of leaving babe with a bottle of ebf, well mine took solids very well very quickly even though we did BLW. It's around 8mo we could just give her food instead of milk when she's hungry. (we started at 6mo as its finger food only).

Just my 2c re weaning and ebm.

I've expressed regularly, in order to leave DD with others while I went out. I think if you do it once every few days it won't affect your supply. I did tend to express in mornings when I was most engorged, but if you won't need the milk I wouldn't express for the sake of it.

OneLittleBabyGirl I think I read that guidelines for cow's milk are currently wait until 1 yr old.

Hello Gina, yes, I've posted on your other thread before.
Why do you think you'd need expressed milk when you start weaning?

bumblebee dairy is fine after 6mo. You are advised only not to give cows milk as a main drink before 1. See this page in the NHS birth to 5.

At 13 weeks I still had oversupply issues. They calmed down though and by the time DS was somewhere around 20-26 weeks there were no more green nappies. My supply just hadn't set itself to the right level yet. I think if I had expressed on top of feeding then the supply would have taken even longer to match demand.

Thanks for the replies! I thought I would make up DD breakfast with ebm! Or do I not need to? Or should I use formula?

Hi again, Gina. You don't need to use EBM or formula in cooking once she is 6 months - cow's milk is fine. You should use full fat milk though. We buy a small thing of blue milk every week and use that for DS's cereal or for white sauces.

Gina I use full fat cows milk too for cereal and sauces and baking for DD. A small pint every couple of weeks is enough for us.

All covered here. After 6 months, cows' milk fine for cooking and preparing weaning food. Offer BM after every attempt with solid - can take 2-3 months for babies to move from breast to 3 (what could be recognised as) 'meals' a day, so BM still forming the main source of her nutrition. Until about a year, I would also be BFing first thing in the morning, between 'meals', and at bedtime (and at night, if required) - just as we adults often have a cuppa and a biscuit between meals, it would be unreasonable to expect your baby to switch to 8am, 12.30pm, and 5pm mealtimes alone (IFYSWIM). I always thought that BM was a more balanced 'snack' than mass produced rice cakes or sugary raisins too.

Hope I'm not teaching you to suck eggs, and good luck with weaning.

There are loads of threads on Baby Led Weaning (BLW). FWIW, I didn't bother with it, and the jury's out on whether it has better long-term results for kids than traditional spoon-feeding of mush (see www.nhs.uk/news/2012/02February/Pages/spoonfeeding-baby-led-weaning-obesity.aspx) but it does have many advocates on MN - and the idea of not pureeing everything is quite appealing on a practical level .

Like lagrandissima said, it's unreasonable to expect a baby to go to a breakfast, lunch and dinner pattern, when they are used to having something every 2-3 hours. In fact, if you look at any nursery meal schedule, they do 3 meals and 2 snacks between the hours of 8-5. (Tea is usually early at around 4pm as parents start picking up from 5). That means it's still something to eat every 2-3 hours up until school age.

BTW, DD is 10mo, and I'm doing exactly the same as lagrandissima, offering bf as snacks between the 3 meals.

Thanks for the advice, anyone would think DD was my first!! She is however the only one I've successfully bf! I can't rememeber what I did with dd1 as it was 12 years ago and dd2 didn't go very well as she had reflux and refused to feed most of the time!

I'm hoping I won't come by many problems with dd3! Still have a few months till I'll start weaning but need to get prepared for it!! So as a guide line I would offer breast, then breaskfast, breast, lunch, breast, dinner, breast!! I'm guessing I would start introducing water too??

hey gina was it you that posted before about a wriggly squirmy baby when feeding? Did you get to the bottom of it or is it down to your oversupply/ let down problem? I get the same with one boob ive experimented with expressing and i can see there is nothing coming for ages then all of a sudden bang about an ounce falls out in one go but then nothing again. I worry so much when im feeding that ive got too much foremilk and she wriggles off before i feel like she has had chance to get to hindmilk. havent you been to the lactation consultant a few times? Ive been told that you should use your breast milk to mix baby food when weaning it kind of makes sense if that is what they have been used to?

Gem you can use cow's milk to prepare stuff, e.g. millet/oatmeal porridge, when weaning, even if you're BFing the rest of the time. You can't give cow's milk as a main drink before a year, and you don't have to after - you can keep BFing as long as you both like, or mix. Formula companies would love you to try 'follow on' milk, but BM and varied solids from a year should be good enough, if not better - as BM offers immunological protection too .

Gina don't offer water until after 6 months. At that point, offer cooled boiled water in a sippy cup/doidy cup/ via a straw (supposedly easier for EBF babies) with their solids, and breast milk (as much as they ask for) after solids and between 'meals'. As they get better at swallowing and you introduce wider ranges of foods, your BM supply will diminish naturally at times when they are feeling fuller from their solids.

Every child is different, and everyone's experience of BFing is different with each child. But you probably didn't have the internet to look up BFing info and get support 12 years ago, so hopefully this time it's less isolating. Glad to hear you sounding so positive and on top of the BFing now.

GEM it was me that said that i had the same problem with DD and wriggling! I've noticed that DD gets use to it day by day and wriggles less and less! Im having a problem with oversupply again at the mo! Not too sure why either!! A little confused! Still have an overactive let down and can really hurt at times!

lagrandissima, thank you for the advice! Feel a little silly as i've done all this before but can't remember a thing! DD is only 3 months so still have a few months before weaning! It's hard to tell really when they are "ready" for solids! What should i look out for?

Gina there 3 signs to look out for when they are ready for solids. You can find them on
[[http://www.nhs.uk/Planners/birthtofive/Pages/Weaningfirststeps.aspx
www.nhs.uk/Planners/birthtofive/Pages/Weaningfirststeps.aspx]]

I think you can stick to the guidelines to leave it as close to 26wks as poss. I weaned DS1 at 21 weeks, and DS2 at 23 wks, and could see a noticeable difference in DS2's ability to swallow in just those 2 weeks, so I think it makes it easier for them and you. Friends at the time kept going till 26wks - they also had 'big' boys (around the 18lb mark at the time), and were able to keep them going on BM. Other signs that are often cited are an ability to sit up unsupported, showing interest in food etc., but in terms of biological readiness I think going for around the 6month mark is probably safest, as their digestive tract takes time to mature, and if you introduce solids too early it's supposed to be linked to various food intolerances.

FWIW, with my PFB I excluded gluten from his diet till about a year - using millet for porridge, and rice cakes as a finger food (as opposed to toast fingers etc.) Also was advised to exclude potato, aubergine, tomato and peppers from their diets until after 9 months. With DS2, I threw the Snickers bars his way from day one . Both good trenchermen now. HTH. Glad to hear your feeding improving. You are a trooper and I am impressed with your levels of perseverance.

Kellymom suggests doing meals around an hour after BFs. So, when DS was younger our routine went:
7am - BF
8am - Breakfast
11am - BF
12pm - Lunch
3pm - BF
5:30pm - BF one side
6:30pm - Tea
7:30pm - BF

This is to avoid accidentally weaning too early.

The main kellymom page is here and there is also one titled how do we get started with solids