Arrrgh- why can't I express?!

[flippingstupidnickname]

Hi all, feeling very desperate at the moment. I'm going back to work in just over a month and have started to express and stock up on breast milk. My ds is 11 weeks old and ebf. His weight has been fine but I have been wonring recently if my supply is keeping up with him - he still feeds every 2-3 hours and has started to fuss and pull at the end of a feed when I feel very empty.
I've been expressing for 10 minutes after every feed today and have achieved the sum total of hal an ounce - for the WHOLE DAY!!
I feel absolutely gutted and now questioning whether he's getting enough... please help!

What you can express is absolutely not indicative of what baby can get especially if you are expressing AFTER he has fed.

It takes time to for your body to 'get' pumping and it is difficult to get much milk if you are staring at your nipple going in and out and willing milk to come out - pretty much a guaranteed way to not get anything!

It may also take a day or so for your supply to catch on to the fact you are bfing your son AND expressing off extra milk so patience is a must for a few days. The more you pump (and the more relaxed you are doing it) the more you will make.

If your son is fussing on the breast switch him to the other side (even if it was the 'first' side) as the more 'sides' you offer at each feed the more milk your body knows to make.

Feeding 2-3 hourly is very very normal until solids are introduced at around 6m (and then it is either solids or bf every 2 or so hours ) nothing to do with lack of milk but more to do with normal bf baby behaviour.

Are you using a hand/manual pump or an electric pump? If you are going back to work soon a double electric pump would be a good investment as you are then halving the time you are pumping and you can do it hands free (you can make or buy hands free tops/bras so you don't have to hold the pumps while you are expressing).

Thanks for the advice and reassurance. I used a double elecric pump with my twins and never managed to express much either. I hated the electric pump which is why i thought I'd try a hand pump this time.
I guess I just need some patience and your reassurance has made me feel calmer - I think half the perceived battle of breastfeeding is being confident that you're doing the right thing. I'm also glad that every two hours is completely normal - I hadn't been worried about it all until today when I had a wobble!

I could never get much after feeding either when DS was that age, so you're certainly not alone in that. Try not to panic. I found the Medela Swing a great pump, nothing else worked for me at all. A few things that might help: learning to sort of massage your breast while you're pumping, tweak the nipple so it goes further into the boob-bit of the pump, and make slight adjustments to the position of your breast in the pump (though this is hard if you've built up a lot of suction).

And above all, relax when you're pumping as best you can to help yourself let down. I found this was easier with an electric, could watch telly and sort of forget about it. Good luck!

I never got a let down when pumping with dc1 and my solution was to feed on one side (underarm hold) whilst pumping on the other with an electric pump. This time (dc3) I am able to get a let down without having a baby latched on, but only when it's coming up to a feed time, so I pump on one side then start the feed from the other (but still offer both sides). Hope this helps.

Another thing to try is hand expressing, some women acutaly find this more productive them using a breast pump. I meation it as I don't get much from a pump but sometimes can get 4oz in 10minutes if I express at the right time, with hand expressing.