difficulties expressing bm

[mamasmissionimpossible]

My dh is currently offering our 7 week old ds a bottle of ebm at night. I want to get him used to the bottle, so I can go out at some point and leave him with my parents.

However, I am barely getting 2oz when trying to express, I don't think is enough for him. I'm not sure where I am going wrong, as I seem to be pumping for about 20-30mins and feel really sore, for not much milk.

Any top tips to help me increase the amount I can collect? Thanks.

Most women can't express enough in one session for one feed.

If you feel sore that isn't a good sign, it should be comfortable. Does it fit your breasts ok, is it rubbing? Have you tried hand expressing, you can do a bit before and after the pump to get some extra out or do a whole session.

By the time your baby is about 4 months you can leave them for several hours. If you are there they will probably feed very regularly but if you are not, plenty would happily wait til the real thing gets home rather than take a bottle anyway. As long some plays a lot of peek a boo with them.

I was never able to express more than 3oz at a time, and even then that was only on a really good day.

firstly, remember that the amount you express bears little relation to the amount the baby will be getting. Despite finding it difficult to express & never leaking, I EBF for 6 months until DS started BLW then continued to BF until he self-weaned at 16mo when I was pregnant with DD.

secondly, things that helped me were to express first thing in the morning while he was feeding on the other side. I used a Medela Swing, much easier than a manual one.

Are you getting a let down when you pump? I never could with dc1 so fed baby on one side and pumped (electric pump) on the other. I probably only got 2 to 3 oz doing that, but it was much quicker. I would then offer the pumped side to dc who could always manage to get more out after I'd finished pumping.

Thanks for your responses. I am using a manual pump (avent isis) I think I get a let down, but it seems to take quite a time to come. DS has no trouble feeding from the breast. It's just the expressing that seems tricky for me.

StrangerintheHouse - it does feel comfortable to begin with, it's just after about 10 mins my hand starts to ache and then I try to pump faster on the breast, so end up sore :(

Should I just not bother with the expressing and wait until ds is older? I thought if I leave him not having a bottle he may not want to take one at a later stage. Please correct me if I am wrong about that.

2oz is a fantastic amount - don't forget you are expressing on top of bfing not just expressing (and even then that's still a good amount).

Expressing is a bit of a learnt skill as you have to train your body to let down for a bit of plastic it's not head over heels in love with so anything you can do to help let down is good - things like looking at baby, thinking of baby, thinking of your milk coming out (not looking though as that can have a negative effect on milk output!), watching a video/pic of baby if you are apart can all help with getting the oxytocin flowing.

Breast massage before, compressions during expressing and hand expression after expressing with a pump can all help increase yield too.

If you are planning on going out in the very near future then it's worthwhile but if this is for going out when he is 6m or so it possible that you are making a lot of work for yourself for months when it might just be easier to give a beaker of breastmilk (or open cup with help) and some solids to tide him over (he may even be asleep in the evening at that point!)

I've only ever pumped enough for cereal and cooking when weaning. Did find it was more successful first thing in the morning when boobs were feeling really full. Completely relate to aching hands - you could try holding the pump in place and asking your dp to do the pumping - did this a few times and worked suprisingly well if you can get the rhythm right! Also, if you are only planning to give expressed milk occasionally, you could freeze the milk you do get and save to make up a reasonable bottle? Not aware that there's a problem with mixing batches - i'm sure someone will say if there is.

I found when pumping that I move my pump to cover the nipple in a different position every few minutes. Not sure if it's correct, but it's like your boob has 'segments' of milk, so I try and 'empty' each segment.

I also massage underneath boob whilst pumping.

Agree with truth about using pictures and getting your hormones moving. I pumped earlier because dd is with MIL (rare afternoon off in 8 months!) Not a lot was coming out (and I have a good/fast supply), I was really concentrating on it and stressing a little and then remembered to relax so i put up a slide show of dd on the computer from when she was born...before I knew it I'd got 6oz in 15 min!

Oh and forgot to mention, still freeze in small quantities. Just from my experience, dd never takes as much from a bottle as she would from a breast (not that you know how much they have from breast but dd would prefer to 'wait' for me and just take a little bottle) so I tend to freeze 3oz batches, so that it isn't wasted

I learnt the hard way when I'd get a 7oz bag of milk out and she'd only take 2oz with dh and he'd chuck the rest away it's like bloody gold dust, don't waste it!!

What time of day are you expressing? Many women find that they get more in the mornings. I did. Also, I didn't get much without breast compression.

Could you try hand expressing or borrow an electric pump and see if that's easier? I have never used a hand pump but they don't look comfy to use.