expressing.........How much??

[missmatched]

I have just been reading the when to express thread,but it left me thinking how much should I express.My little boy is 5 weeks old on friday,I really need this so I can have time to myself and my husband can create that bond with the baby too.Dont slate me for expressing this early I dont really enjoy it I find it really draining and I know expressing is a great altenative.

TIA

its probably not to early to start expressing, the average breastfed is about 4Oz from one month old. there is a good calculator on the Kelly mom website, as it does depend on how many feeds your baby has a day.

The thing you need to remember that epically this early on you probably need to be expressing when baby has the bottle, so you don't end up with to long a gap between feeds and effect your supply.

There are other ways dad can bond with baby, after all he can do everything else, including skin to skin. He can also give you a break to, by maybe taking baby out for a walk and letting you relax on your own for a bit.

I found 2.5- 3oz at this age feeding quite frequently. baby may want to suck more though (as bottle is easier for them) so might seem like it's not enough.

thanks,its not that they havnt bonded its just the last bit of closeness they need to share,mydh does all of the above including most of the smelly nappies,he just keeps saying when can feed him,think hes feeling left out when it comes to feeding.

Express if you want to, missmatched, with the caveats MigGril explains...but please don't think your dh has to do this in order to bond. Bonding happens through the quality and frequency of the interaction between father (or mother) and baby...not the giving of milk (however it is given).

A grown man does not need to feel 'left out' because of not feeding the baby - he can be adult about it, and if feeding is important to him, he can start doing it when the baby is on solids :)

Expressing is not all that easy for everyone - by all means, have a go, but don't feel pressured to do it 'cos of him feeling left out :)

DP's bonding bit is doing 80% of the nappy changes, cuddling DD while I rearrange the sofa to feed comfortably and "delivering her to dock". He does say that at the moment, it's his job to make sure I'm able to relax & produce the goods for DD.

tiktok - Must admit that I can't wait to introduce solids to give me a break from the 100% feeding duties!