When to express

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Hello,

My new pump arrived yesterday and I wanted to try it out but not sure what is the best time if day to do it. Can anyone help?!

My son feeds pretty constantly (from every hour to every three hours max), but he is just 12 days old do I am hoping this is normal! I wanted to start expressing do my dh can give him a bottle around 10ish do I can try to get a bit more sleep (wishful thinking).

But when in the day is best? And should I do it just after feeding him, or before? Same time daily? Both boobs or just one? Feed him off one and express off the other? Confused! I have the ameda lacy alone dual electric pump btw.

Any help appreciated! For dd I had a manual pump and found it a bit rubbish do never really used it and gave up bf. I really want to do a year with ds if possible!

Thanks!!

That should say ameda lactaline obv!

No idea but I was wondering too so BUMP

I'm bumping this too as I'd like to hear what people think. I'm running out of frozen milk I pumped when DS was in scbu and I want to start again for exactly the reason you cite.

I'll keep watching with interest......

Pump both boobs at once whenever possible as you'll get more that way. Holding both bottles in place, while turning the contraption on, is a skill you will acquire (although you may wish you had a third arm for a while)! Alternatively, pump on one boob while DC is feeding on t'other. I've not done that myself because I just can't get the positioning right. I'm guessing baby in rugby hold is probably the best way of doing it?

At 12 days old, pumping immediately after a feed is recommended sometimes to boost your supply. Alternatively, if the shortest time your LO goes between feeds is 60 mins, pump after 40 mins maybe? I had to pump for a few days after DS was born because I was in too much pain to put him on the boobs and I pumped at least every two hours.

Length of time to pump - the instructions I was given by the midwives were: pump both boobs at once for 10 minutes, then one boob for five minutes while massaging, then the same with the other boob. Don't take any longer than this - there's no point. If you don't get much, leave it an hour or so and try again.

Morning is best, and make sure you drink plenty of water beforehand.

Elphaba - thank you, fab advice!

Chunky - thanks too!

Good to know I'm not the only one a bit confused about it all!

Pump on the night too- it's a pain but increases supply. Something to do with hormones!

Express in the morning, once your up and about & after a feed. You have the most milk in the morning. If you express after feeding it will be the fatter milk which will fill your baby more at night.

I also express for the prem & sick babies via the milk bank which is a lovely thing to do. They are always in need of donors if you are interested

Great tips seriously and sweet peas. Seriously - that makes sense about doing it after a feed, thank you! What fab thing thing you do. Are you bfing your own dc while you donate? As in do you donate excess?

Yes I'm BFing DS who's 7.5 months. I've donated since he was 2 or 3 months. I just express extra when I can, pop it in the freezer & they come and collect it once you've filed 10 bottles.

You have blood test first to make sure you're healthy & that's it