How long do i express the boob for?

[thegirlinthesassyspace]

I started expressing today as I have twins and want to keep their top-up bottles as breast milk for the night.
But I am not sure how long to actually leave the pump on for???
Does anyone have any advice?
I heard that you have to completely empty each breast to ensure you are replenishing your supply fully each time, but I have no idea how you know when each breast is empty...help!

Congrats on your twins . You should pump until two minutes after your milk flow has stopped.

I used to express until the flow slowed right down and I was only getting drops out rather than a steady flow. I expressed for twins too, and after a while got into a routine of usually about 5-7 oz each side.

oh thanks so much for replies.its only day 9 and i experienced 3.5l blood loss after birth so i guess the amounts i get might be a bit less than usual at this early stage. Plus the babies don;t always latch too well as my nipples are really huge compared to their mouths and they often thrash about for ages before finally latching on. today i managed 70ml and 20ml from each boob (i think thats 2.5 ounces and 0.5 ounces). Is that moving in the right direction?
hope so, feel like i need lots of reassurance!!! xx

day 9 is very early days, just hang on in there! It sounds like you could do with some support with getting them latched on. It can be quite hard with twins to feed! I used to use tons of pillows to get them positioned properly. Aim for their noses rather than their mouth so they reach up and the nipped goes towards the roof of their mouth.

You do need to express or feed during the night too to keep your supply going. I often found I managed to get more at night than during the day!

thanks for the advice, I know I prob need to remember to just persevere rather than not expec t everything to happen perfectly at once.
why did you find it easier to feed at night than in day,was it just the way it worked out for you as they were calmer/hungrier? or just one of those things?
thanks! xx

I'm not really sure tbh, I suppose things were calmer. My twins were number 3 and 4, so it was nice really at night being able to just feed them!

I think bfeeding is quite difficult in the early days, especially with two mouths to feed and that can be offputting when it's supposed to be the natural and easy thing to do!

Have you tried the rugby hold? I found with having two, the only way to feed them both at once was to sit in the middle of the sofa (or bed) and have them going around my body. I also found it a lot easier to get them latched on that way (my nipples are a bit east and west ), and if I piled up the cushions enough, I still had a hand free to get my cuppa!

Mine are actually 7 now, but I remember those early days of being pinned to the sofa quite well!

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