Avent breast pump and expressing

[pacinofan]

To all the experienced mumsnetters who express milk - how much success do you have using the Avent manual breastpump? I have a 4 week old and have been expressing for almost a fortnight. I know lots of mums think this is too early, but am trying to boost my milk supply and also build up stock in the freezer for a forthcoming wedding dh and myself are invited to (my mum happy to babysit and give dd2 expressed milk).

I am currently expressing 3 times a day and this totals about 80ml. Having skimmed the 'expressing clique' thread this seems a trifling amount compared to others. Am thinking of investing in an electric pump but as they are so expensive not sure what to do. Any advice gratefully appreciated! Tia,

I think you may have answered your own question - you are expressing very early. It is usually recommended that you wait for at least 6 weeks. Also, when ds was that age, I didn't have any "spare". I always found the best time to express was when I hadn't fed for a while and had built some up, but this is not easy in the very early days.

You don't need to pump to build up your supply atm, your baby will do that for you if you let her feed when she needs to. When is the wedding?

Hi, pacinofan. Tbh, when I am with ds3 I find I don't express much as he pretty much takes it all!. However, when I express in work I can get 150ml a go because I'm away from him. I have used the Avent manual pump and the Avent Isis IQ duo. Tbh, I found the manual pump fine as regards the amount I expressed, the reason I bought the duo was to save time in work and to give my hand a break! If you are planning to return to work a double electric might be worth investing in, otherwise the most you would need would be a single electric like the Medela mini-electric, Medela swing or avent Isis IQ uno. I'm naming these because I've heard good things about them, although I have personally always preferred Avent to Medela and would prefer an avent manual to a Medela electric. When ds1 was small I had 2 battery operated cheaper pumps and they were pretty useless. If you do decide on a double pump the Ameda lactaline has always gotten good reviews on here.

Thanks for your reply beansprout. Wedding is not until 6 weeks but would really like to build up a supply for the freezer. Tomorrow I'm getting my hair done (it really IS desperate!) so have expressed and frozen so dh can feed her and I can hopefully enjoy my time at the salon.

I think why I have started expressing so early is that with dd1 I followed (well, as much as able to) the Gina Ford routines which advise mums to express very early. I know the whole GF debate is controversial at the moment so won't say much more. Am not following it with dd2, too daunted at the moment and don't think it's exactly for us. Aim to make my own 'routine' eventually.

Would also agree with beansprout re expressing too early but can see why you are re the wedding. Don't think it will do any harm, baby will still get enough btu you may end up producing too much!