Expressing milk advice for a small baby

[cookiemonster100]

Hi,

I am after some advice in expressing milk. My LO is 5 weeks old & is 7lb.
The past couple of times I have expressed I produce about 1 fl oz. when I give him the bottle he takes this plus I have to give him a bit extra on the boob ( not as long as a normal session).
I thought a feed should be around 3fl oz but the health visitor said as he is small 1fl oz should be enough for him. Then why is he taking the boob after? Is it because he is still hungry or comfort?

I want to store some milk as my parents are baby sitting sun afternoon so if I express in the morning & feed him how will he have enough milk for the next feed? When I have been doing it now I express in the morning whilst feeding & give him the bottle for the next feed as I wanted to see if he would take the bottle without messing up my milk supply.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Xx

Hi cookie

I express for my son so that his dad can take one of the evening feeds. When we started doing it he always wanted the boob straight after so that he could fall asleep. Recently we started to give him a dummy and that satisfies him. Perhaps this may help?

I have always been told by my HV not to measure how much they get - they will stop eating when full. If I were you I would express at least 90ml for each planned meal and put them into several bottles. That way you can store in the fridge and your parents can give each one a needed. Better to have too much than not enough.

Hi. If you have an electric pump you may find it easier to express from one side while actually feeding your baby on the other. Nothing stimulates a let down reflex like a sucking baby, so it's nearly always easier to express like this.

I think it depends.

I pumped about 2oz at around a month each time, but I might've been lucky. DD would take around 2oz each time around 5 or 6 weeks old. She might just have been a hungry baby, I'm not sure.