Expressing before or after feeding?

[mumofthreeboysS]

I'm bf but giving a bottle in the evening and at the moment it's mostly breast milk I've expressed during the day then formula after that if he's still hungry.

I'm (very loosely) following GF routine and she suggests expressing before bf, but when I've googled it a lot of experts recommend expressing after a feed. I'm mostly expressing to keep my supply up but also to give to him in the late evenings/10pm feed. Can anyone advise?

Also when is the best time to express? I've been doing a bit in the morning and then one before I go to bed around 10pm. I've also found that sometimes I get loads of milk, other times not much at all but don't know why!

any advice would be appreciated, this is all new to me. Thanks!

I've read you get more milk out with a pump in the morning, and I've found that to be true.

I would normally express first and then feed after, as the baby will be much better at getting milk out (and even get another letdown), compared to a pump.

However, maybe the idea is putting the baby on first will probably get things going much more easily hormone-wise?

I've sort of cheated in the past by having my baby in a chair in front of me and just smiling and cooing at her while I express. I've found that way I still get a strong letdown but with the milk going into the bottle. If I do that I normally pump one side fully and then a bit on the other side, then go back to the first side for a bit. After that I give the baby the boob which has only been pumped a bit, if that makes sense.

I used to express in the mornings about 1 hour after first feed of the day, and then again in the evening after bedtime so about 8pm. I had twins and used to try to express 4oz each so that my DH could do a night feed - used to get maybe 3oz per boob in the morning and 1oz in the evening. I hired a hospital grade double pump though - with a manual pump I got a lot less!

argh! just typed a post and it disappeared! New computer- still figuring it out.

anyway I'm concerned that if I express before a feed I might take all the foremilk and also baby may want more than is left in the boobs, so reading your comments I might express after and speak to the midwife/bf counsellor who is coming round today and see what she says.

thanks for your input/advice!

I'm interested in this too... Just started to express and it's not as simple as I'd thought. Must be a lot to do with how relaxed you are? Watching with interest

From what I can gather a lot of the foremilk/hindmilk advice is a bit outdated and apparently has been overstated in the past, so I would get advice from breastfeeding experts rather than general healthcare pros (so breastfeeding consultant rather than midwife or health visitor). Also depends on how old your baby is - in the early weeks you'll probably be feeding often enough that the milk hadn't really got time to "separate".

They'll also be able to advise about timings (eg whether leaving a gap between feeding/expressing is necessary - I've never needed to leave one between expressing and feeding but it could be a very individual thing).

The language in the past has tended to suggest you make milk before the feed and then the baby drains it, but that's not accurate either - even if your boobs feel "empty" you make milk during the feed if your baby wants it, it's just easier to get a letdown with a baby than a machine so I always let the machine go first when the boobs are going to be more cooperative

Basically it depends on what you want at that time (are you mainly feeding the baby or mainly stocking up your bottles?) So if you feed baby first you'll have peace of mind that the baby has had plenty of milk quite quickly, but then probably not express very much after that unless you leave a longer gap. If you express first you'll probably get the amount you want into the bottle, and then your baby might just have to stay on the boob a bit longer than usual to get another letdown (so they might get cranky if it's their first meal of the day or they're very hungry). I used to feed baby at say 6:30 am, then express just before the next mid-morning feed. Then if they ever missed any feeds/slept longer than normal and I felt like I was starting to hold milk (eg the first days after a growth spurt are good for this), I expressed at that time - both for comfort and to have spares in the freezer.

Hope my ramblings make sense - it's fascinating is all this, plus advice changes over time (eg I used to sterilise everything each time with DD1, 2 years later with DD2 and it turns out once a week is fine as long as you wash in between with warm soapy water).

So poopmaster are you saying you don't need to sterilise the breast pump every time? That would make a difference for me as it's such a faff!

Well I had a breastfeeding nurse (I think that's what she called herself!) come over today and she basically said that it doesn't really matter which way you do it! I thought there were all these theories and right and wrong ways to do it but she said do what you want to do -your boobs will produce the milk and it's just personal preference really. She said you can feed baby on one side, express on the other then offer the other to the baby, or express after a feed. poopmaster what you said about depending on your reason for expressing makes sense. I tried expressing before the first morning feed and I think DS was a bit miffed my boobs weren't brimming with milk so now I only take a little bit then do more later in the morning after a feed, then again in the evening before I go to bed whilst DH feeds him expressed milk from a bottle.

That's interesting OP, and good to know, glad you got good help

In answer to the sterilising question, my LLL book (2010 edition) says "fresh human milk kills almost all bacteria, viruses and fungi that it comes into contact with, so you don't have to sterilise pump and bottle parts" (and leaves the question there). Which is quite revolutionary if you think how many EBF families buy sterilisers just for expressed milk!

ABM (Association of Breastfeeding Mothers, an excellent charity) say in their up to date information that everything must be sterilised on first use, then if storing for your own healthy baby it must be sterilised once a week (or more if you like). In between times, hot soapy water or dishwasher is fine (according to pump instructions obviously, don't wash the wrong bits!)

So all that to me says - once a week as routine, but if you're a few days late with it it'll be fine as long as you've been washing properly ie getting the milk fat traces off, they're a bugger to wash off if you let the milk dry on (say if you forget a bottle in a nappy bag over a couple of days )

Thanks for the info- good to know I don't have to sterilise it every time then!

Do be honest it is easiest to express during a feed\

Like clairikins - I expressed while feeding. Have never been able to express much so the best time for me is the first feed of the day - DD on one side and pump on the other. Usually stop the pump as my hand is getting tired at about 3ozs and DD is usually still going on the other one. If she did want more I'd pop her on the boob I'd just finished expressing from.

stuck I may try that but at the moment I don't think I could coordinate feeding and expressing! And I hold ds across my tummy so don't know how I'd get the machine into my boob as his legs are I the way. Maybe when I'm more experienced!