HELP!!! Expressing to feed!!

[Sallypockets]

Hi all,

I'm expressing my milk to feed my baby as he won't take he breast and I won't him to have breast milk! What I'm wondering is, how do I actually stop when the time comes? He went 4 hours without feeding last night and went I expressed my boobs were SO sore!!! How ill I eventually stop expressing my milk?

Thank you for your help!!

Hi Sally, do you mean how will you stop after say 6 months or until you want to introduce formula or at each expressing sitting? Do you boobs still feel full and sore after expressing?

Firstly though, have you received any help on latching him on to your boob? You should have a number from your HV and they can send someone around to your house to help you. I did this and it was a life saver. Also there are breastfeeding groups at children's centres etc where you all sit and feed your babies with a number of lactation expects helping each mum out, again, I used these and it really helped.

Feeding isn't always easy, you feel it should come naturally but it can take a bit of outside help.

That said, if you are set on expressing and your boobs are feeling full and sore after expressing perhaps you have mastitus which can be helped by rubbing towards the nipple on the lumps to help ease up the blockage.

If your query is how does it end..............you do this by using a bottle of formula instead of a feed for a week and then drop each express/feed over the course of a few weeks. Or wait until they are eating and gradually ween off milk altogether.

How old is your baby? Your boobs do feel enormous for a while after giving birth. They do calm down.

Hi thank you for the reply! I had loads of supports in hospital as I was in for 4 days with him and it just wasn't happening for me or him. That's why I choose to express for him. It was more how do I go about stopping when the time comes that I feel I can no longer do it. It seems to bd ruling life already abd he's only a 9 days old. I feel very much like a cow! Haha. They ache all the time but I have no other signs of mastitis thank god! :)

I see, sounds a bit like you're finding it quite hard work. It's a bit like you have all the work of sterilising bottles but also having to pump etc. I hope you're getting some help with the feeding, that is a definite benefit to bottle feeding. The feeding kind of rules your life anyway........
Do it until you've had enough.

Sally I was in the exact same situation,DD couldn't latch despite loads of help from feeding specialists,midwives etc so I expressed for 3 weeks and fed her exclusively this way. It was bloody knackering! First of all,make sure you keep on top of your fluids intake,part of my reason for stopping when I did was I got dehydrated and couldn't get dehydrated while expressing despite drinking gallons and gallons!

I was expressing about 5 times a day about 20mins each side. To stop I cut it down to 4 times a day,15mins each side. Did that for a day or two then cut down to three times for 10 minutes etc etc. it took about 2 weeks before I had stopped completely. I still have some leaks but only at night and just small spots.

I was lucky in that I didn't have any pain etc while stopping but this can be an issue,hopefully someone will come along that can help with that. Good luck and congrats on your little one :)

Couldn't get REhydrated even - fecking autocorrect

Good on you. I did the same, neither or mine would latch despite help so expressed exclusively for 6 months for each child. From what you have said you are still in early days. The best advice I can give is to not worry about finishing now, but to simply try and get into a routine of expressing at times of day to fit into your and babies feeding schedule. Try to also get a couple of feeds ahead of yourself as well as this will take some pressure off you. Once you have a routine that works for you, you can decide how long you want to keep it up for. The way to finish (and i will admit that it's not easy as you need to do it rather than baby), is simply either to extend the time you express, so instead of every 5 hours, you go to every 7; or you do same times, but express less than you normally would. Preference would be the former as reduces likelihood of mastitis, however can be a bit of both.
As I said I've done expressing twice for two babies so been there. Incidentally once I had a good routine established it was easy to keep up, wxpreased morning, lunchtime, dinner time and just before bed. Good luck!

Hi there. Much like dannyboyle, I exclusively expressed for a year with my first. She just wouldn't latch no matter how much I tried/support I received. So it can be done if you want to continue giving breastmilk. Your boobs will be sore & feel full for a few weeks after birth, but they will settle down. And when you get into a routine, it can be quite manageable. Try to get ahead of yourself & freeze as much as you can, then as the time goes on you can extend the time between pumps. In my last month, I was only pumping once a day. Your boobs will adapt & get used to it. All this being said, it can be hard work, so don't put too much pressure on yourself. Do what you can. There are some good expressing forums online with lots of support & advice, if you choose this route.

Birth can be really hard for babies. I may not be too late to teach him to latch and continue to feed him directly. Lots of people manage to express in the longer term, but it's easier to feed directly.

Are you still seeing your midwife? Do you have a breastfeeding cafe nearby you can visit?