Is it too late to start expressing?

[FLIER]

My baby is now 8.5 month old. I'm still happily BF, but he never seems to stay on for long during the day for feeds, is up at least twice during the night (he wants/gets a feed), and seems to feed for longer at these times. I tried him on some formula the other day (during the day), and he seemed to take more than he would if I had fed him myself.
I wondered if perhaps I should start giving him EBM from a bottle, maybe if he took more during the day he might wake less at night?
Does anyone have an opinion on whether this may work, and, most importantly, am I too late to start expressing? I tried the other morning for about half an hour and got about half an ounce!
Any help/advice on this matter would be greatly appreciated - I don't want to give up the breast feeds just yet!

Thanks

I shouldn't think it is too late to start expressing ... best time to do it is when your baby is feeding ... express from one side, and feed from the other. If that doesn't work (ie. baby too nosey and wanting to see what you're up to!), a good tip I got was to warm my breast first with hot facecloth, then massage downwards, then roll your nipple between thumb and index finger ... all this should help you get a faster letdown. What I've found is that practice makes perfect - it took me ages to get the hang of it and even now I only manage maybe 3/4oz at a time but I never pump for more than maybe 5/10 mins per side as I find my nipples get sore if I keep it up for too long.

On the night feeds, personally I think at his age, I'd be trying to cut at least one out by offering him water for a few nights when he wakes up ... he'll soon realise that it's not worth waking for and hopefully that in itself will encourage him to feed more during the day. Maybe also top him up with your EBM at his last feed, just before you go to bed.

Hope this helps!

I should think he doesnt feed for long during the day because he is very efficient now at taking a lot in a short time and you are very efficient at producing. I wouldnt bother trying to express of give formula. i dont see how giving expressed breastmilk will help the sleep, it sounds too much hassle as well.
Dd is nearly 6 months and now is usually fine with just a cuddle to go back to sleep.

Thanks for your replies.. I think I'll keep going with trying to express, esp as hubby enjoyed giving baby his last feed last night (thought I'd try formula). I've tried giving him water in the night in the past, but screamed for Britain, but I'll give this another go.
Millie, thanks for your "tecnique" advice, I'll go and try this just now, as my boobs haven't recovered yet from missing last nights feed, when we used formula!.

I never found expressing by hand very effective. Borrowed a couple of different brands of pumps, still no success
was recommended Medula electric pump by public health nurse and it was fantastic...loads of milk everytime
I expressed when ds had finished feeding and gone to sleep, and when dh was feeding ds the expressed bottle later.
can get in Boots, quite expensive but worth it

How did it go Flier? Gloworm ... heard that pump is really good ... I use the Avent Isis which I hated at first but have got used to now ... the electric one would be great though!!

I recommend the Avent Isis pump - especially if you're only going to use it to express a couple of feeds a day. I found it best to express straight after feeding, just for a few minutes, as the milk was already flowing. You can just keep adding little amounts into a bottle in the fridge & it soon adds up. I kept up breastfeeding until dd was 13 or 14 months, and was probably feeding in the night until she was 10 months, although I did get dh to do night feeds at least once a week towards end, either with ebm or formula. It seemed to work. When we were trying to cut out night feeds, it had to be daddy who got up as cuddles from me were no good, she was only after one thing!!!

Hope this helps.

PS - Be patient with expressing, it takes a while to get used to. Also - have you tried in the bath? the warmth helps you relax. Medela electric pump is also v good, but I found the noise quite offputting & preferred a manual.

Millie1, The warm cloth and massaging definitely helped - thanks for that!. We didn't have a very good night last night, I think he's teething and wants the comfort of the breast just now, so I'll hang back with the water until his tooth comes through!.

As for breast pumps, I have the avent one, but couldn't get used to it, it seems such a hassle and at the time I tried it I was more suceddful hand expressing ( albeit not very successful!). I'd heard the medela pump was excellent, but didn't want to part with more cash in case I wasn't successful with that one also.

Thanks Again to everyone who replied

flier, our very own motherinferior wrote a review of all the breast pumps (& tried them herself) for junior pregnancy&baby magazine, dunno if it's this/last month's.