breastfeeding routine - 1st time mum

[gingemac1977]

hi there,
can anyone give me advice on how to pump and breastfeed and how I co-ordinate the two in a good routine. i'm worried that if I breastfeed and I have a good supply if I start pumping as I want my partner to be able to bottle feed baby too, I will end up with loads of expressed milk?? if this does happen does it matter that I give her the milk from the bottle rather than the breast?? i'm confused how it's going to work out!?? any advice would be great, thanks Virginia xx

You can freeze breast milk in little freezer bags you can buy for the purpose in mothercare.

Some women find they can express a lot, others almost nothing.

There's a lot of dispute over mixing bottles & breast (nipple confusion etc).

Some routines (eg well known baby authors who aren't allowed to be mentioned in mn) will tell you exactly when to express etc.

Others will say don't do it at all until bf is much more established.

I would express and freeze but don't exchange any feeds as this will effect the amount of milk you produce at such an early stage. I think bf needs to be fully established before you use a bottle

I think you can't plan too much in advance as babies are all different eg some are screamy and need lots of soothing to go back to sleep after feeds, others are more contented. Some are quicker feeders than others. Also some people can express easily and others find it harder.
Sorry if that wasn't the answer you were looking for, but I think you can have ideas in advance of what you'd like to do in an ideal world, and then see how it goes once baby is here. (Sorry if I've misunderstood your post and baby is here, it sounded more like you were thinking about it in advance).
Mine had quite a few bottles in the early weeks and then from about 4 months completely refused to take a bottle so you may find baby has their own ideas too...

It's important to breastfeed in the early weeks to get your supply going. I started expressing at about 4 weeks and DH gave DD an evening bottle so I could have a rest. I found that expressing at the same time every day helped me to express more easily.
I don't think you can expect to have a routine with a newborn though, just embrace the chaos and enjoy it!

I used to feed off of one side and pump the other every morning. I was lucky and could get quite a lot each morning. I would then freeze the milk (unless I knew I would need it within a few days). I then kept it all for evenings when I fancied a glass of wine or 2 / just wanted a break or saved it for the millions of hens and weddings that I had. It worked well for me but everyone is so different! You just have to try a few things and find what makes you all happiest :)

Expressing gave me oversupply problems. But it has worked ok for a friend. She expressed after feeding baby in the morning then the dad gave it in a bottle in the evening. Because they did this every single day her supply adapted to fit this pattern. They stuck religiously to just the one bottle a day at bedtime (with their first child they ended up giving more and more expressed milk and it wrecked her supply).

I express once a day, first thing in the morning, For me it's when I get the most amount of milk, that then gives me a bottle so that DH can do the last feed before we settle to bed for the night. I can't express more than this as it causes oversupply for me.

I haven't got on with freezing as she won't drink it once defrosted and heated, HV said it can change the flavour.