Expressing Breast Milk = missed feed = affected milk supply???

[mallorcanmummy]

Hi,

My EBF DS is 1 month old and I want to start giving him a bottle of EBM so my DH can feed him once in a while. I was wondering about 2 things though>

1. when is best to express throughout the day (I have read about 1hr after each feed and also 10 mins after each feed).
2. If DH gives a bottle feed, should i express while he is doing that? Won't it affect my supply if I just don't feed/express for, say, 6 hours instead of the usual 3ish hours.

I'd quite like to, at some point in the future, be able to go out and leave DS with Daddy without worrying about his feeds/affected supply Thanks in advance!

Sorry can't help but would like to do the same so following.
Hope you get some replies, good luck.

For comfort and to maintain your supply, especially in the early days you'll need to express the missed feed.

Best time to express is when you want! I find it best to express whilst DS is feeding on the other boob- but you can only do it when you have a good supply.

Each morning DD 14 weeks wakes at about 7am. She's usually happy to play with her dad for 10-15 minutes in bed while I nip downstairs and express from one side (I have been doing this since day 1 so I'm always really full in the mornings.) DD then feeds from the other side and that's all she needs until the other side has recovered. I now have a freezer full of several hundred ounces of milk which I have worked at for weeks. So much so that I'm now becoming a doner . Although I can get these large quantities of milk, I can only do it in the morning because that's when I have the most milk. If you do manage to express and get a feed for your baby, I would definitely still express when DH is feeding as you're still at the beginning. It might be possible for you to increase your supply so you have enough to express and also not deprive your baby. That's the trickiest bit! - getting ahead of your baby!

Yorkie- I'm also a milk doner!

Amazing Juno! I can't wait to start... I'm donating for the northwest bank and I was so shocked that in 13 years they've only processed 14,000 litres. That seemed so little to me! I guess it's hard enough to BF one baby, never mind donate to those in need.

That's where I donate too. I've given them 3L so far, been doing it since the beginning of April.

Hi,

Thanks for getting back to me. Sorry for the delay in replying.
I am always full in the mornings too, so I think I will try going along a similar strategy as you yorkie

I've already managed to express, pretty successfully, just by 'playing about' and actually have a bag sitting in the fridge now.

I went along to the milk bank where I live in Spain yesterday and I'm going to start donating too. Several 100 ounces!!!! Wow, that's amazing!

Thanks again, ladies!

I'm planning to do this too. My daughter is almost 4 weeks, and we're just about settled with breast feeding now (after weight loss and some latch issues). My supply seems a bit random, sometimes my boobs are fuller than others! My daughter only really needs one side per feed (and is now gaining weight on this), so perhaps I should start expressing from the other side now in preparation for when my DH starts bottle feeding her....?

Do those teas work? A friend gave me some, but I don't actually like the taste so haven't drunk much of it!

I've started doing what Yorkie does, and expressing off one side in the morning. At first I couldn't get much, but now I get easily 3/4oz, as well as DS feeding. And I've decided to donate so I'm expressing every morning and then I can either use that in the evening in a bottle, and express again, or freeze it ready for colleection. That way I'm always ahead of baby!
There's been a couple.of early morning wake ups where DS doesn't want to feed, just a cuddle and straight back to sleep (little star...proud mummy)and I have to express at least a bit then as my boobs are so swollen!

elephants and julie how are you getting on?

I remember being told that the best time to express is when you're at your fullest, also if you do it regularly at roughly the same time your body will know to produce extra at that time. For me, in the early days of expressing I would do so whilst feeding on the opposite side with a manual pump to make use of the let down as once my daughter got older & I was expressing at work with an electric pump I found it took a lot longer to get the milk going to produce enough to pump. I usually expressed 1st thing in the morning or in the middle of the night when I literally had nothing else to do. I found expressing such a faff (I did it for quite awhile though) that I hated having to spend extra time expressing than I did feeding as my daughter fed for over an hour each time.

I am expressing from one side most mornings, about 3oz. My DD is sleeping so well at night I'm now worried I am not making enough milk though - she only wakes to feed around 5am, and by the following evening my boobs feel really empty. She goes on and off a lot, perhaps as though she isn't getting enough

I'm worried about waking up at 2-3 to express, as what if she wakes and wants the milk I've just expressed....?! We're not ready to give her the milk in a bottle yet

I was wondering if I should try a supplement instead..?

elephants I am the same! I get about 3 oz in the morning, DS wakes at 4/5am and my boobs feel quite empty in the evening. I had a couple of days where DS was grizzlier than usual and wanted to feed much more regularly so I got 4oz off one boob in 5 mins and could have got more. They were still painful full at night too, but I didn't want express again as that would keep the supply still very high so I went to bed with painful boobs. This morning things seem to have gone back to normal. I only managed to express 2oz. Hmmm.

DS comes off quite a bit too, I have REALLY fast let down, especially in the morning. He often only feeds for 5/10 mins, but feeds for 15/20 in the evening.

Obviously I'm no expert, but I would have thought that your DD would wake earlier at night if she was hungry because she hadn't got enough the night before?