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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

Please can I get a quick answer about expressing?

35 replies

MoosMa · 02/03/2007 19:38

I've been told by my mw to feed exclusively from one side and express the other for a day to let a nastily cracked nip heal, I've just got about 1.5 ozs out, is that good? DD is 10 days old if that makes a difference...

OP posts:
Original poster
MoosMa · 02/03/2007 19:42

bump

OP posts:
robbosmum · 02/03/2007 19:48

I think so,, i really struggled to express and nevewr got more than an oz,,well done, did she advise how often to express?

pistachio · 02/03/2007 19:50

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

mower · 02/03/2007 19:53

For me it depends what time of day it is. Morning after not feeding off one side all night I can get 6oz but just expessed some now as well for tomorrow and could only get 2oz and mine is a well established supply as ds 17 weeks.

Don't worry 1.5 oz sounds fine for this time of night.

Have you tried a nipple shield on that side?

Also the cream that cleared up my sore nips very fast was Lansinoh cream.

Have you been to a breast feeding drop in to see how you have your lo latched on?

Original poster
MoosMa · 02/03/2007 19:58

I think I've got the hang of latching on ok most of the time and I have Lansinoh, but the cracks are so big and deep that I just need to heal a bit before I use that side again. I haven't fed from it sincce 1 this afternoon and it's healing already so hopefully after a day I'll be ok.

I got nearly 2 ozs in the end so I'm quite pleased I think.

She didn't tell me how often to do it, I figured I'd just do it when I would normally be feeding on that side, so every other feed, does that sound sensible?

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mandymac · 02/03/2007 19:59

Expressing is something I think that takes time for you (and your body) to get used to. At 10 days as other posters have mentioned, your supply isn't 'established', so 1.5oz is great! Are you using any cream on your poor cracked nipple? I found Camilosan great, others recommend Lanisoh (think that is right).
Congratulations on your DD too!

megancat · 02/03/2007 20:09

Well done, expressing is hard especially so early on. Don't tell mw I said so but if baby was really hungry and you were struggling you could do a formula top up....

robbosmum · 02/03/2007 20:14

Great,
also breast milk will help heal you, so don't dry yourself after expressing. (it helps with everything)
You are doing really well

Original poster
MoosMa · 02/03/2007 21:55

I topped her up with the milk that I had expressed, just waiting to see if she'll settle....

Thanks for your help everybody

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worleythewisp · 02/03/2007 22:00

hi,
i've just had 2 cracked nipples that werent healing, even with expressing and not bf for a few days, so my hv suggessted vasoline instead, which has done the trick, she thinks i was reacting to the lansinoh and they were getting so red and sore.
after 8 months of bf i can only manage 3oz from my "good side" at a time. so i would be chuffed with 1.5oz after 10 days!!
well done honey

Original poster
MoosMa · 03/03/2007 07:54

Well she slept until 6.30 this morning which gave me a nice rest, but I'm not really healing that much and the other side is getting a little sore from the over use. Also I'm not sure she was totally full after this morning's feed as she isn't settling now. I have expressed the other side and got about 1-1.5 ozs which isn't as good as last night, I hope this isn't affecting my supply...

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yellowrose · 03/03/2007 08:34

Express at the same time that baby is attached to other boob. You may get faster let down. I only got 2 oz at a time, even when my boobs felt like bursting. But because I expressed 3 times (morning, lunch time and afternoon), it meant I got a nearly full bottle by the evening.

If it is not too painful, use Lansinoh (Boots, Mothercare) around £10 but worth the money. Put on both nipples after every feed, make sure you have good latch to prevent further damage to boobs.

Good luck !

yellowrose · 03/03/2007 08:35

If you feed on demand from even just one boob, your supply shouldn't be affected.

Original poster
MoosMa · 03/03/2007 09:31

I've been 3 hours since I started the last feed and I don't feel like I'm refilling at all and both sides are really painful. I've got 3ozs of expressed milk in the fridge which I can use for the next feed but I think after that I may resort to formula.

My left side isn't healing at all (despite looking better last night) and my right side is getting more and more sore especially as she took ages on this morning's feed. I think I'm at my wit's end and about ready to give up.

I feel like I've tried everything: Rubbing milk in and leaving it to dry, using Kamillosan, Lansinoh, breast shells to let them air. I have some nipple sheilds which I haven't used yet but I feel so empty that I don't know if it's worth even attempting annother feed until I refill a bit.

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yellowrose · 03/03/2007 09:54

Moo - you may just be feeling empty when you are not. You can't be empty if you have been doing some feeds and also expressing.

Your decision to give formula or not, just seems a shame when you have been doing so well. Have you had your latch checked by someone ? Might be worth a last shot.

Also, don't rub milk in to let them dry. It will cause more soreness and cracking. Only use things like lansinoh which keep nipples moist.

Good luck, hope things get better for you

Justers · 03/03/2007 11:19

Hi moosma
I had the same experience as you when my lo was 10 days and it was a real struggle to keep breast feeding as I was in agony. I found that my nipple to over a week to heal and like you I was ready to give up. I found that feeding on the bad side using the rugby hold made it slighty less painful and expressing from that side like what you're doing helped. I used to get around 1 oz when I expressed as well so you're doing well. I did manage through it but it was tough but my wee one is now over 4 months and I'm still bf and there is no pain! It's worth it if you can get through this crappy phase but don't beat yourself up if you can't. Hope things get better soon x

shonaspurtle · 03/03/2007 11:38

You're not empty - honest you're not. I seriously believe that fear of not enough milk is the scariest thing about bf since everything you hear & read is geared to number of ounces taken etc and obviously you can't see that when you bf.

Every time I've felt a bit low or had problems with bf I've started to fret about not having enough. It's even worse when you are expressing since despite knowing that the amount you can express has no relation to what the baby can get you keep getting the nagging doubts...

Your "good" side will be stimulated to produce more milk by the extra feeding but I would strongly recommend you phone one of the bf helplines today. Get some advice and even hopefully someone who can come & see you to advise about latch.

I was advised the same as you re: v bad cracks but looking back I think the problem would have been resolved much earlier if I'd just perfected the latch as It's never really been right (my problem is pretty complicated though).

Obviously theres nothing wrong with giving formula if you are desperate or decide not to bf but top ups can be a slippery slope if you start to rely on them since your baby will take less milk from you and therefore you'll make less.

Original poster
MoosMa · 03/03/2007 11:49

I tried feeding her with a sheild on for the 10.30 feed but it didn't work at all. She couldn't seem to get her mouth round it and when she did it hurt me just as much as without, so I gave up on that and gave her 2ozs of what I'd expressed. She took the bottle easily and I think she's settled now

I'm going to keep expressing what I can for as long as I can and if I can keep getting a decent amount I'll try again when I'm healed but for now I'm so sore I'm not letting a baby's mouth near me!

Thanks for all your support, it's really helped me get this far.

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robbosmum · 03/03/2007 16:02

Moosma, just do whatever you think is right for you and your lo.... it will take time for yuo to heal properly, dont beat yourself up about any action you take as it will be for the best

Original poster
MoosMa · 04/03/2007 07:31

Hoorah, got 4ozs out this morning, did have to use a bit of formula last night so I didn't completely run out of EBM but it's made her sleep all night so I'm not feeling bad

My right side is almost healed up now too so I'll leave it till this evening or maybe tomorrow morning then try latching her on again [nervous], hopefully I'll get it right and not make myself sore again...

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Justers · 04/03/2007 09:17

That's great news, hopefully things will start getting easier for you.

vinorouge · 04/03/2007 19:27

Moosma did it hurt expressing from your soe side ?I have cracked nip on one side and scared of expressing in case the pump hurts or makes the crack worse. I have an almost healed crack at top of nip and another healing on the tip of same nip. Am trying to feed through it which is what i did with the first crack altho live in fear of it opening again.

shonaspurtle · 04/03/2007 21:13

vinorouge - I had some very bad cracks and expressed on that side. I think it did affect them a so they took longer to heal.

I was a bit stupid and gung ho with the pump though and kind of overdid it so watch out for that. Also you could try hand expressing if you can get the knack it doesn't pull on the nipple like a pump does.

They did heal though despite bad latch and over-pumping! I used hydragel breast pads which I think help. Another poster absolutely raves about Silverette cups - have a look for the thread.

Original poster
MoosMa · 04/03/2007 21:15

I tried using the hand pump that I have but as soon as I had a little bit of suction the crack opened up and I started bleeding before any milk was even coming out so I abandoned that and have been doing it by hand. There is a bit of a knack to it and it's hard to get started but you get the hang of it. Also I think it helps that I'm a dairy farmer's daughter!

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yellowrose · 05/03/2007 08:15

Moo - dairy farmer's daughter - gosh that must be so useful - lol