Do I have to express if breast feeding?

[Rosieposie9]

Ftm and a bit clueless here so probably a bit of a stupid question..

My baby is 2 weeks old now and after a tricky start we have just about cracked the breastfeeding. She had quite a traumatic birth and couldn't latch for the first week so was topped up with formula but is now getting so much from bf she won't really take a bottle which is fine and I wanted to just breastfeed anyway. She's feeding every couple of hours or so and always seems to feed until she's full and goes to sleep. Sometimes during the day she goes for a bit longer between feeds and then feeds more at night.

Should I be expressing milk as well? I worry so much about supply dropping and don't know if I should be expressing to keep it going. I've borrowed both an electric and a manual pump and have had a go with both of them and managed to express enough to give her in a bottle which then made her windy and colicky so seemed to cause more hassle than it was worth. Do all breastfeeding mums express as well?

No, no need unless you want to.

No need to but I felt it helped because it allowed my hubby to help with feeds too and gave sore nipples a rest! I only expressed once or twice a day but mainly breastfed. Good luck!

Your baby is still very young. I have 2 daughters who are breast feeding at the moment. One has only expressed a couple of times if she has had to go somewhere and didn’t take the baby. The other one has expressed every day from when the baby was 4 weeks old so that her partner can give the baby a bottle in the evening. The midwives told both of my daughters it was better to wait until breastfeeding was fully established before expressing ( 6 weeks). I would say if you are happy expressing its fine. If your not happy don’t don’t do it.

I ebf both my children and didn't express- I had no need, really. I had to at the very start with my daughter as she took a while to get the hang of it and I needed to increase flow, so did for around two weeks, but after that- no, never. I found it a faff and worried about hygiene with reheating etc.

If it's going well, just continue as you are.

No you really don’t “need” to at all. You’re doing great.

At some point you might want someone else to feed her (dh at night or if you need some space for an hour off / haircut / post-natal Pilates class) but you absolutely do not need to.