How much milk do I need to express?

[choudru]

My baby is 4.5 weeks old. I have been fully bfeeding her since she was born, which is going well. Today I decided to try expressing some milk to freeze for later. I would like to know how much milk you are supposed to produce. I have just expressed for 20 mins with an electric pump and only produced 35ml/just over 1oz.

It seems a bit woeful. Is it because breasts aren't as full as they would have been first thing in the morning?

Do I need to express for longer than 20 mins?

I remember producing more than this when i was expressing 5-6 times a day for DS when he was in special care.

Any tips?

Hi Choudru,

The situations are quite different - when you expressed before, presumably you weren't fully feeding at the same time? This time, I'm assuming your baby is feeding regularly in which case - unless you have an oversupply already - you'll need to build up your supply of milk to express if you want to pump a lot in one session.

1oz as your first go doesn't sound bad at all - I've just gone back to expressing as well and it really varies according to time of day, when DS has fed etc... I've taken the advice of wise MNers also and put my pump bits in the fridge without the faff of washing/sterilising in between. This allows me to express a few times each day, cool down the new milk and then add it to the previously cooled milk. I can then chuck the pot in the freezer at the end of the day. This way if you only get 1oz at a time by the end of the day, you might have a bit more. Some people suggest freezing or storing only in small amount anyway since you don't want to waste it id you dont need much....

Good luck with it

Thanks 5goldrings - I never looked at it that way. You are right, when DS was in special care, I was only expressing, not bfeeding him.

So I guess I just need to keep expressing daily and my milk supply should increase to meet the extra demand.

Great tip about keeping the pump bits in the fridge and accumulating the day's milk.