Expressing daily from newborn??????

[TinyTimLivesinVictorianSqualor]

Someone I know was given advice by a friend who had a 'maternity nurse' WRT what to buy for a newborn baby.
Most if it was the usual stuff, though with a great deal of emphasis on avent (a vicki scott/claire verity hybrid?) some was slightly excessive, but on the whole it was a good list.
I was surprised however to read this If you intend to breast-feed your baby, you will need to hire or purchase a breast pump in order that you can express at least one feed a day.
Now, please, correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought expressing was not reccommended for the first six(ish) weeks whilst you are trying to get your milk established??
I've now advised my whole antenatal thread against expressing until your milk is established and am hoping I've done the right thing!

from the small amount i know about breastfeeding, the newborn is far more efficient than a pump at extracting milk from the breast.

if she is exlusively breastfeeding, why does she need to express? or is she intending on giving EBM in a bottle from birth once a day? if so, what was the maternitiy nurses rationale?

i thought the same as you, that expressing should be delayed for the first few weeks to allow baby to regulate the milk supply....

me too (ref camillas post) - added to which, judging by my and most of my friends experiences, where you feel like you are feeding the baby pretty much constantly for the first few days, if you were expressing from birth AND breastfeeding you pretty much would only just have time to dash to the loo in between wouldnt you ?!

I expressed from an early stage with all 3. From about a week. I think it saved me giving up bf with the first, when I was finding the bf excruciatingly painful and the expressing less so. I couldn't have carried on with those pain levels. So I'd say there can be a place for it.

I imagine that the maternity nurse thinks the mother should express so that she (the nurse) can feed the baby at night so the mum can sleep, just like a FF baby would do. Which is crap advice, guaranteed to intefere with BF.

The loo? THE LOO, Did no-one tell you you have to wee with the baby on your lap?!?! That's why women sit down when they pee

I seem to remember I did actually did that once

do!

With DC1 I used a pump really early on only because he was ill and was having probs gaining weight and I had to practically pour the expressed stuff into his mouth - otherwise would not have needed to. I had heard the 6 weeks thing as well - just to get supply going in an orderly fashion! Other mums I know who have expressed early on have usually been those with prem or ill babies who have been unable to feed for other reasons (ie on a drip and fed through tube). Other than these reasons or being in extreme pain from bf I wouldn't bother. Though after a couple of months I did start to express once a day to get a stockpile for my freeezer!

I was told to express with DD as she was prem and being fed through a tube, but found it nigh on impossible.
Where oh where are tiktok and hunker with the real info when you need them!!

There are no rules about expressing - none at all. You can express whenever you want to, starting at birth or waiting weeks or months, or forever.

There is no advantage in waiting, or starting soon, or drawback in either....except that not putting yourself under unnecessary pressure to start expressing (so the maternity nurse/dad/grandma can feed the baby) has to be a good thing, unless (of course) you want this to happen. Your choice.

You also need to know that if you do express (for maternity nurse etc etc), your breasts may feel uncomfortably full because of the missed feed, and this could also effect your supply....esp if you do it routinely, so you regularly leave a long gap between two feeds (this is, after all, how mothers start to wind down their bf, by leaving gaps between feeds). So to protect your supply, and your comfort, you'd do better to express at the time the expressed breastmilk was being given by the maternity nurse. Yes, I know, where is the sense in that, eh?

Anyone being dogmatic about 'having' to express, or the opposite way which would be 'don't express' needs to chill!

Anyone employing a maternity nurse might want to think about getting a cleaner instead - rather less money, rather more use, as you can ask her to do shopping and tidying, and of course cleaning and washing....tasks which a maternity nurse might well think beneath her. I have come across ridiculous situations, where the maternity nurse looks after the baby while the mother goes to the supermarket.

Now that's crazy.

i have expressed for the last 11 week since i had callum, but he was premature and I had to do it while he was in SCBU, when he came home i had to keep doing it as he isn't gaining weight with just bf. and am still doing it..

sparkly, I understand, as I said earlier DD was prem so it was a different kettle of fish, just wanted to make sure hte ladies on my antenatal thread were getting the right advice. Would hate anyone to have problems because of either my advice or the maternity nurses.
Hope callum is getting better btw, I've seen your threads, just didn't post on them as I have never really had anything to add.
Thanks tiktok, I knew you'd be along to tell us all the reality of it soone enough!

I hate expressing though, if Callum isn't awake to feed when I feel letdown, i have to express..

I'm a maternity nurse and do suggest to my clients to express, although am fine if they choose not to.

Reason being is that when I do night time the mother can have a good few hours sleep(four - six hours depending on baby).

As for only spending time with baby(and having mother do other household related things) I'm not like that and in future positions I'll look for one where I can give the baby to parents and cook dinner etc as I've done in past.....

My current position I'm in a fully staffed house and have just one baby so really feel like I'm be paid to do not a lot, although certainly earned my money when he was sick and waking every 1 -2 hours for the first 8 weeks...........

nannynz, surely the mother sleeping for so long from the start and expressing changes how her milk comes in, what with leaving an extra long time between feeds??

also, i thought there is more prolactin produced at night so baby feeding at night is a good way to help regulate supply?

but then you need to do what the mother wants you to do, no?

To tell you the truth I(or rather the mothers)have not noticed any lack of production of milk. I theorise though that as the body regulates the milk supply then it won't make milk for middle of night but makes more the first feeds in day as that's when I suggest to mothers to express.(does that make sense)

Most of my mothers(and babies) have bf until at least three months but more usually until at nine months or so, depending on what the family desires.

Many of my maternity nurse friends are much more scheduled and recomemend that for the first two weeks express(after BF) 7am,11am, 3pm and 11pm to get a good supply of milk and then to continue to express once or twice a day after initial two weeks.

And I do what mother wants, I can give choices regarding baby but usually not make decision unless mother has given my permission to.