Please could someone share their knowledge on expressing?

[Mumblesmummy]

Hi I'm sure this will have been asked a hundred times before but I'm a little confused. I want to bf my baby for the first couple of days in hospital (which is a trial in itself for me but I feel very strongly that i want to give baby the colostrum). Then when I get home, I want to express and only actually bf once a day (morning).

I'm at a loss as to how this works. When do I express? How often? How much? Will I be able to establish my milk flow by expressing? I'd been naive enough to think i could express it all in a short space of time, say twice a day, but obviously it's occured to me that that's not the case... so could someone please explain every last bit of the expressing process to me in total layman's terms?

Thank you

mumblesmummy - i definately use that time before you have to go back to work to bf exclusively and build up a really good supply to set you on the right course. Also if you bf at night it will help keep your supply going as you produce more concentrated milk and release more milk making hormones.

Thanks Nine. I am trying to bf but ds2 does not open his mouth wide enough and when he does latch it still hurts as he slips up to the nipple. Part of me really wants to bf but another part of me is pleased that I can see what he is getting via a bottle and I am getting used to expressing, hard though it is. Is the woman you mention a bf counsellor?

Yes she is, a LLL Leader. Has someone been helping you up until now?

I went to a baby cafe and have had several people check latch and all say it looked OK. Then it all got very painful and ds2 was very sleepy and jaundiced and very hard to feed.

I would be grateful if you could give me contact details as I haven't quite given up all hope!

I saw the woman this morning and she would be happy to speak to you. Can you CAT me or else email e1375 underscore a at hotmail dot com.

Thanks very much. Have emailed you.

Thanks everyone, this thread has helped me to get my head around things a bit more.

I was talking to my hairdresser yesterday and she was on about her experiences with expressing. I think it's all just trial and error with first baby isn't it? I'm definately going to try and steer clear of formula for as long as I can tho.