Phasing out expressing!

[MissABW]

Hi everyone!

I have a 10-week old baby and looking for some breastfeeding advice. I was hoping to breastfeed exclusively but after 2/3 weeks, baby wasn’t putting on enough weight so I started expressing for 20 mins after each feed and giving the expressed bottle (from the previous time) to baby. I also give a couple of small (30 ml) formula top ups per day. I’m feeding him 7 times a day.

After a few weeks of the breastfeeding, bottle, expressing cycle, I’m tired! It’s very restrictive having to express eg if having friends over or if I’m out for coffee, I’d be so much happier if I could just breastfeed. Currently I don’t have time to do much between feeds either.

Baby is just maintaining the 9th centile weight wise and has been for a few weeks (he was 50th centile at birth though).

I’m very keen to ditch both the expressing and formula if possible, but also very worried that if I lessen the expressing, my supply will go down, especially because baby sometimes has a ‘sleepy’ feed where he doesn’t take much. I don’t express much at all - between 30 and 60mls across both breasts but normally 30-40mls.

Does anyone have any advice on how I can progress from my current routine? I would really appreciate it!

U don't but maybe breastfeeding yummy mummies (stupid name) on Fb would, there seems to be a lot of trained mods there I think

I don't not u don't

Hi, I've been there, and triple feeding like that is incredibly hard!! I don't think anyone who hasn't been through it can understand. So well done.

You should be able to get to EBF over the next few weeks. As babies get bigger they get stronger at breastfeeding and you can gradually reduce the top ups (whether formula or expressed milk). The way to do this is to very slowly reduce the amount you're topping up with week by week, while doing a weigh in every week or two to make sure baby is still gaining enough.

So if you've been giving, say, six two ounce top ups daily, try e.g. six 1.5 ounce top ups instead, then if still gaining weight well after a week try five 1.5 ounce top ups. Etc etc until after a few weeks you might be able to stop. These amounts are just an example and every baby will be different in how quickly this process can go.

Before 3 months of age they should be gaining 150 - 200g a week to indicate adequate milk intake; after 3 months they need to be gaining 120g a week.

My baby was an especially bad drinker and the process was very slow but she turned a corner at 13 weeks IIRC, and by about 4.5 months was able to stop top ups altogether. Now she is doing great EBF at nearly 6 months old and it is a joy.

If you've already been pumping for several weeks your supply will be pretty good - 1 or 2 ounces post breastfeeding is a very normal/good amount to get!
Your supply will regulate itself to what is needed as you drop down gradually. However I would not drop pumping sessions until you have successfully dropped some top ups first, as you don't want to be in a position of having to go back up and not having enough. Dropping pumps should also be done gradually over weeks to avoid blocked ducts and mastitis. Be aware that you get a hormone drop as you drop your final pumps and you might get a bit of mild anxiety/weepiness at this time, knowing what it is makes it easier!

If you can get the help of a lactation consultant with all of this then do. But very well done for getting this far, and take it from me, you've already done the hardest bit. From here it will all gradually get easier, and you won't believe the freedom you have when you're EBF!!

Best of luck!!

Thank you so much for your supportive comments and advice, Alfixn - hugely appreciated and best of luck with your journey too!