Have hired an electric pump and been prescribed domperidone to increase supply - when do i express?

[toomanyshoes]

DS is 5 weeks old I am mixed feeding (BF every feed with a FF top up of around 3 or 4 oz) due to breast reduction surgery when I was 19 which removed some of my ducts. He is my 2nd child and managed to mixed feed DD until about 10 or 12 weeks but after the first month or so my supply was very low indeed.

Really want to give DS as much breast milk as I can before my supply dries up completely and on the advice of BF counsellor have been offering both breasts at every feed, switch feeding, breast compression to get him to resume feeding (he is mega sleepy) and feeding on demand (although he is not terribly demanding tbh! Feeds about every 3 hours)

I have now hired an electric pump and had domperidone prescribed to increase supply. Not really sure when I should be pumping and how often though? Tried pumping one side just before Ds was due a feed to see what I got and only managed 20 mls! Also, if the milk stops during pumping do I leave the pump going to stimulate supply or just pump again after a break?

Thanks!

Hi
I can't really answer all those questions but wanted to say HI and others will be along in a bit to help.
I think
a) frequest pumping (rather than long sessions) helps
b) volume from pumping is unreliable, so don't let 20 mls put you off lo are supersuckers (generally) and very efficient at extracting milk!

From experience I found that it was good to express either first thing before a feed, or one breast during a feed on the other side.

The more you feed, the mroe milk you make so everytime you think baby might want to suckle, let him, each suck increases your body's message to make more milk.

I dont know much about your situation tbh, but I'll keep it bumped til one of the experts sees it.

hiya,
I don't know much about the effects of breast surgery, but everything the BF counsellor has said is right.
I would be trying to feed him more freuently than every 3 hours. have plenty of skin to skin and just feed as much as you can.
the more you feed the more you will make. and the more formula you give instead of feeding the less you will make because your body doesn't know it needs it if that makes sense?

I would be pumping between feeds in order to increase supply, because you need baby to stimulate milk production best, and this as an additional tool, rather than replacing feeds.

Ugh, first thing, I meant when you wake up in the morning, if baby wakes at 8am try expressing at 7am iyswim, your breasts will likely be ready to feed then so will start to make more if you feed baby after you've expressed.

Thanks

this link may have some useful advice forf you

will report back and let you know how it goes! have tried reducing the formula but doesn't seem satisfied without at least 3 oz after a BF. Can take bloody ages to BF too as he is so sleepy, he's a 'six sucks and pass out ' kind of boy! Spend a lot of time taking his clothes off, rubbing his palms etc.

Thanks for the link fingerwoman, will have a read

i've just copied and pasted this from another site. hope the person who wrote it won't mind. it was actually from a reply by a bfc, to a lady whose little one isn't gaining weight too well. so trying to get him to take more milk etc. thought some of the info may help:

"First of all, there is no need to give him formula, even though you have decided to give him top ups. If you express, and express, and express, he can have that. It will also mean that you know you are producing enough milk for him, every ounce of formula he has is an ounce less made by your body because it doesn't know it's needed IYSWIM. You can also do some things with expressed breastmilk that you can't with formula, such as letting it stand so that it separates into watery milk and fatty milk, then just giving him the fatty stuff."

"Yuo mention topping up at each feed; this can lead to problems with the baby not taking much from the breast as it knows the top up is coming. An alternative is to aim to just feed from the breast most of the time, but then give one or two whole feeds each day from the bottle (or cup, but we'll come to that). By keeping them separate, it helps to prevent confusion for the baby which can lead to further breastfeeding problems and it also gives you a clear time to express i.e. at the same time as the bottle feed."