Scared of expressing (BF), should I cancel day out?

[dancingfruit]

I’m currently breastfeeding baby who is 3 months now. I breastfeed and combo feed, she feeds 2-3 hourly. Boob then bottle, Longest I’ve went without doing boob is 4 hours (I never expressed) I did buy a wearable breast pump but have never used as read somewhere that expressing can cause masitis, I think if overdo I’m then scared that I overdo it or do it wrongly and cause. I also just have the size thing it came with and seen if that’s too big or too small that could cause issues.

my mum had planned a day at the theatre, tickets were bought before pregnancy. I’m worrying though as would have to drop baby off from 10ish to 6/7pm at night. It would also be longest I’ve been without baby and think I’m anxious over that too

I have thought about just cancelling as my mum understands, what would you do?

i’m ftm and still learning! It may sound silly but other week had pain which think was thrush or latch so just worrying!

Expressing can cause oversupply which can lead to mastitis but only if you do it a lot. I fought really hard to get any supply with pumping.

I'd say go and do the expressing but practice first as you don't want to be out of the house and trying to figure out a breastpump for the first time. Which one do you have?

That’s definitely the worry, just now I have only ever done boob roughly 10-20 mins.
It would just be for the day of going out and then it’s my partners birthday soon so maybe would need to express once or twice then!

mom cozzy s9 :)

Should be fine if you only do it occasionally. Try practicing every other day to get the hang of it and gradually you will build up a stockpile. How long do you have until the day?

It's pretty normal to have some days where baby feeds more than others, or if they sick up a feed then go straight back to boob, so if you think about it it's no different to expressing an extra couple of ounces here and there. Should not cause a huge oversupply that leads to mastitis.

...Oh, also, when my son was 4 months old I had to leave him with my mum for a morning. I had been expressing everyday before this. Think it ended up being over 7 hours I went without feeding and while I felt quite full, I wasn't hugely uncomfortable and had minimal leaking. Had no issues afterwards.

It's ok to not want to leave baby. If your mum understands, just cancel. Move it to another time when you feel more able to leave baby. Going from nothing to 8 hours in one go is a big jump.

Work up to it over the next few months. Perhaps wait until they are 9/10 months old and having solids.

It's ok to not go.

I would cancel OP, I wouldn’t want to be away from my baby that long, I ebf and my boobs would have been so painful. Your mum will understand, I am sure a friend of hers will go with her.