Expressing breast milk advice

[Summermeadowflowers]

My DD (8 weeks tomorrow) has never really got the hang of latching so I am expressing breast milk for her. I don’t quite manage to exclusively feed her on expressed milk so she generally has a couple of formula feeds too.

I usually express at around 2am around 5 am and then around 730/8am. Last night my toddler was sick and came in bed with me, I didn’t want to wake him so I left expressing. Woke up drenched in milk

Do I need to be expressing regularly overnight? And when will the milk leaking stop - it’s a pain and often happens when DD is in the sling so we both get a bit sticky.

Hopeful bump

Yes you need to express at night to avoid your supply dropping, and if you choose to cut down on breast milk feeds, do so slowly and gradually.

Hello!
If you want to exclusively express (or as near to as possible) you need to express 3hrly at this stage to effectively mimic breastfeeding.
I did a regular patterns, setting alarms etc.
12am
3am
6am
9am
12pm
3pm
6pm
9pm

I rented a medela harmony for £50 a month.
Kept all stuff ready for middle of the night.
And gave my baby The expressed milk straight from the fridge! X

I know that’s true to begin with @MonthlyNameChangeTime but at what point does that change? DD is a bit of a baby unicorn and often sleeps through the night (I know) so if I was ‘really’ breastfeeding I wouldn’t be waking to feed her. So when can I sleep? And when oh when will I stop leaking milk …?

I’ve already got the Medela thanks - I’m just wondering when I can cut down the night expressing.

As you're already topping up with a couple of formula feeds a day, and if you're keen to maximise bm intake, you probably do need to keep the night pumping sessions. If you're happy to use more formula, then lengthen the intervals gradually rather than just cutting a feed. leaking will stop as your supply adapts but really varies from person to person.

I had a good supply so at about 5 weeks I cut down to 10pm, 2am and 6am, and then down to 10pm and 5.30am ish. I think it all depends how good your supply is and how easily you are getting on with pumping. For me leaking settled down around 3 months - try milk collection shells.

Thanks @MonthlyNameChangeTime . I thought as much but would be nice to sleep!

My supply is OK but I can’t quite manage to keep up with DDs needs. Problem is that it’s hard to express when she wants to be held or when my other child needs something! I’m very much taking a ‘you can only do what you can do’ view to it all. But ideally she’d only have breast milk.

I EEed for a year and couldn’t do less than 4 hourly throughout if I wanted to maintain supply.