Please talk to me about expressing and its implications...

[stickybean]

Hi Everyone,

I think i would like to start giving my baby a bottle of expressed breast milk in the evening.

I have a few reasons,

1. I need a break and her dad can feed her when i sleep
2. i think it would be nice for her dad to give her a feed
3. i want her to be used to a bottle so i can be away from her should i need to be in the coming weeks / months

She is 3 weeks and 1 day

My questions are..
If i give her expressed milk instead of the 10pmish feed, what will happen to my boobs? will they be extremely painful? How long will it take my body to get used tp a new pattern and adjust the amount of mllk it makes? ie for them not to be full to bursting.

Will getting milk from a bottle upset her? If so how long for?

I expressed yesterday morning (chickened out of giving it to her though) and got about 4.5oz, is this a little / a lot?

Anything else i need to know or tips would be appreciated.

I would express as close as possible to the time it will be given. I expressed at 9pm for dh to give dd at 10.30 and I went to bed. It made a huge difference for me. The milk survives for up to four hours so I would make the bottle up straight away and leave dh with it. Hth

Hi sticky bean, congrats on your LO.

Firstly it is recommended to wait until at least 6 weeks to start giving EBM, mainly because your supply is still settling down and if you miss a feed by giving EBM it is possible your supply will lessen and it can become a bit of a downwards spiral. Secondly, at this early a stage having a bottle may cause nipple confusion. So I would really recommend hanging in there for a few more weeks at least.

When you do miss a feed for a while you probably will feel really full. If it's the 10pm feed you may find that you are so uncomfortable that you can't sleep and have to get up to express so not really much of a break, especially in the early stages. However if you want to make it a regular thing then it will settle down. If it's more likely to be as and when I would try and make sure that you express some time during that time that you miss a feed.

Another really important thing for you to remember is how much you can express is absolutely no indicator of how much milk you produce for DD so don't worry about that. How much people express is really varied. If you can, try and express while DD is feeding, a bit tricky to master but it means she is stimulating the let down which means less work for you. Kellymom.com has lots of tips on expressing and storing expressed milk. You can keep topping up the bottle until you get a full feed, it keeps for up to 8 days in a cold fridge.

The reasons you give for expressing are very valid and I did exactly the same thing, but only after 6 weeks. I would definitely recommend it, but try and hang on for a while. Also, be aware that introducing a bottle can sometimes cause nipple confusion, and in my DD's case make bfing quite frustrating for her when she was used to the fast flow of a bottle. Not saying any of that will happen, but just some things for you to look out for. Hope that wasn't too much info, good luck!

I introduced DS to a bottle of ebm at 4 weeks due to necessity!

*Boobs: mine were huge and I had to express, but it kept the freezer milk levels up. I did have oversupply, though, which has only settled down now at 12 weeks. And if I miss a feed I still have to express.
I was able to express 100ml usually, but now it's settled down I'm barely managing 20ml!
DS took the bottle no problem, but he didn't - and still doesn't - like the milk cold. But no breast/bottle confusion. He also has a dummy which doesn't confuse him either. (He will suck anything, though!)

DD had her first bottle of EBM aged 3 days and she was fine, but very sucky as essie's was. ( also used a dummy etc)