Trying to express but nothing coming out

[chatname]

My son is 6.5 months old and was exclusively bf till 2 weeks ago when we started blw very gently. I am going back to work early 2009 and want to start building up a milk supply as I want to continue breast feeding as far as possible.

I have previously managed to get a small amount with my electric pump but haven't used it for some weeks as didn't need to. However I have tried in recent days and am not getting milk coming out into the bottle. Ds is however continuing to bf happily.

To start with, ds was a slowish grower - 5 oz/week - and I wondered whether this was bcause my milk was low in quantity. He cluster fed and my milk increased, and then he put on a regular 9-10 oz/week. He has been climbing the centiles, so breast milk has evidently been working for him.

We are just starting blw and I would like to get a regular expressing routine established if poss before he starts getting too many of his calories from food, which might affect my supply?

I am not using galactogogues, with the exception of morning porridge (!) And I am consuming caffeine. Should I try herbal supplements? Or cutting out caffeine? And any other suggestions re routine etc?

I don't think there is any supplement you can take to help you express. You have plenty of milk, it's just expressing that you are finding difficult.

Have you tried hand expressing, rather than using the electric pump? You might find it more productive.

Oh, and it will be a long time yet before he starts taking in lots of calories from his food - you will still be giving him plenty of milk for a while yet so there shouldn't be any worries about your supply.

by the way, I have 38H boobs and I wonder if their general size and ahem floppiness is getting in the way of the machine working. I have 2 different nipple shields, one in a large size, but that hasn't helped.

I have tried hand expressing but couldn't ever get any out like that.

I have tried expressing looking at ds (he tries to play with the pump), expressing on one side while he feeds on the other (he tries to play with the pump), having a hot bath and then expressing, expressing at a Godawful hour before the first feed of the day, expressing late at night, expressing after the first feed of the day.

I think you probably need to keep at it, at about the same time every day and try (easier said than done!) not to worry or think too much about it. Good luck

How does doing it the same time each day help? Is it a question of learning a technique or a psychological thing to do with let down? And is there any other way I can help these along?

It's absolutely nothing to do with the size of your breasts.

Try different times of day, or expressing whilst feeding.

Your breasts will get used to what they are being asked to do and supply more after a day or so.

Sorry, didn't see your last question.
It doesn't have to be at the same time every day but your breasts make the milk tomorrow that they are asked for today, so your body will 'catch up' so to speak.

If you feed or hand express first it can help with let down so the breast empties easier, same with a hot shower.

Oh and given that nothing's coming out, how often should I sterilise the bits off the pump?

You never need to sterilise a breast pump, just wash in hot soapy water.
Sterilising is to get rid of harmful bits of bacteria from formula milk.

You can try a nice warm bath before expressing, or warm flannels on your breasts. You can try expressing from one breast whilst you feed from the other.

TPL I haven't actually tried warm flannels, though it is something I thought I might try. I notice the pump instructions specifically advise not to use it IN the bath and I guess I'd better not get it damp!

Not if it's an electric pump I guess!! What kind are you using? Different people get different results with different pumps.