Gina Ford and expressing from week 2

[cornflakegirl]

I'm expecting my first baby in June, and I'd like to try using Gina Ford's routines. However, I'm a bit mixed up about expressing, as everything else I read seems to say not to express till the baby is "well established" in feeding routines - but for Gina's routines it seems to be essential to express from week 2.

Has anyone done this successfully?

Well, obviously you are supposed to sit there expressing (and drinking big glass of water) while DH/P feeds previously expressed milk from bottle.

That will sort out the full boobs.

ah, of course!

I have no opinion to add, but have you read this? It's quite an interesting article about bfing - wish I'd known this when mine were tiny.

Fantastic article, WS!

Plenty of mothers may need to Beetroot. I decided not to breastfeed dd at all, for several reasons but one was becasue a midwife told me I couldn't give a bottle of either ebm or formula in the early days. I knew I had to leave my baby to attend a meeting when she was 10 days old.

What the midwife should have done was discuss the issue with me and explore alternative ways (cup feeding for example)

When ds was born I expressed and cup fed as he refused to latch on for the first month. However I also had to return to work 1 day a week when he was 2 weeks old (own business).

For some mums being able to express and give a bottle (or cup)of ebm may give them the break they need that prevents them giving up b/f altogether. Of course these decisions are individual, each case should be treated as such and the mum should be given as much info as possible as to the implications of her decision.

Yes, fascinating article.
I read the GF book when my first was small (have a large childbirth and childcare library upstairs lol!). I am a pretty organised person, but even I was left flabbergasted by her recommendations.

Surely adhering to that rigid routine is even more stressful than dealing with the most resless and colicky baby (and boy, was I landed with that baby!!)?

With ds, I did initially think of expressing regularly at a set time, so that dh could give him a bottle last thing at night and I could go to bed earlier, but it struck me that by expressing regularly, I would be forcing myself into a routine whereby I would a) have to express at certain times as boobs would be full b) ds would get to expect and want that last bottle.

Hmmmmmmm......the antithesis of the freedom and spontaneity that b/feeding allows one, so unsurprisingly, I abandoned the idea.

Would agree Julie. I had to express very early too as there were things I had to do.
Shame about your bad advice though.

I never managed to cupfeed-just ended up with milk everywhere and a screaming baby!!

A lot of what GF says is common sense. But she is really too dogmatic. When it's your first child and feel you don't have a clue (as I did), GF saying 'you must' do this or that makes you feel as though she is the ONLY one with the right answers. Then when it doesn't work quite like that you feel YOU have failed, adding to the stress and pressure of being a first time mum.

I tried GF with DS. With DS2 I metaphorically threw the CLBB in the bin (actually it's still there on the shelf. I keep meaning to bin it. It will be in the next charity bag) And guess what? After a few months, DS2 sorted himself out into a great lseeping/feeding routine, with very little manipulation from me or GF!

My advice is to go with the flow and do what seems right for you. Accept helpful advice and ask the healthcare professionals if you need to know something, but if someone says 'you MUST' or 'you CAN'T', then ignore them.

GF's best advice? Blackout blinds and sleeping bags. But that's hardly revolutionary.

Hmmm... just realised I HAVE added an opinion, contrary to the statement in my first post!

But don't you think wordsmith that as we all become steadily deskilled, we want and need didactic tomes of this ilk? (Also Annabel Karmel, coffee table cookery books that don't even offer recipes, just ideas of what goes together,detoxing nonsense and so on)

Don't get me wrong,I love this sort of crap even if I scoff as I read it.
But really, we are all deep down so unsure of our choices and decisions I feel...

Yes you're right moondog, that's why the CLBB (and the follow up one!!! Oh the shame) are still on my bookshelves. I do sometimes look at what she reckons my baby should be doing now, and scoff....

But my point is that, on a bad day, I can read something DS2 is supposed to be doing (according to GF) and he's not, and then I fret about it endlessly. On a good day, I'd just scoff....

Yes, sooooo agree about good days and bad days. When b/feeding was hardgoing initially, I lurked in bookshops and libraries red eyed and wild haired like a mad thing leafing manically through anything even vaguely boob oriented looking for sage words, while dd dangled screaming in a Babybjorn!!!

I see women like that sometimes now and want to hug them...very hard!!!

I used GF with both children, but like others found my own way to use her routines - remember they are there to help you, not as a "test" that you have to pass. And whilst Tiktok does make a good point I credit myself with the confidence to ignore some of GF's more dogmatic edicts, but her with providing me with a basic structure (how many nappies a day etc) which many of us no longer have handed down from our own mothers. (My mum scoffed at GF when I was raving about her when pregnant, but after reading it said "well that's just common sense - it's exactly what I did")

Back to the question. With dd I did express from about 1 week, but instead of at the GF times, I expressed after the 7am and 7pm feeds. This isn't recommended advice, but it worked for me. It also meant that DH could do the 10pm feed and let me get to bed, and dd (who was always going to be going to nursery) got used to a bottle. With ds I didn't express so much, as I was doing all the feeds and was not returning to work. (I express purely to provide milk for my social life, and as that is pretty non existent my pump is gathering dust)
I honestly found no difference between my supply each time. Both my babies had growth spurts at the standard ages, and my breasts responded equally regardless of expressing.

I expressed from about week 2/3, mainly out of curiosity of whether I could do it or not. I found it fairly easy TBH (I know that's not the case for everyone) and used my excess supply to build up a small European breastmilk mountain in the freezer! I expressed in the morning when LO was sleeping and got abou 4-5 oz.

Then, when we were running out of bottles and space, I dropped the expressing and had engorged breasts for a while but nothing major. Then, from about 4/5 weeks DH regularly gave LO a bottle of EBM from the freezer whilst I expressed some more to keep my supply the same, thus keeping a regular rotation on the stock! I enjoyed the break and it made going back to work much easier as she had had a bottle early on.

So it worked for me, though I am aware it may not be as easy to do for no. 2 though I would try that system again. I know everyone has their own thoughts on expressing but it worked well for us.