Can someone please tell me the secret to expressing?

[FruitynNutty]

I'm desperate to be able to express, I have an electric Medela pump and can only get a few mls out then nothing. DS2 is only 2.5 weeks old but I'm going back to work (as childminder) in 2 weeks time and cannot cope with these 7/8 hour bfing marathons when he's still starving after. I need to be able to do other things. Also DS1 is missing out on attention from me. DP has been giving him the odd few ounces of formula in the eve and he's so much more settled.
I don't want to use formula though, I want to give him my milk!
Friends of mine seem to be able to express a whole bottle full in minutes, what am I doing wrong?

Express from one side while you are feeding your baby from the other.

Ok. Did that just now. Got under 5mls in 32 minutes. It seems like it's the wrong kind of suck. I can get it out if I squeeze my nipples but the expresser pulls rather than sucks iyswim? So it starts coming out but after 2 or three pulls it stops.
I would squeeze it out by hand but it hurts after a few squeezes
I thought the Medela was supposed to be the best?

Yeah I used to express one side and feed on the other, it triggers the let-down reflex of something but it might take a couple of days for your boobs to catch up make enough milk.

Friends of mine seem to be able to express a whole bottle full in minutes

Maybe they are exaggerating, just a little. lol. expressing is slow.

You could also try putting a warm flannel on your chest, so you get the shower effect.

Hi,

I imagine that I am feeding my DS and then the milk seems to flow a little better. It seems to take a while to get going overall - my max in about 6 times of expressing is 40mls and I was quite proud of that!! Hope it starts getting easier for you. Good luck on your return to work.

I found expressing hard too. With DD1 I gave up in the end. It seems a bit easier with DD2, but she isn't quite so demanding.

I usually try to express when she's asleep, so I have a bit more time and space, but I go and have a good sniff of her to get the flow going. I also switch sides a lot which maximises the yield.

Are you a large cup size? I am, and I find that I have to push the pump well into my breast, so that I'm really quite squashed. It looks really weird, but it isn't at all umcomfortable and gives me the best suck (from a manual Avent).

Morning agood time.Switch back and forth and jeep at it. The baby only taking atiny bit at this stage so you will only be making small amounts initially.

Howmuch are you planning to swap breastfeeds fro EBM. If you do it alot, the demand on your breasts is reduced and supply may fall. Something to consider. You can b/feed andhave an arm/hand free remember. I moved house alone with a toddler and a 3 week old baby. Sling very helpful too.

Thanks for all the replies.
I've just taken DS to be weighed. He hasn't put on weight in a week even though he's permanently feeding when he's awake! And still hasn't reached his birth weight Why do some women seem to have so much milk and others don't? I'd love the leaky boobs all my friends seem to get!

MsTittleMouse No I'm quite the opposite. I was a B cup pre pregnancy. I'm now a D on my left side and a C on the other Shame they don't do bra's to fit each boob!

moondog I've got a sling but find it really strange and uncomfortable, I think I need to play around with it. I just can't get it to fit so DS can reach my boob unless I hold him up which is pointless. It's a babasling

once I stopped engorging I found it virtually impossible to express, I just couldn't get the let down to happen. I managed quite successfully to express with my 3rd but only because I expressed from day one and I actually found the avent pump best. I suspect it worked this time around because I was encourage constant over stimulation and I always did have plenty of milk for all 3 of my bf babies.

Time of the day seems to make a major difference to me and I can get far more out in the morning and really struggle from lunch time onwards. I have the Avent one that you can start off on manual and flip to automatic which I have been really pleased with but it can't do the impossible and there really is a huge difference between 9 am and 9 pm - good luck!

Dump the babasling. Useless, imho. Get yourself a stretchy wrap like a Kari Me or Moby. You could wear it with nothing underneath if you really wanted to and noone would be any the wiser.
I found expressing a doddle with dd. I established a routine very early as she was in nursery full time by 8 weeks (my goodness, it really hit home writing that just how tiny she was ) and I never had a problem. I started with a medela electric pump which worked well, but I switched to an Avent Isis because the electric one was just so noisy . I could express an awful lot of milk in very little time.
With ds it is a different story. Because I have been at home with him I haven't bothered with expressing and on the occasions that I have had to I have found it very difficult. I find it very difficult to get a let down, once it has happened then the pace picks up, it's just that initial burst thats proving to be the hurdle. Even on the day I spent away from him in London, I went armed with my pump and still found it difficult to express, despite being uncomfortably 'full'. I don't know the answer, but I know that a good sling will make your life much much easier. Good luck

I suspect that I lot of your problem might be your panic and desperation. There is nothing more inhibiting to let-down than stress.

I would be inclined to buy a good sling and work out how you can continue to BF your baby while you look after your mindees rather than worrying too much about expressing.

I had the Medela pump to begin with, and found it invaluable initially because I didn't know how to express. It saved my breastfeeding because DS wouldn't latch reliably for about 3 weeks.
I have subsequently bought a Tommy Tippee manual which I get much more with because I can copy the rythmn of DS's sucking. With my next baby I doubt I will use the Medela much because I now understand what I'm doing.

Sort the sling out though, because if you haven't got time to sit and BF, then you haven't got time to express and then feed the baby your EBM.

Hi,

Personally I couldn't possibly BF Max and express simultaneously - both are two hand jobs!

I express about once a day and the secret IMHO is the let-down, so do whatever you need to do to stimulate that. Sometimes I express sitting right by Max, sometimes I think about him (if he's asleep upstairs), and the other day I was missing my 7 yo DD who was staying with a friend and bingo, let-down kicked in. I've also found that lots of short pumps at first, like a baby does when they first latch on, can also stimulate that let-down.

I couldn't pump at all with DD. Nothing.

But with DS, I tried a few different pumps, and found:

1. If I had to do it again, would have rented a hospital grade one. They are brilliant.

1. Agree with Moondog -- pumping in morning is best.

1. Posture for some reason made a huge difference. I don't know why. If I slumped, it didn't work. There is probably no scientific reason for this.

1. Also agree with Hoochie -- getting zoned out and not stressed about the amount makes a difference.

I had most success with pumping first thing in the morning (before feeding) and before the 10am feed too (the second feed of the day).

I used to express 2 or 3 ounces and then feed (from the same breast as I'd pumped from). If I tried to express after a feed I could never get any out.

And make sure the pump is all fitted together properly, if there are any gaps then it won't suck hard enough. Make sure everything is screwed tightly together.

thanks everyone. I don't have anymore milk 1st thing in the morning than at any other time as DS just feeds constantly.
The pump is certainly sucking hard enough! If I turn it right up it get's very uncomfortable.

I have now been feeding for 8.5 hours solid, this is the same everyday. I'm so fed up with it now. Trying to brush DS1's teeth and put his pj's on and read him stories is virtually impossible. Also, now I know why you lose weight while BFing - you can't physically make anything or eat anything without covering the baby in food! I do eat btw, just very unhealthily (with exception of fruit) as I just grab what I can.

I have been giving him a few ounces of formula in the eve just to give my boobs a rest. It gets quite uncomfortable after 8-9 hours - still can't believe he hasn't gained any weight after all this feeding!

I'm going to see if I can get one of those recommended slings on Ebay........

It sounds like something is maybe not going quite right with your BFing cos that doesn't sound normal at all.

Could you start a new thread asking why your baby is feeding constantly? Then resident experts like tiktok are more likely to offer their advice, they know more than me!

Are you feeling well in yourself, no chance of a bit of retained placenta or anything like that which could inhibit milk supply? Are you drinking enough fluids?

I would try and visit a bf counsellor as it sounds like you are struggling to make enough milk at the moment. Could it just be because you are stressed about the whole thing?

Any chance of a baby moon, someone come and look after your older one and go to bed for a week to eat, sleep and feed?

I think the problem might be that he uses me as a dummy.
Had a bit of a turn around last night after giving him his usual eve bottle of formula at about 10pm he slept from 11ish till 5am! For the 1st time I felt really full of milk and was desperate to feed him. Although only my left side felt really full. The right side was only really full just around my areola (sp?)
Also he actually chilled out in his baby chair for about 5-10 minutes after feeding today which is unusual after a breast feed.
I think the reason he didn't seem to gain any weight was because last time he was weighed using one of those pully type weighing devises and this time he was weighed on a digital scale.

I have PCOS and an underactive thyroid which I've heard can both cause BF problems although my consultant seemed to think it was an old wive's tale when I queried it last time I saw him.

I'll get him weighed again next week, hopefully byb then my milk will have really kicked in and he'll have put weight on.

cargirl I'm feeling great in myself considering I had a c-section - no retained placents

I'm not feeling too stressed, I'm as relaxed as I can be with a 3 yr old badgering me all the time! It's a shame paternity leave isn't longer than 2 weeks, could have done with DP being at home a bit longer

The Avent Isis manual breastpump worked like a miracle for me. Also the company has excellent customer service, I was out of my mind one day when I lost the essential little valve, I rang the helpline and they sent me 2 for free, which arrived the next morning.

Good luck.

I bought a Medela Swing, but never managed to get much out. Recently upgraded to Medela Freestyle (double) and it is fabulous! Nearer hospital grade I guess and v powerful and the double pumping helps as well. But, they are not cheap (in fact bloody expensive!)

I've had four babies, breastfed them all well into toddlerhood, and never got the hang of expressing.

Sorry.

I have to squeeze my boobs when I express, so can't double pump. I also have to watch TV or be online so I relax enough to forget I'm pumping. Stress or serious tiredness reduces supply, as does dehydration. Thinking about my baby feeding helps sometimes, too, but really just watching a soppy film works best. Worrying about yield is the best guarantee it will be low, ime.

Medela pumps just don't work for me - I hired a hospital grade, £1200, Symphony one, and nada. But I can get 1.5 litres a day out with a little Ameda Lactaline. (This is annoying, as I have huge boobs, and the Lactaline largest size breast shield is way smaller than the Ameda ones, the largest size of which fits!) So different pumps suit different women. Maybe hire an Ameda one and see how you get on?