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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

srgh! help with expressing!

64 replies

starlover · 28/04/2005 11:01

something terrible has happened
I am just getting over my second bout of thrush. It was so painful that I started mixed feeding, and was expressing milk for ds.
despite this my milk supply has rapidly dwindled. I have gone from expressing over 100ml at a time to not even 50!
DS refused to latch on now because the milk just isn't there.

I have just been expressing and NOTHING is coming out, and yet when I squeeze with my hand it comes out in a spurt!
I am using a medela mini electric pump, and can only assume that it just isn't doing the job, hence my diminishing milk supply. My manual breastpump isn't working!

What should I do? What is the best pump? I really, really want to get my supply back up, but can't face sitting here and squeezing my boobs by hand all day long!

OP posts:
Original poster
starlover · 29/04/2005 11:01

well.. managed 80ml this morning! So seems to be going ok now.
Having said that, I didn't do any in the night because DS slept through and didn't wake me!!!

When I first had him I hired a big hospital one too checky, and had a lot of success with it. I hardly had any milk when I got home with ds (literally 2ml a time) but had got it up to over 100ml after about 5/6 days!

OP posts:
chipmonkey · 29/04/2005 11:16

Ds slept through!bliss!

throckenholt · 29/04/2005 18:51

missed this thread yesterday evening - but sometimes you can put the avent pump together wrong and it doesn't such - something to do with the white thing in the middle if I remember rightly.

I hope you are getting on better now. Honestly if oyu are getting frustrated and angry then give up and try again an hour later when you are calmer - it rarely works if you are stressed and worry about not getting enough !

Original poster
starlover · 29/04/2005 18:58

doing better now throckenholt, thanks!
Just took me a while to get used to usingt he pump, but have had some success today with it!

OP posts:
chipmonkey · 29/04/2005 19:43

another thing, starlover. If you let it cool in the fridge for a while after sterilising it works better too.

Kelly1978 · 29/04/2005 19:44

I actually keep my mine in the fridge between expresses so I only have to sterilise every other use. It helps.

Pruni · 29/04/2005 19:52

Message withdrawn

mears · 29/04/2005 20:44

Starlover - if i had seen this sooner I would have advised you just to hand express. That is what i did and found it much faster than using a pump and you did not need to faff sterilising equipment. Pump do not stimulate the breast as much as hand expressing does. If you keep switching from side to side as the rate of milk slows down, you will express much more quickly (by hand or pupm).

Here is a link handexpressing

I would get baby back onto breast ASAP. The thrush treatment hould be kicking in by now. Are you both getting treated?

chipmonkey · 30/04/2005 23:11

starlover, how are you getting on?

Original poster
starlover · 01/05/2005 16:07

not very well again
after 3 days I am still only managing to express about 40ml at a time.
Tried to b/f DS this afternoon and he just screamed until I ran off in tears, and DP gave him a bottle.

OP posts:
mears · 01/05/2005 16:50

starlover - have you tried just holding DS skin-to-skin without actually trying to feed him? (with a nappy on incase of accidents)If you just cuddle him in he may well decide it is a nice place to be. Try not to just put him to the breast when he is hungry. You and he will both be tense and won't succeed. If he is fighting you, you could always calm him with the bottle, whip it out and offer him the breast. It will take time but he will go back on. Are you nipples OK now?

Original poster
starlover · 01/05/2005 21:26

yeah, nipples seem much better now!
I just have one problem after another don't I! I think he will be more amenable to a proper booby feed once I am making more milk, he is an impatient little so-and-so! He did have a bit of a go, but got cross quite quickly.
Haven't tried skin to skin though, so will give that a go. Will also give the hand expressing a go too and see how I get on with that!

How often should I be expressing?

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mears · 02/05/2005 11:49

If babe is not taking the breast then express at least every 2 hours. If you hand express you will stimulate the breast better. The aim here is not to immediately get loads of milk out but to stimulate your milk production. Keep offering the breast though.

Original poster
starlover · 02/05/2005 19:34

thanks... will give this all a go. Have had a busy time the past few days, but can actually stay at home for most of this week which makes it easier!
Thanks for the help!

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