breast shells - a revelation, but i have a few q's

[AuroraB]

hello,

my baby is 8 weeks old and i want to start introducing the odd bottle so i know i can leave him with a granny for the evening eventually.

i've just bought some breastshells and popped one on my other boob while i fed him and got about 60ml, although i did spill half of it transferring it to the storage bag.

so this is marvellous, i don't need to waste time expressing i can just harvest what ususally goes to waste. i think i have quite a plentiful supply.

what i'd like to know is:

1. can i top up the bag with the milk from say 2 feeds if it's kept in the fridge? or do i need to use a fresh new bag for what i collect at each feed? he's feeding roughly every 2 - 3 hours during the day so the first bit would potentially be in the fridge for 2 or 3 hrs before i add the next lot then freeze.

1. what sort of amount do i need to give him in a bottle? i know it will depend on his size / hungryness but is it like 250ml or 500 ml, i have no idea! he's a big chunky thing and does love the boob.

1. any general advice on what time of day is best to try the bottle, should i give him a bit of boob first then quickly swap it over? he's a greedy guts so i hope he won't be too fussy about where his milk is coming from.

i think that was all...

thanks in advance for any advice

Hello Aurora

According to the Lansinoh bags insert you can store bmilk in the fridge for up to 72 hours. I think the UK advice is generally shorter than this to be honest (i.e. just to be on the safeside) but you can certainly add to a bag with feeds from one day as long as you use the milk within the 'shelf life' of the first milk that was stored. I used to keep for no more than 24 hours.

I can't really remember what DS was taking at 8 weeks but I think it was around 140 ml (at the most). I think they tend to max at about 240 mls anyway - your milk will change composition to meet their needs.

Not sure about the best time of day to try (we used to do the evening feed but started it when DS was much younger). It can help for someone else to give the bottle and for you to be out of the room.

Good luck

thanks minimarmite.

i've thought of another question. will what i collect during a feed be just foremilk? if so would that mean he'll need more, or to feed more often?

I'm not sure to be honest but I suspect that it might be more of the milk that comes out at the beginning rather than later in the feed but if you are getting 60ml then that's got to be a mixture. I think the traditional view of fore and hindmilk is debated anyway so I wouldn't worry too much.

Lucky you being able to use shells - I used to express rather than use shells - mine didn't really leak enough

Someone else might be able to advise more thoroughly on this.

I used breast shells and put the milk i collected in containers from Blooming Marvellous, little lided cubes (meant for baby food probably). I found it very handy, especially when i started weaning, as i could get a small amount out to use to mix with baby rice etc

thanks both, can anyone shed any light on what kind of quantity i can expect my 8 week old 14lb ish boy to need?

Where can you get breast shells from - had not heard of them before and sounds like a great idea!

i got mine from boots, they were about £6

Sounds great- have a 9 week old DD and she is sleeping 11 hours in the night so breast pads are drenched in the morning (sorry, don't mean to be smug ). Can you sleep in them?

I can't remember how much my DS had at that age - 4-6 oz would be my guess. He was big too. My DD has about 3oz if we give her a bottle but she is 11 lb, But next time you are in the supermarket, have a look at the side of formula cartons as they give an ideas of how much based on age and weight. Mind you, DS always had more than what they say but gives you rough idea.

I used to do this, fab isn't it? I could get 4oz in one feed. Top tip, make sure they're the right way up otherwise the milk pours down your tummy [dim emoticon]

thanks all

mumofoliver - i'm not sure if you can sleep in them, they're a fairly large rigid dome so perhaps not so comfy, also not sure if there's a risk of blocked ducts if you wear them too much - i may have heard this somewhere

you aren't supposed to use them for morethan 40 mins according to the instructions on mine (Avent from "Big" Tesco)

Found some on ebay and they are really good