Help for a first time expresser please?

[YanknCock]

Baby is 17 days old and feeding loads, and I've hardly had any sleep and am ready to crash. Thought perhaps I'd express some milk so DH could give him a feed and I could get a rest.

So I've managed to clean/sterilise my Medela Swing, attached a 50mL bottle to it, and got that much out (but of course spilled some on myself while detaching).

Questions:

1. Is it normal for my nipple to look so huge and bruised after coming out of the pump? It feels a bit sore too, but felt fine while pumping.

1. Is 50mL enough for a feed for a 2.5 week old, or should I try to pump more today?

1. It's been suggested that a cup would be better than a bottle to avoid confusion. Any old cup, or are there special ones? Can I just pick one up at Boots or Mothercare tonight? Recommendations? Will DH be able to do it without pouring EBM all over the baby's face, getting frustrated, and demanding a bottle?

TIA for any advice!

Yes

If you want to replace a whole feed and give yourself a decent break then I would probably pump some more, but 50ml would have kept DS satisfied for an hour or two at that age

DH used to cup feed DS when he was v.tiny and wouldn't latch on - IIRC there was a little tiny cup that came with my Medela Swing, it was yellow.

Hope that helps a bit!

I think thats a wonderful amount for 17 days !! well done.

I always used a bottle.

DS was tube fed for a while, then BF and then bottle fed with ebm occasionally. Never had any confusion issues, but maybe I was just lucky ?

You can get special soft lipped cups for feeding EBM but my midwife told me that one of those small measuring cups that come with bottles of medicine will do for occasional use.

I was also told that if all else fails, it is possible to feed from a spoon - it helps if you can encourage baby to open his mouth really wide.

With either option, be prepared for some dribbling!

How much milk he will need depends on how big he is. My baby was 8lb4oz at birth and at 3wks5days (weighed today at 9lb2oz) now takes 110ml EBM as one feed, which is up from about 70-80ml last week. As there is likely to be some wastage through dribbling if you feed via cup/spoon, I would try to express a bit more if possible. It will keep for 24hours in the fridge or can be frozen so won't go to waste.

Also meant to say that I use a medela swing pump too, and my nipples look quite alarming and are a bit tender immediately after using it but quickly go back to normal!