How to Express without messing up milk supply?

[lysie]

Hello,

My son is 5 weeks old this week, our bf journey is going well so far, he has good weight gain and seems like a contented little fellow.

I however am completely knackered by him feeding every 2 - 2.5 hours round the clock. I know that this time will pass and that I will get more sleep eventually, but I am wondering how to fit expressing in to our routine over the next few weeks without messing up the milk supply.

I would like to express one or two feeds worth a week so that dh could do the first night feed on a couple of nights each week.

Any one with experience of something similar able to tell me, a) when should i express,
b) how do protect milk supply?

Thanks

Well, first of all, congratulations on the birth of your son. I'm glad to hear breastfeeding is going well.

This is still very much early days. Things often settle down around 6 weeks, or soon after. Your milk supply is more stable as time goes on, too, less likely to result in oversupply from pumping, or undersupply (or engorgement etc) from giving a bottle.

So you might want to wait a bit longer before expressing.

That being said - I used to find that expressing on one side, while a DS fed on the other, worked pretty well, particularly first thing in the morning.

i am at 8 week mark and still cannot figure out how/when to do this. i am knackered knackered knackered and want to also have an evening out without my little (just be out of the home for 4 hours max); any tips appreciated

I don't know what the correct advice is, just what I did... for what it is worth...

I used to express off the other side as soon as dd was finished feeding, in the mornings - back in the days when she was happy with just one side.
Dh did the first night feed for a few weeks. I don't think it affected my supply at all, and I started doing this at 3 weeks.

Now dd is 12weeks I have been expressing once she has gone to bed to build up a supply, but dh no longer does night feeds as they are much less frequent.

I'd crack on if I were you. The sooner you teach your DS to use a bottle, the easier it will be... there's a window around where you are now where it's quite easy, after which it gets more challenging.

That said, I started teaching DD to drink from a bottle at 3 weeks and it took a lot of perseverance. We got there in the end though, and now she'll dreamfeed from a bottle (she's nearly 9 weeks, and "got it" from about 6 weeks).

I started expressing at 3 weeks (see above). I was advised on here to wait but am glad I didn't. DH gives DD her midnight feed every night and my supply is fine. Mind you, I watch it like a hawk because I know I'm taking a bit of a risk... but so far, so good.

Thanks for the advice. Expressing from one side just after dd has fed from the other first thing in the morning - i was able to hand express 4oz in about 15 mins. Have done this for two days without noticeably effecting supply. Dh will try a bottle this eve, fingers crossed...

That's excellent! Well done, and good luck with the bottle.