Expressing in preparation for holiday

[maldivemoment]

Hi Folks

I used to be a bit of a lurker on these boards, now I seem to be posting frequently!

I'm hoping some of you can, once again, share your experiences and knowledge.

Some you may know I was worried that I was not satisfying my baby's appetite by breastfeeding. I think I have gotten over that worry so my next question is this; I am going away with family over New Year and would like to have a night (or two) where I could have some wine with dinner/champagne, so where do I even begin with expressing in preparation for this???

• Should I express every day from now and store milk in freezer?
• When do I express? After a feed?
• How long should I express for?
• By then Little Maldive will be 3 months. How much should he be getting each feed?

I'm sure there are other questions I have not thought of so any / all advice is much appreciated.

Thanks from this first time Mum!

Have you tried expressing yet? Seems like some people find it much easier than others. I express around 100ml each time (double pump). If you get this much, then you'll only need to express a day or so before you go.
After expressing for all DD's feeds for the first month, she's breastfeeding successfully now. I still express once a day (before I go to bed) and also collect milk from my very leaky other breast while feeding. This gives me enough for her daily bottle feed (7pm ish). She takes what seems a huge amount at this feed - about 250ml. I think this is just tanking up for bedtime though. If I ever bottle feed her while out or if someone else does when I'm away, she has about 150ml. She is 3 months now, by the way.
Also, people say on here that drinking some alcohol and BF is fine. I'm doing it (not getting drunk, just a glass of wine - tried having two one night and felt terrible!!).
HTH - good luck.

I'd just have the couple of glasses of wine with dinner, and not worry about expressing. A good rule of thumb is that if you are safe to look after your baby, you are safe to bf - it is removed from your milk at the same rate as from your blood so it's not like it builds up