Expressing - when, how and how much?

[lucky1979]

Everyone was so nice about helping me through DDs growth spurt (now finished although the demon colic has come back with a vengance so I'm still not getting much more sleep) I hope that someone can help me with expressing.

I want to start expressing some milk for the odd feed but am really not sure when is the most appropriate time to do it. I've seen people talk about doing it at the same time as feeding, but do you mean literally the same time, when the child is on the other breast? If you do...how? I don't think I have enough hands! As I mentioned, DD is quite colicky and needs a lot of winding and general fussing around after feeding, the earliest I would get to expressing afterwards would probably be at least an hour. I've never had a problem with supply (the opposite if anything!) but should I get all I can from both breasts at that point, or just one?

Also I if I wore those nipple shields, could I gather milk using those while she's feeding (I leak all over the place anyway) and put that in the same bottle as milk already stored in the fridge (assuming of course I actually get the hang of expressing) or does it need to be kept seperate? Is it possible to use them at every feed, keep topping up a bottle in the fridge with the resultant milk over the course of the day, and then freeze that bottle at the end of the day?

I'm sorry if these questions are really obvious - my HV is absolutely lovely for BF but said she didn't know anything about expressing really so hoping someone can help a bit, I'm clueless!

How old is your DD? I have had the baby on one boob and expressed on the other until recently (she's 3 months). She's become a bit of a wrigglebum now and grabs the pump cable so have started doing it separately.

In terms of how - I put the baby on first, and with her cradled on one arm, started the pump with the other hand. I used an Avent IQ.

I always express in the morning. I'm told though that I should do it in the evening, as the milk produced in the morning is "wakeup" milk and the milk in the evening is "sleepy" milk. But she's always taken milk expressed in the morning and gone off to sleep so I figure if it ain't broke, don't fix it...

I always expressed best in the morning too as my boobs were at their most full - I collected a few more oz immediately after feeds later on too if DH could do the post feed faffing around - which he was about for in the evening. I would use milk from the shields too if these were sterile - not sure - ask an expert on that eg tiktok from here or via NCT/LLL. I didn't really get in the swing until about 8 weeks but could express when lying down and feeding but a bit fiddly. The pump makes a difference - I had a medela one first and just couldn't get on with it - the avent one was much better but I know some women have the opposite experience - not sure what the answer is there as you can't really tell how good a pump is going to be for you until after you've bought and used it

Hi
Do you use both breasts during a feed?
If you do, Pump on both breasts after a feed for at least 15mins per breast.

if you can get a double pump, get the Ameda Lactaline...best one ever and very effective!

Morning feeds are good to pump after but so is any time of the day really...

send me your email address and I can send you more information.