Just expressed breast milk for the first time - couple of questions.....

[joorla]

My ds is only 3 weeks old today and is exclusively bf. At the end of december I need to go and sit an exam for 3 hours so need to have some milk stored up for him.

I've a manual breast pump and managed to express 50 ml of milk in about 10 mins max, the thing is my ds can be latched onto me for about 30/40 mins or more, does this mean that he's only getting milk for the first 10 mins or so and the rest of the time he's just comfort sucking?

I've put the milk into the freezer, if I express more later on, can I top the milk up in the freezer or will I need to freeze it separately?

This is the first time I've expressed milk so any tips would be welcome.

Thanks

You'll need to freeze it separately. If you're expressing over a period of a few days - just collect it in the fridge then you can freeze it as one amount. You won't need to express lots if it's just for that period. Do make sure he can take a bottle - I'd try that in the next week or so.

How much you can express doesn't equal how much your ds is getting as they are more efficient. Did you feel a 'letdown' while you were expressing? If not, try half an hour later. Don't stress about it - that affects letdown.