Expressing Breast Milk - how much is normal?

[Flossbert]

I'm expressing once a day to try and build up a supply so that I can go away for a night next month and leave DD with DH. It seems to be going OK - I'm expressing about 3fl oz each time. Is this a normal amount? I seem to remember reading somewhere that babies take about 6 fl oz at a feed, so when I give her the bottle should I give her 6 fl oz, or just 3 fl oz as that seems to be all I provide her with each time she feeds directly on the boob?

DD is 11 weeks old and about 10 and a half pounds.

Hello - this is a totally normal amount to express. However babies are generally far more effective at 'removing' breastmilk than a pump is so it's totally possible she's getting much more than this during a feed. It's really normal to have to pump more than once to get a full feeding to leave for your little one.

I found this calculator really useful for getting a general idea of how much I needed to leave:
www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/milkcalc.html

That's brilliant - thanks monkey.

Monkeytoo thanks for that link. I was wondering about this too Flossbert and the link solves my problem!

Thanks for asking the question and very useful answer and website. I've just started expressing myself and wasn't sure of how much to express (it seems to take forever!).