How do/can I increase my supply so I can express quicker?

[hollyoaks]

For the last four nights we have been giving 5 week old dd a 3-3.5oz bottle of ebm before bed and she has slept through until last night. The problem is that she is draining the bottle but I'm struggling to express more.

I tend to get 2oz off after her first feed of the day and then another 1-1.5oz later after her teatime feed. I'm using the avent hand pump and have to go for up to 15 mins to get that until basically nothing else is coming out.

Yesterday I made sure I drank and ate regularly but because she had a feed last night at 4am I only managed to express 1oz off this morning.

So, can I increase my supply, should I try an electric pump, am I doing something obviously wrong, is the lack of night feeds reducing my supply? Ideally I'd like to get to the point where I can get the bottle off in one go in the morning.

Ok, several points that i want to raise here...

Is there a particular reason that you're giving her a bottle rather than a direct feed before bed?

She will probably drain the bottle however much is in it, as that's the very nature of bottle feeding cf breastfeeding, where they only take what they really want/need.

What you eat and drink is irrelevant to your milk supply.

Not feeding at night will reduce your supply yes, as that is when prolactin levels are highest, and thus the most important time for building supply.

5 weeks is still VERY early - consistency is prob the most important thing in establishing how much milk you have and when, and it's difficult for you to be consistent at the moment because your baby can't be! Give it time .

hollyoaks - expecting a 5 week old to go through the night is a high expectation...as is expecting to get a whole feed off in one go, sorry.

If you do manage to express, say, 4.5-5 oz in one go in the morning, you risk over-stimulating your supply (it would be like feeding two babies at that time ) and you will be uncomfortable, even engorged, later the same day.

It all sounds like a lot of hard work to me, to be honest - and eating and drinking more/better makes no difference to supply, by the way.

Sorry to sound negative, but I think it might be worth considering if your life might be easier if you just go with the flow for the moment, and then try these things later, when life and bf is more established and flexible...see what others think, anyway

Thanks cantsleep, we tried giving her a bottle as dh wanted to feed her and I'd heard that if you leave it too late they may not take the bottle. The fact that she slept through was just a pleasant side effect. Thought it would be a nice routine to establish as it would allow us to go out eventually for a meal etc.. and someone else could feed her.

Wonder if it would be worth expressing last thing at night too?

hollyoaks - your DH doesn't need to feed her though. There are loads of things he can do instead.

Giving a bottle early is no guarentee of it being taken later - and not giving a bottle early does not mean the baby will refuse later. There are loads of posts on mumsnet which show I'm right on this!

It all sounds a lot of hassle to me, with such a tiny, new baby, too.

How about just letting things happen for the moment?

tiktok I don't really mind if she doesn't go through the night as I'm finding the night feeds quite easy, she usually goes straight back over. It sounds as if the 1-2oz that I can express of are fairly normal then? Some others on my postnatal thread have talked about expressing higher volumes so thought my supply was low.

Good to know that eating and drinking don't effect supply, don't think I could have drank anymore yesterday.

Thanks for the advice, I've got a lot to learn.

affect?

Pumps are not babies and the milk is removed in a different way....expressing 'performance' is not an indication of what's available to the baby. Some women express more than the baby can get (say, if the baby is ill or pre-term or unable to feed effectively for whatever reason); some pumps are better at getting milk out; some techniques are better; some mothers are v. generous producers. Not ticking any of those boxes does not mean you have a low supply at all.

All that matters, biologically, is that you have the milk the baby needs and the baby is able to take it.

If you really want to express more I would recommend that you get yourself an electric pump, in my personal experience they are much more efficient at getting your milk out than the hand pumps and much less hard work. Make sure you get a breast attachment that fits your breast (there are different types and sizes, you may need to experiment with a few different ones to find one that works for you) and when you do pump, it helps if you pump when you naturally have higher amount of milk in your breasts anyway (usually in the morning) and that you set the pump at the correct pumping speed (probably slightly stronger than feels 'comfortable', you should feel a bit of a pull on the nipple). It also helps if you're comfortable, warm and relaxed.

I have expressed 5-6oz every morning since my baby was born and DH has usually given it later on in the day in a bottle. I have found no adverse effects of this on me (no engorgement) or on my baby (exclusively breast(milk)fed and thriving). Having DH giving one feed a day gives me a break and gets my baby used to the bottle. It also gives me the option of going out for a couple of hours if I want/need to. If we haven't used the milk by the end of the day, I have frozen it to use at a later date.

Hang on in there, if you get the right equipment it will probably make things easier for you. I can only speak from my very limited experience but I have found pumping really helpful, I don't think I would still be breastfeeding if I didn't have the occasional option of 'opting out'.

Tiktok - thanks for the reassurance, she's definitely getting what she needs from all the weight she's putting on.

May - I found the electric pump I used in hospital very efficient, but I know they're bloody expensive. Was thinking about the medela swing (I think) as I can get it cheap from my local sure start.

DH wanted to give her a bottle as he felt he was missing out (dd1 was bottle fed) and the break is a treat last thing in the day. I also want everything established before I go back to work. Not until November but would love to continue bf for as long as possible.

Forgot to say that I never pump for longer than a long feed would be (20-25 mins max). If I don't get enough for a feed in that time I just leave it, some mornings the milk just doesn't 'flow' quite like other mornings.

Hi,

I express a lot for LO's midnight feed. It just seems to mean that she feeds more quickly. I guess I have got into the habit of it and just continued. I always have and had trouble with expressing but make it a routine and your supply will increase at those times and you will find that in a few weeks more will come.

I express later in the evening at about 11 pm as it is kind of the same time I would feed DD. I also express after my first morning feed. IN all I need to express twice a day to get about 4 or 5 onzes so you are not alone. This seems to be enough for DD though( 17 weeks). I think the avent electric pump is quite good. Doing it manuely takes away any enthusiasm IME.

Good luck