Expressing to increase supply

[boopdoop]

Help! 4 years ago with DS1 we settled into bf pretty quickly, and didn't really gave any problems beyond the first few days. Naively thought if that had happened once it would be ok second time around... i was wrong!

I thought it was going ok, but he lost 11% of birth weight so doing bottle top ups to help him which is fine, but I also need to increase my supply so am trying to express after feeds. He is 12 days old.

I'm using an electric pump. If anyone else did this, how often did you do it, for how long each time, did you do it after every feed? Through the night too? How long until you saw an increase? Did it ultimately work??!

I did it twice yesterday which I know isn't enough but struggling to fit in in alongside feeds, getting some sleep and a toddler... plus DS2 waking and being unsettled when I'm mid-pumping etc. But I was only getting about 20ml which was a bit demoralising.

Any tips, advice, hope etc appreciated!

Can I ask why you're expressing, not just using that time to feed?

You want to repost or get this moved to infant feeding. No experience but good luck! My only wonder would be whether you could express before feeding, baby tends to get milk out even when you're 'empty', whereas a pump won't.

Are you Co sleeping BTW and would you feel safe to? That was a godsend for supply for me.

DS also lost 11%. Midwife supported me in BF and pumping between feeds once a day to build supply, plus basically constantly feeding/having him at breast. Apart from at night as he slept 6+ hours from a week old.
By 2 weeks he was gaining good weight. I didn’t need to top up with bottles.
Nothing wrong with that and I understand you feel vulnerable when your baby lost weight. But I’m sure if you check now he is gaining, so you can start going easier on yourself. Is the HV popping in regularly, or do you have a weigh in clinic?

And yy - amount you get from pumping has no bearing on how your supply actually is!

My ds lost 13% and I fed first then topped up. I didn’t express at all. I fed him frequently, waking him up if necessary and made sure I had enough food, drink and as much rest as I could. I think it was the latter that really made the difference in terms of supply. Good luck

I'm topping up with bottle because that's what they've told me to do. He was getting quite sleepy and lethargic and not really waking for feeds etc on Sunday.

It does feel counter productive, like it will help initial issue of weight loss but on sat it felt like there was lots of milk and bf was going well but since doing more bottles it feels like less milk in me and DS isn't latching as well. They are coming to weigh again today so will chat.

They said to feed him myself then do bottle top up and then express. By giving the bottle it's filling him up loads and he isn't wanting to feed as much, I guess hence the expressing.

It all feels like it's got a bit messed up and struggling to know how to move forward with it.

Ask about a long term plan to phase out the top ups. It sounds like they were warranted with the sleepiness, but they should not tell you to top up without working on a long term plan to increase supply and get you back to full BF. Unfortunately it seems often they just advise to top up and don't offer the rest of the support. Defo have a chat today but if they can't offer you any more info or support it might be worth looking for an IBCLC locally who can support you if full BF is your goal.

Hi,
I had this exact situation with my son, now 14 weeks. I’m still mixed feeding as I just couldn’t get my supply up.
But I ditched the expressing quite early on as it was too much. I concentrated on having DS feed as much as possible, which really helped my supply.
My advice would be: get your LO checked for a tongue tie, just in case that’s causing issues.
Get help from a Lactation consultant/breast feeding group/la Lethe group. My Midwives/health visitor was lovely but I got much better advice from the feeding experts.
Also check out the Kelly Mom website for info on weaning off top ups, and the Jack Newman videos for latch info.
Also maybe post in feed the world/infant feeding. There’s a lot of very well qualified people there who helped me.
Good luck x

Lots of skin to skin will help with supply so you topless against nappy only baby. Or pop baby under your top with no bra on if its a bit chilly. Try to do this as much as you can difficult with a toddler as well. Its good that you are topping up after a breast feed. Don't worry too much about expressing skin to skin is more likely to boost supply. Are you topping up every feed? Would have thought this could be cut down if he is gaining now.