Exclusively expressing

[GemnLouis]

Is anyone or had anyone exclusively expressed breast milk? I would like some advice or help on when is best to pump to make sure milk keeps coming? How many oz a feed 3 week old should be having? Generally just that this is an ok thing to do. Thank you x

I exclusively expressed for DD for a bit, I pumped after every bottle she had to try and keep up with what she wanted. I only did it for a few weeks then was able to breastfeed with shields, I found exclusively expressing hard but I've heard others have done it well. Kelly mom website has information on exclusively expressing too.

I exclusively expressed for the first month. I tended to pump at the same time as baby was being fed a bottle (when DH was around), or straight after a bottle feed (when on my own). That was then used for the next feed. I tended to express more than was needed for a bottle so I combined the spare amounts and they gradually built up into extra bottles giving me a bit of a stash. Overall I found the whole experience a bit full on, to be completely truthful.
Agree with PP - Kelly Mom website is great - I found loads of useful info about exclusively expressing on there!

I did 12 weeks with my 1st before she learned to bf properly. To this day it is the hardest thing I've ever done and very nearly broke me. For the 1st 8 weeks I was trying to get her to bf, then giving her the expressed milk in a bottle, then expressing. It did get a bit easier when we cut out the trying to bf first. Just did expressing and bottles.

I had a hospital grade double pump at home (hired from the hospital) and a Medela swing for when we were out and about. If you're discrete, you can pump anywhere, places I particularly remember were the back of a friend's car on the M1, in a field on a day hike and half way up Snowdon!. It was 13 years ago so I can't remember quantities. When you're starting out you really should aim to pump every 3 hours including overnight to establish a good supply.

If there is any way of baby ever actually feeding direct do try it as it gives you so many hours of your life back. If there isn't then of course exclusively expressing is an ok thing to do. If you have the time, patience and ability to do it, then go for it. As others have said, kellymom is a great website and good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Littlepeach on Instagram has amazing advice and she exclusively pumped for a year .

Like sunshine, I had DH on board and particularly at night, he would feed baby a bottle while I expressed so I wasn't awake for hours. He still looks back on those nights quite fondly. I think he's mad!

I did it just over 6 months before the HV recommended we switch to a high-calorie replacement. Son was on a schedule by the time we took him home from NICU so I would pump whilst DH bottle-fed him from the stash. It really helped DH to bond.

I did it for several months with my first. I actually found it a lot easier than I was expecting - turns out I have very strong milk supply. For the first 2 weeks or so I pumped every couple of hours and that really built up my supply- found night sessions were really important. From around 4 weeks, I only needed to 3 times a day.

I was really lucky to be able to do that but you might be too!

I exclusively expressed for 10 months. Best pump by far is the hospital grade closed system Spectra S2. You can hire them online cheaply from a site called Anawiz if you want to try it first.
Best advice I can give you is to pump as baby would feed - basically a LOT. Join the FB group Exclusively Pumping mums - it was a godsend and really motivating.
Good luck. And please don't stress over it too much - I'm a huge breastfeeding advocate....it's hard but when I eventually made the move to formula I realised that formula isn't poison - in fact, what you need it for is exactly what it was designed for.