Do I need to express milk if baby sleeps through the night?

[Sam020]

DD is 3 months and combination fed. At her last visit to the weighing clinic the health visitor said that I don't need to wake her anymore if she sleeps through the night. (I usually wake her if she hasn't fed for 5-6h).

What about milk supply if I don't feed her for so long? Considering that I top her up with formula anyway after every feed I am assuming that my supply is slowly reducing anyway. If she doesn't feed through the night won't it get worse?

If I don't wake her should I express milk? I don't really want to because I'd rather sleep through the night but neither do I want to risk my milk drying up. If I need to pump how frequently ie what is the minimum frequency or the largest duration without pumping?

Thank you!!

My ds slept through from 2 weeks. Never ever expressed.
Milk production adjusted just fine.

My personal experience: I pumped for both babies for a full year. Both babies slept from midnight until about 8am the next morning from a couple of weeks old. I was told to express at least once between 1am-6am as this is when your body produces a lot of milk and it keeps your flow up. So I had the best wee babies who slept through the night, but I still woke to express. I kept this up for approx 3months or so and then stopped getting up during the night.

I expressed regularly every 3-4hrs for approximately 10mins at a time, sometimes I'd pump for about 20mins first thing in the morning as I had a massive amount of milk.

You do what fits your baby and you. If you feel getting up during the night sn't making a difference to your flow, then don't do it. You'll find what works best for you both.

I've never combination fed (3xebf) but all 3 went through periods of sleeping through from quite early on. I never expressed overnight, I like my sleep too much

I never combination fed. But I did pump at 4am every morning before leaving for work.. 1hr commute, 6am start time.

If you want to go from combination feeding to exclusive breastfeeding then I would recommend waking her for a feed at least once in the night and pumping after the feed. Also, Kellymom has a guide on how to wean a baby from top-ups. kellymom.com/ages/newborn/nb-challenges/decrease-formula/