Best way to express to not affect milk supply

[Hann376]

Hi my baby is 3 weeks old and exclusively breastfed atm. I’d like to start introducing a bottle of expressed breast for my partner to give her a bottle a few times a week and to start storing a supply so that I can spend a few hours away from my baby when needed.

whsts the best way to express regularly without affecting my milk supply? With a hands free pump atm I get around 50ml from a 15 min session on a low setting.

Should I do express once a day for a short time or a few times a week? And how often to give the baby a bottle to Make sure they don’t refuse it?

I used to pump early in the morning because you have more milk after sleeping/resting. Supply is usually lowest in the evening.
I used to feed the baby and pump straight after. Your body gets used to making more milk at that particular time if you pump at the same time every day. Your supply settles at around 6 weeks so it's better to start before that.
For a while I would do the morning pump and use that milk for an evening bottle and then pump in the evening to replace the missed breastfeed so my body was still used to producing the same quantity of milk and I could freeze the evening milk to build up a stash. Then eventually I stopped the evening pump session and just gave the bottle of expressed morning milk.
Some people have a huge supply and can get more out when pumping throughout the day. I didn't I just had to build that one pump session into my daily routine.
Give the bottle soon or you might have a battle on your hands getting baby to take it. I would give one bottle every day so they are used to it.

Put a 'Haaka' on the other breast when you're feeding! I used to collect so much milk this way and saves the faff (and noise!) of the pump.

I'm afraid I never managed to get either of my babies to take milk from a bottle though. It was such a battle that I eventually gave up trying. From 6 months they'd accept expressed milk in a tommee tippee cup if really hungry.

I just used to express whenever I had the time, and usually earlier in the day because that’s when I could get more. I gave my baby a bottle a day from birth but after about 5-6 weeks they started refusing it. It probably depends more on the temperament of your baby as to whether they’ll take a bottle or not. Mine were pretty stubborn and would rather starve than drink milk from a bottle. 😒

I express whenever I have time and just make sure that I'm always expressing the same amount or more than she takes from bottle (so If she has a 4oz bottle today I need to express at least 4oz)
I give her a bottle almost every day

I had a milk catching jug that suctioned onto the boob I wasn't feeding off to catch any drips (4oz on most occasions) and then after each feed I'd pump of any excess and then if he went longer between feeds I'd pump. Hope this helps. I found the more I stimulated my breasts the more they produced.