Breastfeeding/expressing advice

[ploo]

Hi
Due my 2nd DC in 6 months but want to get my head around it early
Attempted to BF my DS with very little research and shamefully switched to formula after a week. Looking back it was most likely due to not really feeling confident or knowing what to expect (totally my fault, should have been prepared)
Anyway, I'm destined to do it this time round and persevere. But DH also very much enjoyed feeding last time so looking on doing some expressing and bottle feeding as well.
Many websites are giving different advice so I'm not sure what's the best way to do things

If I was to express and freeze the breast milk, how do you then defrost it? And once defrosted what's the time frame it needs to be used within?
When going out, did you just BF or did you take expressed milk with you? If so how did you store it etc while out?
Any other advice/tips would be gratefully received ☺️

My husband defrosted by running the bag under the hot tap or sitting it in a bowl of hot water. Not sure on how long you then have to use it.

If still BF, I would never bother taking bottles out with me personally, one of the positives of BF is not having this faff. I’d just BF while out. However if my husband ever takes the baby anywhere, obviously he has to take expressed milk. We have a little insulated pouch which holds a bottle, and a flask with boiling water to heat before feeding (this isn’t essential, some babies will have cold milk). My husband doesn’t really take the baby out for extended periods though, only to the park or his sisters ballet or whatever, so u can’t comment on his you’d store milk for more than an hour or two whilst out.

I did both. First two months was exclusively baby (apart from at night). But i was very lucky. I was able to pump a lot of milk. Some people cant and its advised to only pump after your milk is established.

Frozen milk. We defrosted in the fridge. Or in warm water if we needed it fast. We used defrosted milk immediately after it defrosted (didnt want to risk it).

Outside. I mostly pumped because i felt awkward. We would take pumped milk and i tried to time it so i didnt need to pump. We took an ice box with us with ice packs. Any milk went inside. You can also buy a some ice bag that fits in your handbag

I can't give much advice on expressing as I found it a bit difficult l, I found that the DC were much better at getting the milk out than I was.

If you do want to express though have a read of this article from Kellymom on handling and storing BM.

Personally I wouldn't express for the first month as this can interfere with your supply and you may end up with a bit of oversupply.

Also you might want to look at cup feeding instead of bottle feeding as it's more like BFing.

If you do want DH to give a bottle, make sure he reads How to Bottle Feed the BF Baby first.

Can you know persuade DH to bond with baby doing other things? My DH used to bath them and later woukd take them out for a little walk so I could get half an hours respite.

Congratulations on your PG too

Sorry forgot to answer the bit about taking bottles out. No, I never did this. You can BF where you want to. Taking bottles out seems to be a bit of a faff to me when one of the main benefits of BFing is that you can just go out, when you want to without worrying about preparing and storing bottles.

Attempted to BF my DS with very little research and shamefully switched to formula after a week.

No, not shamefully. There's nothing to be ashamed about.

I found it much easier to breastfeed when out and about, rather than taking any expressed milk. But that depends on you - some people don't feel comfortable breastfeeding in public. But for purely practical purposes I'd say breastfeeding is easier than taking milk out because it's just one less thing to carry/remember.

I wouldn't express in the first few weeks. You'll probably be feeding a lot, and I wouldn't want to be adding expressing into that as well. I started expressing from maybe 3 months, enough so DH could take DD out for an afternoon, or I could go out for dinner etc. I ended up breastfeeding her for over two years so didn't find that the bottle feeding interfered with breastfeeding.

I only used expressed milk when I was working (went back when daughter was 5 months old). It was much too precious to use when I was there in person and available to feed. I used to give bags of frozen milk to my childminder. I pumped at work and kept the milk in the fridge and then brought it home in an insulated bag.

I wouldn't start trying to pump or around 6 weeks or so. Get feeding established first.

Good luck!

Not shamefully OP!! Breastfeeding is hard, feeding a baby formula is hard, it's all hard especially with your first! And as you know they all end up eating chips off the floor by the time they are 2 anyway.

But if you want to BF this time then absolutely do, when you are in the hospital and in the first week pls continue to request feeding support from the feeding team until you feel confident with your latch, even if you think it looks okay just keep asking so you can be set up as well as possible. Bear in mind you might need a few weeks for the latch and your milk to settle (maybe up to 6 weeks) and it might be tricky to pump in that time - you could also get a Hakka pump to put on the boob your not feeding from (it's quick and easy)

There are some amazing breastfeeding support groups on Facebook - maybe join LLL and BFYM - you'll get a lot of support and see a lot of people in the same boat - and of course ask on here !

And remember - it all gets so much easier once baby is latching well and things settle down after the newborn days so if you do want to stop breastfeeding try to not do it on a bad day (but also - no shame if you do!)

I breastfed both but was unable to express. Tried hand expression and a couple of different pump types but would only manage a ml or two. Nothing wrong with my supply - just unable to pump.
My DH gave one bottle of formula a day from about 6 weeks. Suited us well.

If you want to bf, I’d focus on that first. If you want to express (it’s so much easier not to) and offer bottles, worry about that later once bf is well established.

Honestly, with two small children, your dh will be running around looking after a toddler, keeping a house running and presumably working as well. It’s not like the first time around and more than likely if he has time to sit down, he won’t want to be feeding a baby while doing it or the added work of washing and sterilising bottles. It’s so much easier just to bf.

What I would recommend is expressing and saving colostrum before birth so you have the extra to hand. This was key for keeping baby well fed and alert enough while you are establishing bf. And get connected before your baby is born to a local bf group, a peer supporter, etc.

I found expressing and bottle feeding a colossal, time-consuming faff for very little benefit so didn't bother with DC2 and just breastfed with no expressing. If breastfeeding goes well you might find you prefer to just do that. There's loads more your DH can do to be involved without you creating an extra chore for yourself.

Me too. When DC2 was a little older I could leave her with a cup of EBM of if I was going out.

Just wanted to recommend this brilliant book I read recently called a judgement free guide to feeding your baby, boob bottle and all by Olivia Hinge

Will tell you everything you need to know x

This, emphatically

This is my experience and I agree about your DH

Tbf it's not about what he wants, it's about what best for the baby and you