When to start expressing?

[Applepiesky]

Okay so I'm 35wks and plan on breast feeding when baby arrives. I would also like to express, mainly so DP can help with the night feeds and bond more with the baby.
My question is, when should I start expressing? I should add that I haven't bought a pump yet but intend on purchasing the Medela Swing soon. Also what bottles would I need to buy?

Ideally don't start expressing until baby is at least 6-12 weeks old. You need to get your supply well established before you do this, otherwise you may find you're not producing enough milk for your baby (almost all women can express less milk than the baby can drink directly from you). I had to express for a while after DS was born and it affected my supply, I had to start introducing formula and gradually my supply dwindled away

General advice is not to express until baby has been breast fed for 8 weeks. This is because you will then have a good, established flow of breast milk and there is also a much less chance of baby suffering nipple/teat confusion.

some women may have had success much earlier than this 8 week stage though so in general, expressing is not the same as breastfeeding, the milk isn't produced to the same volume as if you were actually feeding yourself and it can be a very long procedure. Even if your husband does do night feeds you will still have to wake up in the night anyway in order to express (otherwise your milk supply may dry up) and so for some women it's easier to just put the baby to the breast anyway. Some women say they are more exhausted from mixed feeding with expressed milk and nursing than they would be if they were just exclusively breast feeding.

Just be warned that you might not be able to express at all. I bfed my DS for 17 months and never managed to express a drop!
And some mothers manage to express but their baby refuses to take a bottle.

If you want your DH to bond with the baby, there are many other ways than feeding. He can bath her, do nappy changes, cuddle, put in a sling, take out for walks.

Thanks ladies. But I'm slightly confused - I don't mean I would like to exclusively express, I mean I would like to breast feed and also express too - is that not possible? Or is that what you're saying, I can but it's exhausting? Sorry - I'm rubbish xx

My post was written with knowing that you intended to breast feed and express - so all the possible issues I raised still stand. Just be prepared that it can be very hard and very exhausting

I have known women who have expressed for an hour and only managed to get an ounce. The act of having a pump on your breast is completely different to having a baby suckling and this can affect how the milk is produced.

At the end of the day, if you are going to have to wake 3 hourly in the night to express anyway (which you will have to do) it is probably easier (and much quicker) to just put the baby to the breast

There are 100's of ways a dad can bond with a baby far beyond just feeding it

Very true ! Thanks anyway ladies :-) I shall go away and consider my options haha.

My comment was also to do with both breastfeeding and expressing for the odd feed.

As a suggestion, do you have a sling? Something like a Moby or Victoria Slinglady stretchy? My DH used one for DS when he had been fed but was still unsettled, or if we knew he wasn't hungry and just wanted cuddles, and he felt just as bonded with him as I did.

I started at two weeks. That was a bit too soon with hindsight. It went better from about a month or so. I wouldn't wait more than two months or else the baby might refuse a bottle entirely.

there is no need to get up and express if your husband is doing a feed in the night. Once feeding is well established your supply will not suffer if you miss a couple of night feeds a week. Your baby is likely to feed several times a night so missing one ought not to matter. However you may wake up with huge leaky boobs!

my personal recommendation would be to wait till a month is up at least. Then express before you go to bed and first thing in the morning. If you express twice you may have enough for your husband to do a late evening feed so you can sleep undisturbed once you have had your dinner. This makes the night feeds easier to cope with.

i think i started pretty early. couple of weeks in, just to replace the 10pm feed so i could go to bed at 8 before waking to do the 2am feed and get a continuous 4-5 hours sleep.

i'd express before going to bed to ensure i had a proper supply for 2am

just try it and see how you go. you can always rebuild your milk supply if you find it dwindling