Collecting colostrum - how to get into the syringe?!

[summertime167]

Looking for any advice/tips. Not getting huge amounts at the moment, but I'd say I am probably loosing about half what I have trying to get it into the syringe.

I've tried taking it straight off the breast with the syringe and using a teaspoon then transferring.

Might be just me, but it is so incredibly sticky it doesn't "drop" into the syringe as I thought it would!

I found I had to sort of scrape it off my nipple with the end of the open tube. Then it very gradually trickles down the syringe.

Using a bigger syringe makes this scraping process easier as the opening is bigger - even if that means the syringe ends up only half full (as I recall, you can keep topping it up over several expressing sessions, as long as refrigerated in between)

You need the syringes with removable caps so it doesn’t just trickle out of the other end!

My midwife has given me some urine sample pots to initially collect into and then suck it up into the syringe. I put the sample pot in the fridge and express a couple of times over one day.

I had to hand express for 4 days in the hospital after having my son. The most successful way was using nipple cream to sooth my very sore nipples which then made the colostrum bead into a droplet which made it loads more easy to suck into a syringe. Good luck!

I just syringed straight off the nipple. Was the only way I could do it

@MorgenMuffel

My midwife has given me some urine sample pots to initially collect into and then suck it up into the syringe. I put the sample pot in the fridge and express a couple of times over one day.

Ah that is a good idea, will see if I can get a pot at my next face to face appt.