FertilityZone

Hi Laura.

I'm new to this site but was reading your post and wondered whetjer I could help you. I am a midwife so maybe can answer some of your questions. Research suggests that it is best to wait at least 5 days after birth before trying expressing and from your ticker can see you are well over that! Your midwife is possibly being cautios that H may get confused between teats and your nipple however lots of babies successfully mix feed. You can buy Tomee Tippee bottles/teats now that are supposed to be very close to the shape of a nipple and hence lessen nipple confusion.

You say your baby has a favourite side to feed have you tried rugby ball hold to get him on the other side? ( sometimes that tricks them into thinking they are on their favourite breast) or you could feed laying down on your side.

With reference to expressing it depends how long H has been on the boob for. I would be tempted to express the other breast fully just incase baby wakes very soon after his feed then you still have some milk to offer him from the breast he was feeding off. Your boobs are very clever and it is literally a supply and demand scenario so the more you express the more milk you will make etc. If he is sleeping 3-4 hrs between feeds your body will have time to make more milk for next feed. I presume you are alternating breasts? You may find that the feed following the expressing (ie 3-4 hrs later) that both breasts are full in that case you could offer H either breast but you may want to express enough off other side to make boob bit soft and more comfy for you (caution if you express it all off you'll be in the same boat 4 hrs later!!)

I hope this makes sense, it's so much easier teaching this face to face! I don't think expressing will lessen your milk supply if anything it will probably increase it.

Kelly xx

Feel free to message me if you are really confused!

Some more expressing chat here....

Expressing

Hi Laura

I have the same expressing questions !

I asked a friend who has a 9 week old how she does it.

She said she feeds her baby at say 8am and then expresses from the other boob, and uses this milk to give her baby in the evening.
she says she has a good supply and sometimes expresses in the evening also.

Don't know about you but sometimes my boobs are squirting out left,right and centre and sometimes I feel I'm running on empty ! incidently if I'm full or empty it never seems to relate to how much M has fed !

I don't 'need' to express just yet, so I think I'll see how things are in a few weeks.

xxxxx

H usually only feeds from one side, so am thinking of expressing if there is anything left from the side he has fed from, and/or from the side he hasn't used, after his morning feed, as usually then have a 3-4 hourly gap before next feed, so am hoping this will be enough time for breasts to refill for next feed?
ok - how I built up a small stock (about 8 jars of 6oz) was to express from the side he hadnt used first thing in the morning. however, I wouldnt have enough milk 3 hours later and so would have to double booby the next feed

Also wandered when H is fed with expressed milk when I'm out, will this affect my milk supply greatly, if it's only occasional times? Should i express when I get home to make up for the feed I haven't done?
If it is done regularly yes, because your boobs think they dont need to feed at that time. However, on occasions no, but you may feel uncomfortable as your boob will be full & ready to feed. Expressing when you get home is a good idea because (a) it will keep your supply up, and (b) help you feel less uncomfortable. Alternatively, depending on the size of your handbag, you could consider pumping & dumping - ie take a handpump, nip into a private area, pump for 5-10 minutes, and discard the milk

Also if dh does do a couple of eve feeds per week, will this affect my milk supply alot, as well?
Yes, if it is regular and you dont pump - but only for that feed - the rest of your days feeds wouldnt be affected. So, if you regularly didnt feed at 10pm but gave a bottle then your body wouldnt produce milk for that 10pm feed after a while. However..... if you regularly expressed extra in the morning instead then your body would produce enough extra for the expressing instead.

Was also wandering about the best way to introduce a bottle to H, with the milk? Have the clsoer to nature bootles, and was thinking of starting off with a small amount and offering it halfway through a feed?
wellll...... I expressed 6oz just before a feed one day, and put them into two bottles of 3oz each. With my experience with DS#1 who preferred the teats made by a company called Pigeon rather than the Avent ones, I used the smallest hole teat possible as this has the slower flow and is closer to breast flow. I did a daytime feed (eg the 9-10am one) as then your little one isnt too tired and is quite open to new experiences. Later in the day is (a) harder to pump and (b) harder to introduce a bottle to a cranky little one.

Then I got someone else to bottle feed whilst I was on standby to feed if it didnt work. I didnt heat the milk as I had only just expressed it. DS#2 quite happily took the entire 6oz -

From personal experience, I find my supply is great first thing in the morning 6-8oz takes 10-15 minutes, but by the afternoon I'm lucky if I can make 4oz in 25 minutes.

csam - that squirty vs running on empty thing is common - at least for me! in fact it is almost the counter-intuitive - a big huge booby and DS often only takes a small amount and I'm left with a still rather full boob. A small booby, and if he unlatches mid feed for a belch I will see his mouth full of milk! babies eh?!

it's so much easier the second time around
the first time was an absolute nightmare! I won't scare you..... ..... oh alright - I had a small baby with an even smaller mouth that didnt want to latch properly at first, and I was feeding lying down so I got baby hickys.... then it got worse and I was regularly bleeding out of chunks taken out of my nipples for the first 8 weeks... I still have the white scars on them!

you're doing great hun, really you are!

Hi

Can I just get something clear in my head .......expressing in the morning is best but other times of day are ok but I may not get so much out ?

Sorry to be dumb, haven't started yet and just trying to work out a plan !

xxxx

Due to your hormones, which fluctuate over a 24-hour period, your milk production is at its best overnight and so your boobs are at their fullest when you get up in the morning. If you express then, you will get more off, and your body will produce more quickly after the expressing. By the evening, you will produce a bit less. When your baby is 4 months old or so, you will notice this more because by then the baby is demanding more ounces per feed and your body's supply is being used closer to capacity (though strangely, or not strangely, there is always enough! )

You will find, though, that if you express, for example, 2oz off each side first thing in the morning before feeding your baby, it will be quite watery and not have as much creamy stuff in it. If you express one side fully, you get a better mixture of thirst-quenching and rich hindmilk.

Thanks Limpet

I was concerned my supply may be running out as AF arrived yesterday but today I woke up with a big wet patch on my top, so hoping all is ok !

I'll see how I go expressing in the evenings when DH is around to watch M, and I'll express in the morning when he's around.

I just want to be able to build up a little stock so we can have a longer day out.

I guess I have to be careful that I leave M enough as she's feeding about every 2 hours just now, but can go for longer at night

xxxxxx