Advice please on expressing/feeding

[Seabrook]

I'm 39+3 so due any day and plan on breast feeding. Today we have been talking about plans for xmas day and it got me thinking.
Id love to be able to enjoy a few glasses of champagne so plan on expressing the night before and Christmas morning..... But how will i know how much my lo will need?

And can i fill up a bottle, warm it up to feed but if it doesn't take it all, warm that up again later or does it need to be thrown away?

 

[Karate Kid]

Heya hun,

You may want to stockpile a little stash in the freezer to be on the safe side. You can buy pre-sterilised storage bags and store them in the freezer for up to 6 months. You can store milk in the fridge for five days and at room temp for six hours after freshly pumped.

C took 4-5 Oz of expressed milk at 4 weeks old. You will get to know how much LO needs it's trial and error.

Once LO has started drinking a bottle you need to finish it within an hour then discard.

Good luck with LOs impending arrival xx

 

[TORino]

For reference, quote from nhs website:

Anything that you put into your body while you are pregnant or breastfeeding can have an effect on your baby. This includes alcohol.
However, research shows that occasional drinking, such as one or two units once or twice a week, is not harmful to your baby while you are breastfeeding. Drinking any more than this can cause problems, such as affecting the mother's 'let down' reflex (release of milk to the nipple area).

I've never expressed for drinking purposes, but then I've never had more than 1-2 small drinks at a time. The thought of looking after the baby with a hangover does not appeal to me

I was advised by the breastfeeding support lady to be careful expressing before your supply is established as (I quote) 'you could end up bottling it for the neighbours' haha. I didn't understand at first but the more you build up in excess of what your baby needs, the bigger your boobs get, then they don't get drained and you have to express more and then you produce more - it can be a vicious cycle if you aren't careful.

If you are set on expressing I would do 1oz per boob over the course of a couple of days and freeze it in bags like kk said. You'll probably only need 4oz per feed.

Good luck.

 

[Karate Kid]

For reference, quote from nhs website:

Anything that you put into your body while you are pregnant or breastfeeding can have an effect on your baby. This includes alcohol.
However, research shows that occasional drinking, such as one or two units once or twice a week, is not harmful to your baby while you are breastfeeding. Drinking any more than this can cause problems, such as affecting the mother's 'let down' reflex (release of milk to the nipple area).

I've never expressed for drinking purposes, but then I've never had more than 1-2 small drinks at a time. The thought of looking after the baby with a hangover does not appeal to me

I was advised by the breastfeeding support lady to be careful expressing before your supply is established as (I quote) 'you could end up bottling it for the neighbours' haha. I didn't understand at first but the more you build up in excess of what your baby needs, the bigger your boobs get, then they don't get drained and you have to express more and then you produce more - it can be a vicious cycle if you aren't careful.

If you are set on expressing I would do 1oz per boob over the course of a couple of days and freeze it in bags like kk said. You'll probably only need 4oz per feed.

Good luck.

Thanks for that! I have not had even a sip since my BFP so I have not had to look into it but it makes sense.

As for issues with over supply and expressing, I can vouch that expressing messes with supply as I had to express for 7 weeks before C latched on. My supply has only just settled at 15 weeks xx

 

[l_maclean]

Once LO has started drinking a bottle you need to finish it within an hour then discard.

Good luck with LOs impending arrival xx

No no no no!! This is totally untrue. This applies to formula, but breast milk is different because of the live antibodies in it.

You only ever need to throw out EBM when it's off!!!

8hrs at room temp,
8 days in fridge
6months in freezer

24hrs if defrosted.

Mother2mother website has great expressing info.


On my iPhone - so cant see tickers