expressing and formula

[Amylize]

Hi ladies,
Just a quick question for those who are expressing and feeding baby with formula milk. How often do you express? And how often do you feed your baby breastmilk?

 

[KarenC]

Hey hun. Congrats on the birth of your little girl! I'm combi feeding and expressing because LO is lazy on the breast, so this is what I do:

She feeds roughly every three hours. I feed her 2oz expressed milk then put her on the breast. A lot of people do it the other way round but I was wasting too much breastmilk when she decided she didn't want any more of her bottle. Then I express from that same breast either immediately or up to an hour afterwards. If I run out of expressed milk I give her a bit of formula instead, which is about 4-6oz per day now. So I'm expressing between 6-8 times per day from one breast each time and for at least ten minutes each time.

I'm sure others will have different things to say, but this is working for me so far. Hope it helps xxx

 

[pinkyprincess]

Amazing website on exclusive pumping http://www.mother-2-mother.com/ExclusivePumping.htm

Why are you not bfing your baby? Have you had a problem? A baby will always get more milk from you than a pump and the babies saliva encourages milk production so if you can put baby on a couple of times a day, ESP as night as that's when your milk production is highest.

 

[MrsT2011]

I'm combi feeding as well and I express at least 6 times a day and give him approx 8oz of formula to top up.
B normally has 4oz at a time so the 2 top ups are normally coz I miss a pump during the day when out and one at night so I get extra sleep!
I pump for about half a hour a time.

 

[Amylize]

She wouldnt latch on thats why im not breastfeeding and she seemed to take bottle better. As she was just using me as a comfort thing and turning my nipples black.
I dont really want to exclusively express tbh as bottle feeding seems to be going well, but my boobs are so painful and large that I can express some milk. I can seem to get about 100ml. I was just wondering whether to keep just giving her the one lot of expressed milk or not to express and wait out the production of milk. Just my boobs get so sore by the evening if I leave them. If this makes sense?

 

[Amylize]

She wouldnt latch on thats why im not breastfeeding and she seemed to take bottle better. As she was just using me as a comfort thing and turning my nipples black.
I dont really want to exclusively express tbh as bottle feeding seems to be going well, but my boobs are so painful and large that I can express some milk. I can seem to get about 100ml. I was just wondering whether to keep just giving her the one lot of expressed milk or not to express and wait out the production of milk. Just my boobs get so sore by the evening if I leave them. If this makes sense?

 

[pinkyprincess]

The 'comfort' thing is just establishing milk supply very normal.

Well obviously it's best for baby to get your milk if possible so a bottle a day (for eg) would be very beneficial. Defo worry reading the link for pumping advice I've found it useful and I rarely pump these days.

 

[FirstBabyEek]

Hey hun. Congrats on the birth of your little girl! I'm combi feeding and expressing because LO is lazy on the breast, so this is what I do:

She feeds roughly every three hours. I feed her 2oz expressed milk then put her on the breast. A lot of people do it the other way round but I was wasting too much breastmilk when she decided she didn't want any more of her bottle. Then I express from that same breast either immediately or up to an hour afterwards. If I run out of expressed milk I give her a bit of formula instead, which is about 4-6oz per day now. So I'm expressing between 6-8 times per day from one breast each time and for at least ten minutes each time.

I'm sure others will have different things to say, but this is working for me so far. Hope it helps xxx

This sounds like a great plan! Toby fusses like mad at the breast and is also a lazy feeder, his latch isn't deep enough either nor is he happy to 'work' for the milk. I feel we rarely get to the high fat content milk because he falls asleep too quickly and therefore some days seems to feed constantly as he's hungry - so I think I'll be giving your way a try as I'm worried that my milk production might not establish well if he's not demanding it enough.
Xx

 

[FirstBabyEek]

Sorry double post!

 

[KarenC]

This sounds like a great plan! Toby fusses like mad at the breast and is also a lazy feeder, his latch isn't deep enough either nor is he happy to 'work' for the milk. I feel we rarely get to the high fat content milk because he falls asleep too quickly and therefore some days seems to feed constantly as he's hungry - so I think I'll be giving your way a try as I'm worried that my milk production might not establish well if he's not demanding it enough.
Xx

Definitely give it a go, hun. My method is the 'finish at the breast' method, which isn't very popular, but is good for me. If I make sure that I drain the breast with a pump after each feed, then LO gets the good fat-rich stuff and my boobs get stimulated to make more because they've been emptied. You should see Tilly now - she's a right fatty (but shhhhh, don't tell her!) - and I'm only supplementing a little each day. I'm not suggesting that you have a supply problem, but I found this site really interesting: http://www.lowmilksupply.org/index.shtml

Whatever the case, expressing is a really good way of helping to establish your supply. Hope you're doing well, sweetie xxx

 

[pinkyprincess]

Hey hun. Congrats on the birth of your little girl! I'm combi feeding and expressing because LO is lazy on the breast, so this is what I do:

She feeds roughly every three hours. I feed her 2oz expressed milk then put her on the breast. A lot of people do it the other way round but I was wasting too much breastmilk when she decided she didn't want any more of her bottle. Then I express from that same breast either immediately or up to an hour afterwards. If I run out of expressed milk I give her a bit of formula instead, which is about 4-6oz per day now. So I'm expressing between 6-8 times per day from one breast each time and for at least ten minutes each time.

I'm sure others will have different things to say, but this is working for me so far. Hope it helps xxx

This sounds like a great plan! Toby fusses like mad at the breast and is also a lazy feeder, his latch isn't deep enough either nor is he happy to 'work' for the milk. I feel we rarely get to the high fat content milk because he falls asleep too quickly and therefore some days seems to feed constantly as he's hungry - so I think I'll be giving your way a try as I'm worried that my milk production might not establish well if he's not demanding it enough.
Xx

I'd urge you to also read the link above I posted for reference! Such a good site!

 

[FirstBabyEek]

Thanks, I'll have a read of that site and work on keeping him interested and awake enough to swallow rather than just suckle xx

 

[FirstBabyEek]

Sorry double post!