expressing/breast feeding

[mel_ed]

at 1st i was really against the idea of breast feeding but after looking into ive realised ive got to do whats best for my baby.
so ive decided to breast feed for at loeast 6 weeks maybe more depending how it goes. i mostly plan to express milk as i my OH wants to be involved as much as poss which i totally understand and want.

my question is when can i start expressing? because i heard u cant 4 teh 1st few weeks???

 

[Rosie's Mummy]

My MW told me that too, I cant remember how long I left it before I expressed but I know that Merv's Mum will definitely know x

 

[mel_ed]

yeh sure she'll be on soon. wonder that is cant understand why u cant do it straight away

 

[ria__x]

can't help you there but i'm sure someone will reply soon with the right answer! i'm seeing my MW thurs so i'll ask then and let you know if you haven't heard before hand.

congrats on deciding to breastfeed! i totally understand expressing milk so OH can be involved, that's what i've planned too plus it'd be a nice rest for us too! x

 

[kiki]

Ok, so I'm NO expert on the subject but I think the reason you should not express straight away is that the baby needs a different technique to drink from the breast than the bottle. The bottle requires no work from their part and they can start to refuse the breast.

In my case my baby was so sleepy from his jaundice that he would not breast feed so I had to express and feed him that way. And it ended up taking him 3 months before he learned to breast feed. And I did find the constant expressing quite a struggle, so would have prefared to breast feed from the start.

 

[JJ Mum]

I thought it was to do winth making sure you fully establish sucessful breastfeeding before you bring bottles into the equation too.

My first stayed in special care , so they said I could express from the start so he had that milk to give him the anitbodies, he was fed by tube and so when we tried, I had no idea , nor did he! so went straight to the bottle

 

[charliebear]

I thought it was to do winth making sure you fully establish sucessful breastfeeding before you bring bottles into the equation too.

My first stayed in special care , so they said I could express from the start so he had that milk to give him the anitbodies, he was fed by tube and so when we tried, I had no idea , nor did he! so went straight to the bottle

I'm no expert either but I think it could be to do with establishing sucessful breastfeeding and a good supply of milk, so you can feed and then pump??
(I'm sure someone will have the knowledge to answer properly soon!)

 

[Mervs Mum]

Most of the reasons are touched on above.

Firstly BFing is learned - by you and you LO. They need to work out how to feed efficiently. feeding from a bottle is totally different to feeding from a boob and from the bottle is easier. So you start teaching your LO to feed with chopsticks and then tell them they can eat with their hands - they are going to tell you you can shove your chopsticks and you may find they refuse the breast altogether. So if you can wait to introduce a bottle its preferable you wait 4-6 weeks but that's not always possible as in the case of poorly babies.
Another reason is that pumping is a poor mimic of a baby's suck so when you first pump you will often get very little. This can undermine a mums confidence. They see a measly half ounce and start thinking 'OMG my poor baby isnt getting enough! I dont make enough milk!' etc. So if you wait till BFing is established (6 ish weeks) then you are probably feeling confident as you are seeing your baby getting lots of wet and dirty nappies and gaining weight steadily.
So it's best to wait as long as you can to avoid problems with your supply and nipple confusion.

 

[Betty31]

I think breast feeding is great - there's so much research which says its good for your baby. My LO is gaining weight steadily and I'm so happy about it. I'm not really sure about expressing though... although I have heard it takes a while to get the baby to change!! good luck xx

 

[ria__x]

thanks Merv's Mum! when you don't know something and then someone tells you it's weird 'cause you think 'oh that sounds like common sense, why didn't i know that!?' lol. i hope i'm good at breastfeeding!! if not we have a SureStart near us with breast feeding counsellors, such a reassurance! no all we need is a Merv's Mum near us, lol! xxx

 

[megsmeadow]

^^^I agree, but very valuable advice.
Next we'll be getting PF video links to Mervs Mum for advice!! MM, you could go into business here!!

 

[ria__x]

^^^ good idea!! i would watch

 

[Dragonfly Fi]

6 weeks to establish breastfeeding properly, with NO DUMMIES because they completely impeed what you are trying to do - or thats the advice i have been given anyway xx

 

[Mervs Mum]

The purists do say no dummies but I think so long as you wait a good couple of weeks and use them carefully, dummies can be a useful item for BFing mum

 

[JJ Mum]

If you really really wanted to breastfeed, would you think it madness to not buy any bottles or steriliser till after baby was born , so that once your home from hospital, the easy route is not there waiting for you?

This is my last baby unfortunately (OH put down his foot!) and so this is something I really want to try and perhaps master.

 

[Mervs Mum]

If you really really wanted to breastfeed, would you think it madness to not buy any bottles or steriliser till after baby was born , so that once your home from hospital, the easy route is not there waiting for you?

This is my last baby unfortunately (OH put down his foot!) and so this is something I really want to try and perhaps master.

Not at all and tbh in this day and age you can walk into any 24hr supermarket and buy it all anyway.

 

[ERIN84]

Good point JJ Mum - I have got some bottles (which I think are even too big for newborns - they were on offer) which I dont plan on using! No steriliser and I'm not planning on buying one till after I have bub for that exact reason! As MM says, if your desperate any supermarket has them! I have a 24 hr Tesco about 1 min walk away so I wont be stuck! xxx

 

[katiejane]

Thanks Mervs mum this is very useful information. I'm a bit dissapointed as I want my baby to get all the goodness etc from breast milk, but had hoped on half expressing, half breast feeding straight away so my OH could be as involved, so waiting 6 weeks is a bit of a let down if that makes sense. But i'm glad I know now and get my head around it in plenty of time, plus i will do what ever's best for my baby ultimatly, it was just a idea in my head. Great thread though xx

 

[racheldee]

i remember my mw saying about feeding baby breast milk with a teaspoon, just wondering if this is only for the first few days to give baby all the colostrum or could you do it any time as i was thinking that could be a way to have partner feed baby without interfering with establishing baby on the breast instead of using a bottle or would this confuse baby?
i hope that makes sense, i'm just curious haha

 

[Rosie's Mummy]

After my C-section they told me to syringe my colostrum to give to Rosie, I still dont know why I had to do that! It was very weird at first! At least this time I know exactly what I should be doing