Expressing - how much is "a feed" ?

[Melanie3103]

As i sit here expressing for the first time - to enable my hubby to do a feed every couple of days... It strikes me.... As the milk is collecting in the bottle and it creeps up the side - ican read in ml or oz... But... And i know every baby is different and every feed varies... But it occurred to me that i have no idea how much is "a feed" ?

When do i stop and think "theres a bottle for tomorrow" ?

Also am i right in thinking that once hes had part of an expressed feed, the remainder in the bottle needs to be thrown away ? So i dont want to express too much into a bottle without some idea what constitutes "a feed", dont want to waste it... If ive expressed enough for 2 feeds for instance i will split it into 2 bottles.

 

[purpleslurple]

It really depends on your baby and it's trial and error - how old is your LO? At 2 weeks I was expressing 3-4oz for a feed and this increased up to 7oz by the time my LO was 12 weeks.

It also depends how frequently your baby is feeding - if he takes half the feed you can put it in the fridge and re-use if he's going to feed again within a few hours. It is the saliva that causes bacteria to multiply in non-sterile formula feeds which means they need to be discarded.

 

[T84]

Scarlett is 4 weeks on fri and is now just up to 4-5oz and that's does her a few hours. Have you got milk storage bags, you get them from boots etc. they are great for separating feeds. My hv gave me a table for how long to keep the milk for, and she stressed about discarding the rest of the bottle if the feed hasn't been taken in an hour so I always just chuck it. She doesn't tend to waste much tho. Fresh expressed milk can be out at room temp for 6 hours and a bottle from fridge that hasn't been fed from is 4 x x

 

[Melanie3103]

Are the storage bags for freezing or good for fridge use too?

This website says 1.9 - 2.5oz when 10 feeds per day... 1.9 is for babies less than 1month (my lo is just 2wks old).

http://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/pumping/milkcalc/

So im thinking within 24hrs (as i first expressed last night and have expressed a little after every 3 feeds since then). Ive got about 2oz in one bottle in the fridge. Thinking 2oz is possibly a good place to start. Thoughts? If i express after next feed i'll start a fresh bottle.

Im thinking the 'throw away any leftover feed rule' is if u warm up bottle in hot water. Right? As long as i dont warm up too much i wont risk wasting any.

Does that sound about right?
X

 

[T84]

The bags are great, it saves so much waste and confusion for me cos they are labelled. You can also use them for freezing.

S takes hers at room temp so I don't heat hers up, if it's out fridge I'll take the chill off but fresh she will take straight out bottle. I still discard mine after an hour but it's maybe just me being paranoid. Once you get used to what he takes tho he will tend to take the whole feed anyway hopefully. x x