Expressing Support Thread

[Nicky_Jones]

I would really like to have an expressing support thread. Is this possible? Are other people interested or would I be talking to myself?

Thanks

The sort of questions I have are:

When expressing at work is it best to stick to the times you would normal feed your LO?
I am using a Tommee Tippee freedom breast pump, but at times get fed up of pumping. Has anybody had a chance to try both the hand pumps and electric ones?
I get quite a different amount from one day to the next. e.g. Yesterday I got the most ever at about 10:30 of 9oz in one go, but today I only got nearly 5oz at the same sort of time. Is that normal, do other people find the same?
I can never express of as much at 13:30 as I can at 10:30, yesterday I got of 4oz at 13:30 but often it is only 3oz. I rely on getting more off on the morning session to top up the afternoon bottle.
I always start with the breast I didn't start with last time, then when that stops producing any milk, switch to the other breast, then back to the first, and so on until I can't get any more off. Is this sensible? Have other people come up with better strategies?
Am I alone? ie am I the only one here who has gone back to work and carried on breastfeeding and expressing for the feeds you are not with your LO for?

I am sure I have a lot more questions but that is a starter for ten.

Thanks

 

[Tina & Gabs]

Hi Nicky

I just wanted to say well done for continuing to breastfeed/express for your LO; it really must be hard work.

I am reducing my feeds for Gabriella now and introducing more formula as I want to have stopped breastfeeding when I go back to work in June.

I am sure there are other mummies on here that are still feeding and working and can help you but I just wanted to say well done

 

[Lyndsey]

I have tried an electric medula pump and found that I hardly got any off!

I normally use the Avent hand held one and can sometimes get 8oz off in one go. I normally express at about 10 in the evening in bed I don't have time to try to express in the day really.... I then use this ebm for Logans feed the next evening........ but I am thinking about expressing more as I may have to go back to work in May.... I would love to hear about other mums ways/experiences of expressing...

 

[Nicky_Jones]

Wow, 8oz on the evening is incredible. The most I have ever managed on an evening is 1oz and often not that much. Which is why I have given up trying then. I find if I need to get extra for her bottles (because I haven't got enough the previous day) if I express off between 6:30 and 7am before I get her up, I can easily express of the extra I need.

Thanks for that on the electric pump. I guess I will be better off with the hand one.

The stock I built up I expressed of after her morning feed at anywhere between 8am and 9am. I did it while sitting with her on the mat with her playing with her toys.

 

[Jadie]

Hiya girls. Great idea! Well done for expressing at work.

I found In the mornings I could express more. eventully I could only get a let down if he cried. I cant express any more. I guess my supply really settled down.

You will proberly express more in the mornings as the prolacing is produced bewteen 1 and 10 in the mornings. (something like that anyway.)
You need to be really relaxed to get a let down when expressing. Also try gently massaging your breast before you start as this will stimulate the milk hormones.

I used botha hand and electric pump, i found the eletric less work but i did nt really get more milk.

Any one tried hand expressing?

Have you PM urchin to ask about making this a sticky?

I will add more information when and if I remenber any!

Jade

 

[skatty]

This thread is a great idea. I like Lyndsey express 8oz just before bed for the following evening but want to start pumping more as it just isn't possible to BF Leorah when out and about anymore, she just keeps pulling off to look around I am worried if I empty both breasts after a feed they wont fill up enough for the next feed, does anyone find this a problem? Also I am just starting to wean Leorah onto solids and would like for her to drink BM from a cup while eating. I think I may start power pumping in the morning so I can collect an extra 4oz for the day. The only problem is now and then she'll be wide awake at 4/5am and even though she doesn't need it I feed her to get her to sleep which means when we get up I don't have as much to pump.

 

[Nicky_Jones]

Are you dreamfeeding Leorah? If not that might stop her waking at 4/5am?

I went through exactly the same problem with Ellie, wanting to look and watch everything else going on.

When I express of some milk at around 7am - the most I have expressed of then is 4oz, it doesn't seem to effect Ellie's 7:30 feed and the amount that I am able to express of at 10:30 and 13:30.

I have been tempted to express off then and at 10:30 and not worry about expressing off at 13:30 but I am worried that will affect my supply? Anybody know if it will?

When I was building up stock I was expressing off about 8:30am and was getting anything upto 5oz off, and again Ellie didn't seem to notice or struggle with how much she got off me. When I first started expressing then, I only got about 2oz off. As I did it more reguarly the amount I got off increased. Again I was expressing both breasts.

 

[skatty]

Thanks for that Nicky I am ggoing to give it a go expressing both sides as of tomorrow.

I don't dreamfeed Leorah as she just wont take it unless she's hungry so she either carries onn sleeping or wakes right up She woke at 6am today which is fine as my DH normally gets up at 6am so he gets a few hours with her before work.

I have to say last night I went to watch a dvd in bed at 8pm and by 8.30pm I had fallen asleep and woke at 11pm. Anyway I pumped off 11oz in about 15 minutes!!! It must be true that rest and being relaxed helps. My boobs have been filling up all day again today so I also got 4oz off this morning and another oz later in the day so I was able to put 8oz in the freezer. I do have carpal tunnel from all the pumping though and its starting to give me shootiong pains up my arm sometimes

Can I just say I have such respect for you mums that are back at work and pumping. I think if Leorah was able to tolerate formula nd I was back at work I'd have definitely switched over so well done

 

[Nicky_Jones]

Well done, Skatty you are doing great. I really wasn't sure if I was going to be able to managed expressing and going back to work, but I was worried that if I supplement her daytime feeds with formula that my supply would start to drop so much so that I wouldn't be able to carry on breast feeding when we were together.

A tip for those who express several times a day - rather than cleaning and sterilising inbetween pumping sessions. Just keep the breast pump in the fridge. It just has fresh milk on it so as long as it is refridgerated it will be fine just as the expressed milk is fine kept in the fridge. I just pop it into the sterlising tub to make sure nothing contaminates it.

Weaning has finally started to make a difference for us. I thought it was going to be a one off but Ellie has refused her 10:30 milk feed the last 4 days on the trot now. Woohoo! 2 days were while at nursery but the following 2 days she was with me. I thought that she would take some when she was with me but she just wasn't interested at all. Now this afternoon she had her 4pm feed at 4:45pm, so I am going to not offer her any at 6pm and see how it goes. This will hopefully mean I will only need to now express of 1 feed a day. Unfortunately she is still waking for 1 feed during the night at the moment - I would have really rather she would have dropped that feed first but at least it looks like she is now taking enough solids to not need so much milk.

 

[Nicky_Jones]

I can't express anywhere near as much off from my left breast as my right breast and the difference seems to be getting worse. Does anybody else find this? Does anybody have any ideas of what I could try to increase the flow from that breast?

 

[Nicky_Jones]

Anyway I pumped off 11oz in about 15 minutes!!!

Skatty have you found you have been pumping this amount of since or has it gone back to your normal amount? If it has gone back to your normal amount, I reckon the reason you could pump of so much is because Leorah is starting to reduce how much milk she takes from you during the day due to weaning. I have noticed a sudden increase in the amount I can take off on the morning on the rare occasions Ellie doesn't need a night feed and after dropped her morning feed.

 

[Nicky_Jones]

Hows everybody doing? After PM's with Snowbunny I bought the Avent ISIS breastpump. It is so much easier to pump the milk off with this. The Tommee Tippee one you have to keep pumping constantly, however this one maintains the suction so you pump and hold for a few seconds, pump and hold for a seconds. Overall I am doing a fraction of the number of pumps for the same amount of milk. It is so much easier on your arm muscles. In some ways the Avent pump isn't as good - it is more fiddly as there are more parts, it tends to leak a bit more milk from the cup area and I don't think it is as robust.... but these are all out weighed by less muscle ache!

 

[LilMissEmmylou]

i have to say my freedom pump left me with a sore hand after a bit so i got a madela electric one, its fab! Safes time and energy!

 

[Nicky_Jones]

That is good to hear. I now only need to express of one bottle a day, now so a hand one is good enough.

 

[mrs_tommo22]

Iwant to breatsfeed but express it into a bottle, whats the likely hood of this working?
I cant breatsfeed cos my boobs are fucking huge and will smother the child, so expressing instaed and gewtting a advent hand pump

 

[Becky101]

Have you been told you can't breastfeed or just think you won't be able to?

Sorry don't know if you have any experience or not?

 

[Tasha20]

Iwant to breatsfeed but express it into a bottle, whats the likely hood of this working?
I cant breatsfeed cos my boobs are f**k huge and will smother the child, so expressing instaed and gewtting a advent hand pump

There are lots of mummys with big breasts that succesfully breastfeed

Find out were your local support group and lactation consultant is before deciding you cant do it, give it ago hun

 

[Nicky_Jones]

Your baby is by far the best thing to get your milk established. The reason I started this thread is that I was finding it really hard to express enough milk for my LO while she was at nursery and I was at work. The pumps don't stimulate your milk any where near as well as your baby will and TBH the pumps struggling to even maintain your supply let alone increase it.

I am sure you won't smother your baby.

 

[EllieG]

My HV said to me that if I can forsee myself needing to leave Freya for any length of time and therefore requiring EBM by bottle, I should introduce it to her betweeen 5 and 7 weeks, so i tried today withthe closer to nature pump, i tried expressing at 7pm, i would have preferred to do it in the morning but they are such a rush as i have to get my 2 dd to school. Antway, I only managed about half an ounce and was really dissapointed. Is this normal?? On a good note she took the bottle well.... all half ounce of it!

 

[Rosieroo]

1/2oz is still something and it's really encouraging that she took it well. As your DD is still young and feeding a lot it's great that you managed to get even that off. Mornings are better for expressing, but I find that whilst I get a higher volume of milk first thing it's not as satisfying to DS as evening milk which normally has a much thicker layer of creamy milk when it seperates (well mine does lol). As your DD starts demanding more milk you'll be producing more, but don't forget that your boobs are producing what she needs so anything you take off is in excess to this and probably wont be much to begin with (if that makes sense!). I express last thing at night (DS has ebm in the evenings) and can now get off up to 10oz (normally between 5-9), but that's because there has been about 5 hours since he last fed.