Expressing

[tetra]

Hi ladies,

Upto now Alex has been EBF but I want to introduce an expressed bottle in the night so that my OH can do a feed and I can get a bit of sleep in more than 3hr chunks!
Problem is I have no idea how much Alex should be taking.

I feed him from one breast per feed so he will feed twice or three times from the one breast each feed with burpings inbetween.

I have just tried expressing for the first time, and when I express from one breast I only get about 1oz before the flow slows down.

I'm new to this so is there any particular technique that I should be using? Should I have been feeding Alex from both breasts each feed upto now (he seems satisfied though)?

And the main question is, at 9 days, how many oz should I have expressed for his feed during the night?

Any help is much appreciated!! x

 

[Mummybexee]

Found this on google - might not be exactly true and may be worth speaking to breast feeding support or your HV but this may be somewhere to start

Id say express what you can- feed LO - if he's still hungry afterwards then pop him on the boob to top up and try to see if you can get more out ?

I think it really will be trial and error as he's still young - keep me posted on how you get on - I plan to start expressing this week but 1 daily bottle feeding next week/week after

A 6 pound baby needs about 6 × 2.5 = 15 ounces per 24 hours
A 7 pound baby needs about 7 × 2.5 = 17.5 ounces per 24 hours
An 8 pound baby needs about 8 × 2.5 = 20 ounces per 24 hours
A 9 pound baby needs about 9 × 2.5 = 22.5 ounces per 24 hours
And a 10 pound baby needs about 10 × 2.5 = 25 ounces per 24 hours
How much milk a baby needs at each feeding depends on how many feedings per day the baby is having. Most breastfeed babies younger than 3 months old need at least 10-12 feedings per day. So if we take the example of a 9 pound baby who is having 10 feedings each day, the baby needs 22.5 ounces each day ÷ 10 feedings = 2.25 ounces per feeding. A baby who is feeding more frequently would need slightly less each feeding, and a baby who is feeding less frequently would need slightly more.

 

[purpleslurple]

My LO was taking about 2oz of expressed breast milk at 2 weeks although this seemed to increased rapidly. I express daily and it takes me 3 attempts to get the 8oz he now takes per feed at 14 weeks. I only feed him from one breast at each feed.

Giving a bottle was a lifesaver for us at 2 weeks as it allowed me to get a bit more sleep. Now hubby and I alternate nights and our son still gets bottle fed when OH is on duty!

What kind of pump do you have? You can leave the pump attached to the bottle and put it back in the fridge to pump some more later in the day - I found this helps as you don't have to keep washing and sterilising it between pumps.

 

[tetra]

Well I've expressed just under 4oz today which I assume will be will be well more than enough, going to see how he goes - I'll see what he takes tonight and then express a just a little more than that tomorrow just incase he's hungrier.
He tends to do the bare minimum as far as feeds go so 8 or 9 in 24 hours so I was using 3oz as a rough guesstimate... We shall see what the night brings!

I hope he's ok on the bottle, Nick is so looking forward to feeding him! x

 

[tetra]

I've just got the tommy tippee manual pump for now! I was expressing into the little pots each time as I wasn't sure whether I could keep expressing into one bottle - thanks for the tip! x

 

[AmeliaM27]

I've found a lot of the guides on the internet to be of not much use as they tend to assume that baby will take the same amount of breast milk as they do formula. I've found that my baby will take far more breast milk than formula - he's nearly 5 weeks and will take 3 - 3.5 ounces of formula but will take 4.5 - 5 ounces of expressed breast milk.

Don't worry that your baby isn't getting enough from 1 side - babies are far better and more efficient at getting milk out than a pump is. If he seems satisified and is pooing/weeing normally then I'd continue doing what you're doing. I can get about 2- 2.5 ounces per boob when expressing but my LO will usually get enough from one side when breastfed so he must be getting around double to what I can express.

I would seriously consider getting a decent electric pump as they really do get more out in less time and are much easier. I've got the medela swing and it's brilliant - expensive but worth it. My LO doesn't like the bottle teats that come with it though (too much like hard work!) so I'm still using my avent bottles and teats.

 

[purpleslurple]

I have the Philips Avent electric pump and bottles and they're great. Like I said, I just leave the pump attached so I can keep topping up the bottle throughout the day and sterilise it each night. We've stayed on the newborn teats even though LO is 14 weeks as it means the milk doesn't come out too fast and is more like the boob.

Another tip though - if your LO ends up not feeding from you for a while as he's sleeping longer and getting a feed from your OH - always make sure your pump is ready for use as waking up with hugely engorged boobs and having to wait for your steriliser to finish and cool down is not pleasant!!

 

[tetra]

If I'm going to be expressing more I'll definitely invest in an electric pump - all seems to be going well for the time being but pumping manually is time consuming!
After being a little confused by the bottle at first he took just under 3oz once he realised what was happening, so I'm expressing just over that for tonight just to be safe. No problems on the boob this morning either so I'm happy! x

 

[Mummybexee]

Great stuff!! Glad to hear it xx