Expressing ??

[hello1231]

Hey any mummies on here that have breastfed and express aswell?

How does it work ? I want to express but have no idea how it works

What times do u do it ? for how long ? do u keep topping up the same
bottle when expressing

 

[lisa1985]

I am breastfeeding and expressing. We had latching problems from left breast, so I feed from right breast, then pump from left. Depends on pump you have, i have a lansinoh which is pretty good. I think Medela is even better but more expensive. Depending on your supply also, but it takes me about 30 mins to get 3ozs, sometimes longer, sometimes shorter. Breast milk expressed is ok out at room temp for 6 hours, then you have to pop it in fridge. So you could pump, leave on side for 2 hours,then pump again, then feed? Hope this makes sense. Breast milk is sterile so you don't need to sterilise pump after each use, I sterilise mine once a day. I pump maybe 3 times a day, every few hours, I think it is also a good idea to pump once in the night as I read it increases your supply for the next day. It may be a good idea to pop this question in the breastfeeding or combination group too xx

 

[Birdie]

I was really hoping to do this when I had my son, but I just couldn't express... almost nothing came out unless I was really engorged! Then I worried that if I pumped I wouldn't have enough for the next feed as my son fed very frequently, so I just prioritised proper feeding & establishing my supply. My son then wouldn't take a bottle at all, so it meant I was fully committed to the breastfeeding, which has its pluses and minuses!

Next time I'm going to attempt mix feeding & introducing a bottle much earlier.

 

[hello1231]

what is mix feeding ? how dos that work

 

[flexilexi394]

With my DD I successfully managed breast feeding and pumping.

I am trying to remember how I did it... I think I would feed her, started building a supply by emptying what she didn't drink after feeding, then if my partner or someone fed whilst I was out or working etc. I would express a full feeds worth whilst being out or working. I have a medela swing and it is extremely efficient at pumping. I built it up to almost 9oz a day!

When she got a bit older (7-8 months) I cut down the pumping, and I switched to formula so I would breast feed when I was with her, if someone else needed to feed they would do a formula feed and then my supply in boobies whittled down. I finished breast feeding when she was 1.

I fully plan on doing this again as well - it worked really well for me! Xx

 

[Rose83]

Long story but basically thrush issues meant I ended up exclusively express breast feeding by 8 weeks. I spent a fortune on the Medela freestyle double pump and was worth every penny. Per day I pumped in excess of 1000ml at the height of my daughters feeding and somehow I trained my body to do this in only 4 sessions of about 20 minutes each (both boobs at same time). In the early days my daughter wouldn't feed from left boob so I started pumping that one almost from day 1 and my right adjusted to supply enough for each feed so I would feed from right and pump from left and freeze that milk. That was very useful when I started having problems as then I could use the milk I had frozen while I established pumping from both. I used Medela calma teat bottles too and they were great as never caused nipple confusion while she was still feeding from me. By 7 and a half months I was a few months pregnant again and my milk supply totally dried up which is the only reason I then switched to formula x