expressing

[Jadie]

hiya, I am thinking about expressing milk so i can spend so time alone with my partner!

could you give me advice on whats the best way?

I only want to be away for a few hours, but oliver is feeding evert two hours, for 30 mins, so not sure if i have time to express even!!

my baby has just gone 4 weeks old!

thanks

 

[Rosieroo]

Hi Jadie
Does your baby feed 2 hourly through the night? If not then I would pump at the same time your baby feeds off of you in the morning - you will have more milk then as your breasts produce more in the morning. I would also try pumping after each feed - you wont get much out but this should help increase your supply anyway.
Once you've pumped put the milk in a sterilised container in the fridge. You can add more milk to already expressed milk if it has been chilled to the same temperature. The milk must have been expressed within the past 12 hours. Then you can freeze the milk into one container. It will take a while to build up enough of a supply for a few hours away from your baby as your milk supply is still not settled.
Make sure you are well hydrated aswell - drink plenty of water/squash through the day.
You will also want to be careful that you aren't away from your baby for too long - like I've said your supply still isn't settled and your boobs are getting used to how much your baby needs them. If you aren't feeding off of them for a while then your supply may drop to meet demand. As it's a one off then it *should* be ok. Your little one is also coming up to a major growth spurt time, so don't be disheartened if they start feeding like mad.

 

[Jadie]

thanks for your help, i think i will leave it a few weeks yet, i am not to keen on leaving him yet anyway but my mother in law says we should go out!

i know i should do what i think, and that is stay with my little man!!

we can take oilver with us if we go out together, thats why i am bf anyway so dont nmeed to mess with bottles etc! when i am out!!!

i think she just wants to look after him without us!

jadie!

 

[Rosieroo]

Sounds like it!

Don't leave him til you're happy to - stuff the Mil!

I left Ella for the first time just before she turned 2 months. We went up the road for a meal for a couple of hours. I fed her before I went and left some EBM for my mum to give her. She drained it all and then took a big feed when I got back.
The 2nd time I left her was a couple weeks ago - she went down to bed at 8.30 so I didn't need to feed her when I got back and she was asleep the whole time I was gone.
Might be better to go out when your supply is more settled? Don't feel bullied into leaving Oliver, you know what's best and when you're ready.