How much will she need ?

[Lola's Mummy]

Hello

I can't believe i've only just found this forum, It's so helpful.

Can someone please give me some advice ?

My little girl is nearly 6 weeks old and i'm breastfeeding her, I'm planning to go out for my friends birthday in 2 weeks so i will need to express some milk but i'm not sure how much she will need.

How do I know how much she takes at each feed ?

Will she take the same amount at each feed as the amount of time she feeds for varies ?

Should I get some formula incase there isn't enough ?

Thanks

 

[Tina & Gabs]

Hi and welcome to the forum

This is always a tricky one as when you are breastfeeding you are not sure how much your lil one takes.

I went out when Gabs was a little baby for the night and I started expressing a few weeks before to ensure I had enough.

I think I made them up as 4oz bottles and I am sure I made up 6 but I had some spare in the freezer too; just in case.

Try and express as much as you can and you can get those freezer bags to store it in too.

Congratulations on the birth of your little girl and I hope you enjoy your night out

 

[Lola's Mummy]

Thanks for the advice.

I've started expressing today and i've managed to get 3oz

Will this be the amount Lola takes at a feed ?

If not will the amount increase every time i express ?

 

[cloud9]

hi
Welcome when D was your LO's age he could polish off a 6 0z bottle easily he was a greedy boy mind..

You can make up some and freeze it that way you won't have to worry there is enough

have a good night out

 

[valentine]

Hi Lola's Mummy!

Welcome to the forum. Your little girl is beautiful (not that I'm biased - she looks just like mine!).

I would carry on expressing to practice (and freeze what you get out for future use in b/milk storage bags or bottles). The amount you can express is very individual. I would try to have a couple of bottles in the fridge and more in the freezer, just in case.

I always make sure I get fore and hind milk (fore is watery and thirst quenching whereas hind is v. creamy and has all the calories) as once I just expressed a small amount and it looked like water with a drop of milk in it and I think was just fore milk, I didn't wait for the hind milk, DD was not impressed - not very satisfying for her, I don't think!

It depends how long you'll be away from her for, but you may also need to think about taking a breast pump with you in case you get to engorged - you might need to express and dump.

Have you tried Lola with a bottle? We've found (in our limited experience) that we have to keep reminding DD about it. She'll be fine one night, but then if we leave it for a week, its a huge battle again. My job for next week is to crack this issue.

Let us know how you get on.

Valentine xxx

 

[Lola's Mummy]

Thanks Valentine

The milk looked just like skimmed milk when I had finished expressing but it did start off watery I think it was fore and hind milk.

I gave her the 3oz in a bottle this morning and she seemed to prefer it to the breast I think it was because she didn't have to work as hard to get the milk out

I'm going to carry on expressing and freeze it so there should be enough for me to go out

How many times can I express in 1 day ?

 

[trixipaws]

good luck with expressing and hope u njoy ur nite out.

b careful if u express 2 much ur boobs will make more supply and u will hav big melons that leak everywhere!

u done really well tho i tried melissa with a bottle at about 8 weeks and shes never really taken to it. good on u!