Need some brestfeeding advice!

[Tanya4beauty]

Well so far breast feeding is going really well for me, Mia latches on really well and we've mastered positioning after struggling for the first couple of days. My previously small boobs seem to have been made for feeding cos it just pours out!! my midwife weighed her on sat and she had only lost 1oz so I was chuffed!
Anyway my reasons for this post are that it breaks my heart that in just under 4 weeks I have my first day at work
I've spoken to my midwife about it and also my brestfeeding team who I'm seeing tomorrow and they both suggest I try expressing and bottle feed it to her. Unfortunately I can't get into a position where she will only take breast as I can't be here to feed her. I would rather she relied on bottle so I know she's getting fed properly and I'm prepared to put in the work expressing. Ideally I'd like to be able to feed her myself at night and by bottle during the day but there is the risk she won't take the breast again after having a bottle when she's so young.
I just wondered if anyone could offer any advice on this, ie how much she will need at each feed, how often I will need to express to keep my milk supply going etc. any experiences of others would be greatly appreciated.
I've got the medala swing pump which I tried out on the breast Mia had finished feeding off the other night and still managed to get 100ml off so I def have a good supply there!
Thanks in advance xx

 

[kanga86]

Don't really have much advice to give, but I have expressed a few bottles for Harry. He was first given a bottle at 3wks and he still takes to being breast fed and bottle fed, so it is possible to express during the day and bf at night. As for how much, I reckon u would need to express every 3-4 hours, but I'm not sure! Harry can take between 3-6 oz a bottle, so u woul just have to see how much u get each time u express.

There are some ladies on here who do express solely so should be able to offer more advice. It sucks u have to return to work so soon xx

 

[FirstBabyEek]

I'm breast feeding too but my supply seems to be low so I'm expressing between feeds to try and get my supply up. Toby, who is only two and a half weeks old, has taken both bottle (breast milk) and breast fine. I have tommee tippee bottles as the Mw said that they are close to nipple shape.

I think so long as you continue to pump at the times your LO would normally feed then that would be fine xx

 

[Tanya4beauty]

I have the tommee tippee closer to nature bottles too so hopefully they'll be ok. Thanks for the replies. Xx

 

[pinkyprincess]

It has been known for babies who refuse the bottle to just feed through the night (provided you cosleep) but I'm not sure how that works so young?

 

[MrsT2011]

I exclusively pump and need to pump roughly every 3 hours to keep my supply but would of thought you would need to do that much if your feeding at night although you may start to get uncomfortable after a while. At 6 weeks B takes roughly 4oz from a bottle every 3ish hours although will go 5 hours at night. Medela swing is brilliant but I have just ordered a double hospital grade pump so that I can express quicker and keep giving him my milk for longer.
Good luck it sounds like your doing a great job x
P.s my friend gave bottles during the day and fed her LO at night so it can work.

 

[Happyred]

My midwife told me that nipple confusion is actually very rare and usually only occurs in premature babies. Providing lo is latching on well, you should be able to combine bottle and breast no bother.
Im afraid I cant offer any advice when it comes to expressing, as I havent tried it myself yet. Good luck though.

 

[Tanya4beauty]

Well the brestfeeding lady came today and I feel much happier. Basically I'm to feed her as normal then express what's left off both breasts to get a back up store going! I was worried this would mean I wouldn't have enough for her next feed but she reassures me that my body will get used to supplying more. When I go back to work I'm to try and express some off when she would normally feed and she didn't think I'd have any problems with going from breast to bottle. We will see what happens!! Wish me luck! Think I may try out the 4am bottle feed on hubby tonight!! x