When can i start expressing?

[jills10uk]

I'm planning to BF if possible and i wondered when i can start expressing for DH to feed baby?
Also - is there a good time to express, ie if i express some and baby demands a feed a half hour later will i have enough to feed baby?

 

[moss]

I just had my breastfeeding workshop last night and the midwives there said you would have to wait for your supply to fully establish, which they said takes varying time but could be about five or six weeks... They also didn't recommend switching back and forth from a bottle until the baby was used to the breast enough not to turn up their nose at that in favour of the bottle, which is a lot less work for them.

I would be interested to know if this advice coincides with everyone's experience, though!

 

[Sherlock]

Usually they say from 6 weeks onwards.

This is to ensure BF'ing is well and truly established and LO does not get confused. Sucking from a nipple is very different from a bottle and for this reason they say 6 weeks. Bottles are much easier and can cause baby to get lazy and then not suck properly on the breast.

Also you need to build up your boobs with the demand feeding and get a good supply going.

Saying this, on advice from my HV I began expressing the odd feed for OH to do from when LO was about 18 days old. But this was only because LO is a very demanding feeder and I was suffering from health problems after his birth. HV felt I needed a break and there was no danger of LO losing his knack on the boob. I expressed for a bit but tbh its been hard work as it messes with my supply and so on and I've more or less given up now.

Expressing is best done in the morning I find. If you express from one boob and then do a feed from the other half an hour later be aware that if you then need to feed LO an hour later you may not have enough milk in supply. Hence the waiting till 6 weeks when supply is established and built up.

I found if LO slept and my boob was full and swollen I would express then and freeze for later so I was always at least one feed in hand and it didn't matter quite so much if I got out of the pattern. I only ever express one boob so I always have the other for the next feed.

 

[mum's the word]

Do you hope to breast feed for quite a while? If so I would strongly advise tou to try to establish some sort of pattern before you express so that you know where you are with the feeds and you feel confident that you have fully established breastfeeding.

 

[jills10uk]

Thanks all - much appreciated.
Yes i plan to BF for a good while if it goes well, i just would like DH to feel involved and be able to involve the rest of our families with little one too,
Also for selfish reasons if i'm very tired or if i fall ill then would like DH to be able to take over.
I will do my best to get the whole 6 weeks established before i start switching between the 2.

 

[moss]

Oh also (sorry- I know I have no experience but I'm just repeating what they told me yesterday), they say that expressing really doesn't give you a break at all until you have an established supply. I don't know exactly what they said, but it was something like 20 minutes of the handpump can often not even give you enough to cover the bottom of the bottle. So, it's discouraging and you would be at it constantly- if not feeding than pumping. I kind of liked my workshop. If you have one available I would recommend it! :]

 

[charlie84]

Yep they do recommend waiting till about six weeks for your supply to establish. However i started to express at six weeks so OH could feed LO but she never took to it. She could never figure out what to do with the teat and eventually she got so upset everytime we tried so i stopped. So you may find baby might not take the bottle.

When it comes to how much you will manage to express, it will vary. Some women can get loads off and some just cant get that much off at all. I found the best time to express for me is first thing of a morning after Calleigh has had her first feed of the day as i am usually quite full. I can usually get off over 6ozs.