Pls advise on expressing milk

vonn81

vonn81

Member
Hi mummies out there pls advise:

I've been latching on my DD many mths back till now so have not been expressing my milk since then. Used to express during the mid night feed cos that time my DD only drink 1 side.( so i will store the milk in freezer) But now she drink both sides so not enough to express to store,beside she only drink ard 5-6 am and her last feed is 10 plus or 11pm. I did not express during 2-3am. so i think my milk flow is just enough for her.So now the prob is, i have difficulty in expressing even if my breast is full. But i need to store some milk just in case i need to be away for few hrs. so what should i do??


Thanks
 
CanCanMum

CanCanMum

Moderator
hi vonn,

u could express and store them while yr dd is not feeding....

not sure if u r working? If working u will need extra effort to make time to express...

one of my colleagues used to express her milk every morning before shes off to work and then also at night...then store in fridge for the caregiver to feed while she is at work....

but also if u express out and bottle feed she may not want to latch on again coz bottlefeed is easier as they dun need much energy to suck...
 
vonn81

vonn81

Member
hi cancanmum,

nope i'm not working, but the thing is i have prob expressing now. cos too long din express le. Express until very long only 10-20ml. Unless my DD help me to suckle the other side than i can express more think cos of the let down bah. If i express when i'm not feeding her then i may not have enough to feed her later?? cos now my breast is more or less settle down le not much engorement already. then the milk is her amt each day.
(@_-)
 
CanCanMum

CanCanMum

Moderator
oic....

soli wasnt able to answer to yr queries.....:p

but i heard some pumps r effective in tt sense it mimics the sucking action of a bb so tt it lets down more easily....but i don own those mine is the battery type...not so effective...
 
cyssie

cyssie

Member
I would say that it is a blessing that ur baby prefers breasts to bottle... i have been pumping milk right from confinement period (my CL advicesd me to do so, which i regret so much now) and bottle feed my baby and now he loses his suckle instinct already...such a disappointment for me...
 
vonn81

vonn81

Member
CanCanMum said:
oic....

soli wasnt able to answer to yr queries.....:p

but i heard some pumps r effective in tt sense it mimics the sucking action of a bb so tt it lets down more easily....but i don own those mine is the battery type...not so effective...
Click to expand...

Oh its okay, u help alot in answering alot of my queries liao. Wah urs still battery mine manual arh... actually at 1st when i express like during my confinement once my milk flows..its so easy to express. no need help fr DD. But she has slight colic when she is abt 1mth plus so i decided to latch her on fully.so that she wont get to much wind. who knows it lead to that(cant express much) Sigh...
 
vonn81

vonn81

Member
cyssie said:
I would say that it is a blessing that ur baby prefers breasts to bottle... i have been pumping milk right from confinement period (my CL advicesd me to do so, which i regret so much now) and bottle feed my baby and now he loses his suckle instinct already...such a disappointment for me...
Click to expand...
ya i happy that she prefers to latch on now...but its really a headache if i need to be away for awhile...i'm starting to work soon.part-time thou freelance makeup. but i cant imagine if i need to be out for a few hrs n she refuse to drink? luckily she had started on solid.

Dont worry, its ok not to latch ur bb. ur bb still get the best milk fr u right? :)
 
I

instantoats

Member
hi vonn81,

if the prob is due to poor let down, you can try massaging while you pump? i use my knuckles to apply pressure and stroke with my free hand - from the base to the nipples, like pushing the milk out.

if your concern is not having enough for the bb, try pumping about 1-1.5hrs after the last feed. there may be less for bb for the next feed, but your supply should catch up fairly quickly. once you have enough stored up for a few feeds, then you don't have to worry anymore. i'm like you, stay home most of the time and step out of the house for a few hours once in a while. once i come home, there shd be milk to express one bottle (to replace whatever's used up) and feed the baby as well. level of engorgement depends on how long you were away.
 
vonn81

vonn81

Member
instantoats said:
hi vonn81,

if the prob is due to poor let down, you can try massaging while you pump? i use my knuckles to apply pressure and stroke with my free hand - from the base to the nipples, like pushing the milk out.

if your concern is not having enough for the bb, try pumping about 1-1.5hrs after the last feed. there may be less for bb for the next feed, but your supply should catch up fairly quickly. once you have enough stored up for a few feeds, then you don't have to worry anymore. i'm like you, stay home most of the time and step out of the house for a few hours once in a while. once i come home, there shd be milk to express one bottle (to replace whatever's used up) and feed the baby as well. level of engorgement depends on how long you were away.
Click to expand...

Ya, very true the level of fullness is depend on how long i din feed her. Ok will try massaging bah. But very dishearted when it only comes out abit then need to steralize the pump again..then next pump again abit only..very sian...

Now i'm trying 1 method. S she is taking semi-solid now, so after the whatever puree i give i will still feed her with milk, sometimes she only drink alittle depend whether how full she is after eating, so i use that chance to express the other side to store. tried it ytd only. but not alot leh. only 50ml. ( but theres enough if its for her after her food i guess) i hope this will also increase my milk flow. But hor, i think my dd is not accepting frozen milk now leh, cos 2 mths ago she tried but that day she refuse to drink, until i came home to feed her. dunno is bottle she doesnt like or the milk taste. SIGH... so i just store few bottles just for emergency, then if i know i'm gg out tmr i'll express the 2 days b4 then store it in normal compartment.

Sometimes i really thinking aiya just give her formula when i cant feed her is easier...but just cant start that idea afterall she had drank so much of my milk le... :)
 
GlynnisBaby

GlynnisBaby

New Member
vonn81 said:
Ya, very true the level of fullness is depend on how long i din feed her. Ok will try massaging bah. But very dishearted when it only comes out abit then need to steralize the pump again..then next pump again abit only..very sian...

Now i'm trying 1 method. S she is taking semi-solid now, so after the whatever puree i give i will still feed her with milk, sometimes she only drink alittle depend whether how full she is after eating, so i use that chance to express the other side to store. tried it ytd only. but not alot leh. only 50ml. ( but theres enough if its for her after her food i guess) i hope this will also increase my milk flow. But hor, i think my dd is not accepting frozen milk now leh, cos 2 mths ago she tried but that day she refuse to drink, until i came home to feed her. dunno is bottle she doesnt like or the milk taste. SIGH... so i just store few bottles just for emergency, then if i know i'm gg out tmr i'll express the 2 days b4 then store it in normal compartment.

Sometimes i really thinking aiya just give her formula when i cant feed her is easier...but just cant start that idea afterall she had drank so much of my milk le... :)
Click to expand...

Vonn,

Don't give up. If you can breastfeed, then carry on. Its the best milk.

Maybe your girl is still not used to the frozen milk taste. You can try a few more times and see how she react.
 
vonn81

vonn81

Member
usually i just give it at a warm temp dare not give to hot or to cold...i test b4 i gave...:) i scare is the taste that she doesnt like. i taste abit i also dun like...
 
vonn81

vonn81

Member
bm if express out fresh taste ok leh..but the frozen really yucky leh...intitally when she was 1 mth or 2 mths she still ok with the taste cos occassionlly got give lah so still can accept.( usually i give the normal compartment 1, keep 2 days, taste also diff fr frozen) the frozen are for emergency. ur boy ok with it?
 
CanCanMum

CanCanMum

Moderator
he no difference one lah...everything put inside his mouth he oso eat...like rubbish bin like tat....LOLs!

Frozen one thawed oredi shd taste same rite???
 
autumn82

autumn82

Well-Known Member
vonn81 said:
bm if express out fresh taste ok leh..but the frozen really yucky leh...intitally when she was 1 mth or 2 mths she still ok with the taste cos occassionlly got give lah so still can accept.( usually i give the normal compartment 1, keep 2 days, taste also diff fr frozen) the frozen are for emergency. ur boy ok with it?
Click to expand...
Erm.. actually, bbs won't differentiate the taste of EBM and BM I feel. I also tried EBM too, taste & smell awful but as long as it is not sour, it is fine.. Heh.

But my DS took EBM & BM except for plain water.. :tlaugh:
 
L

littlerat

Member
Hi all,

glad to see this thread because I have the same problem too.
My boy is 6 weeks old and he had been on total breast feeding since birth and I seldom express the milk out. Only recently, like most mum :p, will to find time for ourselves, i started expressing BM. However, I run into difficulty into getting the milk out. I am using Avent Manual Pump but it doesn't seems to be very effective. I did try some massaging and express, true enough during the baby feeding, is it easier to express but still the flow is quite slow. And when the baby stop feeding, it is very difficult to express. I did a test a test to get my boy to latch back, he was sucking fine. So confirm there is milk but somehow it just doesn't express out.
Is it due to wrong method (any tricks to teach??) or manual pump is not good? or any other reason?

Please advise.

Thanks
 
CanCanMum

CanCanMum

Moderator
i wasnt able to express mine the last time oso...me using both battery and manual both failed....

if yr bb is latching on its good enuf...unless u r dinking of keeping some extra coz u be going back to work or finding time for yrself rite...erm...i oso wish to know....hehe.
 
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