a few questions i forgot to ask the MW

[kes_a]

hope someone can help me

whats the earliest you can start to express?

what time is best to express to build up a stock in the freezer?

how long does milk last for when not put in the fridge/freezer?

if i decided to have a night out with the husband and end up having a few drinks,would it be ok to feed with frozen milk for 24hrs to let the alcohol out of my system and express at normal feeding times and chuck that milk away?

thanks

 

[kes_a]

oh and do you heat breast milk to the same temp as formula when using from the fridge?

 

[MissyMojo]

Milk can be stored in fridge 3-5 days. Store near rhe back. Not the door
Milk can be stored.in the correct collection / freezer bags 6months

Heat refridgerated milk as u would formula in warm watsr to just warm

Defrost frozen milk over 24hrs in the fridge. Or by running under warm water - max 37c
Advixe.says dont offer bottle til BF fully established
I started.expressing and offerinf expressed milk in a bottlw at.5days,

 

[ke29]

If you drink and give expressed you would have to 'pump and dump'every time LO fed so it didnt mess up your supply

 

[discoclare]

whats the earliest you can start to express?
This gets asked quite often and there are always various answers! Most professionals would suggest waiting 6 weeks (until your supply has properly established). I inroduced at 3 weeks with no problems, but I was in a situation where I was pumping like mad everytime DD slept due to low supply. Some of my friends who waited until much later to introduce had problems getting their baby to ever take a bottle. If I have another I will also introduce at 3 or 4 weeks, whether I have supply issues or not.

what time is best to express to build up a stock in the freezer?
For many, first thing in the morning. If you can manage to do (thakes a bit of skill!) you can express from one boob while feeding from the other.

how long does milk last for when not put in the fridge/freezer?
I would only leave in the fridge for about 24 hours myself, but I think it's fine up to 72 hrs. freezer is 3 months.

if i decided to have a night out with the husband and end up having a few drinks,would it be ok to feed with frozen milk for 24hrs to let the alcohol out of my system and express at normal feeding times and chuck that milk away?
Firstly, that a lot of milk you would have to express to feed for 24 hours and you may find that too much work to achieve. Alcohol clears from BM at about the same rate as from the blood (approx 1 unit per hour), so depending on how much you drink you shouldn't need to wait as long as 24 hours. Many people on here have a few drinks from time to time (myself included) and never "pump and dump". But yes, if you are going to go more than one feed without BFing you would need to consider expressing so your body doesn't get confused and you don't get engorged and run the risk of mastitis.


hope that helps a bit.

 

[discoclare]

oh and do you heat breast milk to the same temp as formula when using from the fridge?

Don't give it fridge cold. Either room temp or warmed. BTW a lot of people who FF give their baby room temp formula from time to time or when out. Milk doesn't always need to be warm (though some babies are a bit fussy about the temp of their milk and only want it warm).

 

[Thegirl]

whats the earliest you can start to express?

Health visitor recommended six weeks to me, I tried after around four weeks and my little one didn't want to know. Still struggling to get him to take a bottle now at twelvw weeks. I think it depends on you and how you get on with feeding. If you find it easy I think you can get away with introducing a bottle early on, if you struggle it's best to wait to avoid mipple confusion. The people I know who fould it easy inroduced a bottle early on, two weeks, and have never had a problem.

 

[minties]

I started expressing when LO was about 2 weeks old, I wanted him to learn to take a bottle at an early age.

Don't stock up too much breastmilk in the freezer, as baby grows their nutritional needs change and your milk changes to meet these needs. So pumped milk that is a few months old, while still good - your current milk would be better.

 

[punk_pig]

Never microwave beastmilk as it kills all the good stuff as does warming it up too hot. Don't shake it vigorously either, apparently this damages protein chains??

 

[lynnikins]

hope someone can help me

whats the earliest you can start to express?i started at 3 wks with EJ and gave a bottle from 3 1/2wks

what time is best to express to build up a stock in the freezer?in the morning you can feed one side and express the other to freeze but for the first 4 months i wouldnt keep frozen milk longer than a month past the date you expressed as it changes so much

how long does milk last for when not put in the fridge/freezer?fridge mine is at 3/4 degress C and i keep it for 5/6 days in the back in a fridge freezer 3/4months mine is at -22C and for a deep freezer 6 months

if i decided to have a night out with the husband and end up having a few drinks,would it be ok to feed with frozen milk for 24hrs to let the alcohol out of my system and express at normal feeding times and chuck that milk away?if your safe to drive your safe to feed hun if i have a night out then i normally leave a feed for him and i'll get up in the morning a bit earlier to express my excess then feed him as normal caus overnight my body would have processesd the alcohol out of my blood

and i warm my milk standing it in hot water and test it on my wrist he likes it a bit above room temp