Advice please

[EMYJC]

Hi, I am 31 weeks pregnant, first baby due in Feb. I really want to give breastfeeding a go. I am just a bit confused from some of the books I have been reading. I have read that it is good to express from one breast first thing in the morning while your baby wakes up and then offer them the other breast. It says that the more you express, the more your breasts will produce and this helps for when your LO goes through a growth spurt. Is this correct? Also, I feel I am going to get confused over which breast to offer. If I expressed successfully a few ounces in a morning from my right breast say, would I then offer LO the left breast so he gets the full foremilk and hope he drains the breast and also gets the hind milk and then see if he wants to finish off the right breast that has been expressed? If so, when his next feed was due a few hours later, which breast would I offer?

I hope this helps, I really want to be able to do this so any advice would be much appreciated x

 

[luckyno2]

why do you want to express you can let lo increase your milk naturally by drinking longer while going through the growth spurt... i tried expressing and bf but produced to much milk and ended up sore due to over stimulation... and i use a bracelet just a elastic with some beats on to know left or right, i change it to the next arm to know which breast is next good luck and get your sleep now you will need it

 

[thelilbump]

First off, do you need to express? it's not neccesary unless you want someone else to feed your baby and even then it's not really advised for the first 6 weeks. I never expressed and had no trouble producing enough milk for growth spurts etc

 

[TigerLady]

Not sure why those books would advise expressing like that.

I would say, don't express! Not unless you HAVE to for some reason. Put that off until about 4-6 weeks at least. Even longer if you can.

I had to express for 2 days when LO was 3 weeks old as he had surgery. Some ladies have to due to thrush or other problems.... but if you aren't having a problem, there is no need to express.

If you want OH to feed LO, wait to express until your supply is well established and you and LO have adjusted to BFing. (usually about 6-10 weeks)

When you feed alternate which breast you start with... for example, first feed: right then left... next feed left than right... and so on. If LO only ate from one, then offer the other one on the next feed.

Also, get the "next feed due in X number of hours" out of your head right now! That will only cause you problems and concerns later. Feed on demand. Feed LO whenver he wants as often as he wants. Expect this to be nearly CONSTANTLY in the first few weeks. Especially in the first few days. He probably won't eat a great deal the first 24 hours after he is born, but after that -- game on! He will suck like mad and seem hungry all the time until your milk comes in (the constant sucking is what helps bring it in).

Then he will settle into his own pattern. My LO ate every hour at first... around the clock. Then he settled into every 1-2 hours, around the clock, after a few weeks. Also, this doesn't mean he finishes a feed and wants to begin another 2 hours later. Every 2 hours means they start a feed... feed for anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour, then start the next feed 2 hours after the first STARTED (which is only an hour break).

Throw all notions of patterns and predictabilty out the window now! Feed on demand... always. My LO is 5 months old and still eats every 2-3 hours around the clock!

 

[EMYJC]

Thanks for your replies, it's those books I have read, giving me too many rules and regulations, you are right I should go off my babys cues and take it from there, thanks for all the tips on which breast too. x