Even more pumping questions....

[AK89]

This expressing malarkey is quite the minefield! Just spent the last 2 hours reading up on giving one bottle of expressed milk a day. Some say 6 weeks, some say 4 weeks, some say sooner. I was leaning more towards 4 weeks 'cause that'd give me a couple of weeks to build up a supply (I pumped for the first time today and only got 2oz) and we wouldn't be running the risk of leaving it too late and LO refusing to take the bottle.

However I just read that someone's health visitor recommended 2-3 weeks! The earlier the better for me (obviously without running the risk of nipple confusion and all that) as I'll be able to get more sleep! So I wouldn't mind starting sooner than 4 weeks, but if I'm only expressing 2oz a day it'd take me 2 days to express one feed! So surely my supply would soon run out and then I wouldn't be able to keep up??

Also, does anyone have any experience of expressing for one feed a day, and then occasionally giving more than one bottle a day, say if you want to have a drink?? I'm thinking about Christmas..! I wanna be able to have a drink at Christmas and my plan was to express plenty of milk in advance and give her this while I'm over the limit.. Would this be OK? LO will be about 10 weeks by this point and will (hopefully!) have been taking one bottle a day for the past month or so.

No doubt I'll have thought of about 10 more questions by the time I post this!

 

[AK89]

OK already thought of my next question..! Potential solution to my not-expressing-enough problem...do two sessions a day?? Or would that end up in over-supply?

 

[Jinga]

Both of my babies have had to have bottles from the beginning, in addition to breastfeeding, and we haven't had any issues with nipple confusion. If your baby has already figured out the breastfeeding thing, you should be fine giving her a bottle a day. If you are pumping, in addition to letting your baby feed at the breast, you also shouldn't have an issue with losing your supply once it's well-established since your body is still producing the milk you are pumping out. I just wouldn't go too long between either pumping or feeding at the breast. When I was at the hospital, trying to establish my supply, they recommended I pump for 5-10 minutes every 3 hours, after I had my baby at the breast. For the oversupply issue, unless you are pumping out more than your baby needs, the supply should regulate itself. You can always pump a little more or a little less to correct the supply if it seems to be a little off. Pumping tends to be less efficient than baby, though, so it's normal that you might have to pump longer to get the same amount of milk that baby would get during a feed. You'll have to experiment a bit to see what works for you. Just do things gradually to give your body time to adjust.

 

[purplecupcake]

We introduced at 6 weeks, did one per day for a week, now do one every few days. Every baby is different and you'll find out how your baby will handle it when the time comes.

 

[Pink Sarah]

Oooh no advice but I am also planning on doing a combination so will be stalking. Lo is 5 days old and I have some expressed as my boobs were so full and tender I had to do something as it hurt too much to sleep.

 

[MoominJ]

I planned on pumping and feeding during the night Luke u but I was told if I did this I would have to express at that time anyway so didn't see the point! The more u express the more ur supply will increase but if u plan on pumping at the same time each day then it wouldn't matter! U will find if u miss a pumping session ur boobs will be very full tho!

 

[c1403]

I started pumping when DD was 5 weeks and have built a nice stash in the freezer. I stopped last week as our schedule was hectic and I just didn't get the time. I was getting 2.5-4 oz per session and pumping once a day usually mid morning around 9am as that's when DD sleeps the longest.

I have still yet to try a bottle (dd is 7 weeks) but next week I will start giving one bottle at lunchtime. I need to start leaving DD two days a week to work (I work 6 hours so she will have at least one feed without me) whilst I am working I will start pumping again to keep my freezer supply.

I will let you know how it goes when we do introduce the bottle.