Hi, wondering if anyone can offer advice, share experiences. My baby was born at 28+4 on Saturday, it is now tuesday and I have been trying to express milk with a pump but still nothing! Maybe a drop last night. Is it ever going to happen as i feel like such a failure, so want to do this to help her as much as I can. any thoughts/advice much appreciated.
Expressing milk
- Thread starter jemma193
- Start date
Congratulations on becoming a Mummy.
Yes it will happen. It can take a few days for your milk to come in.
How often are you expressing and where are you expressing? What type of pump are you using?
It's important to keep trying regularly, every 3 hours I was advised, including during the night. In fact, the nights are more important for getting your supply going. Do you have a picture of your baby to hand when expressing, I know it sounds odd, but it can really help. I was allowed to express next to my daughter's incubator and I found I got loads more milk there. She was born on the Thursday and I would say it was the Sunday before I started to really produced milk.
Also make sure you are looking after yourself and drinking plenty and eating well. And speak to the staff on the unit, I found they were full of tips and advice.
Yes it will happen. It can take a few days for your milk to come in.
How often are you expressing and where are you expressing? What type of pump are you using?
It's important to keep trying regularly, every 3 hours I was advised, including during the night. In fact, the nights are more important for getting your supply going. Do you have a picture of your baby to hand when expressing, I know it sounds odd, but it can really help. I was allowed to express next to my daughter's incubator and I found I got loads more milk there. She was born on the Thursday and I would say it was the Sunday before I started to really produced milk.
Also make sure you are looking after yourself and drinking plenty and eating well. And speak to the staff on the unit, I found they were full of tips and advice.
Im trying every 3 hours have a tommy tippee electric one. Yes have a picture and also one of the blankets she has been lying on. Came out of hospital yesterday and ended up sleeping all night so will try every 3 hours through the night tonight thanks for the advice x
Congratulations on the birth of your lo.
Have you been able to get any milk when you hand express? I was advised to hand express until I could produce around 10mls of milk then start using the pump. You could also try the pumps at the hospital to see if they work better and if possible dual pump.
Easier said than done but try not to stress as this does effect supply. It is not easy to pump and get your milk supply going but it will happen and you are def not a failure. I was advised slightly differently for expressing and told to express 8 times a day with only one of them through the night so I would express before I went to bed between 11 and midnight then at 3am and then when I got up in the morning around 8am. There were a few times i turned the alarm of and went to sleep but I am now exclusively breastfeeding so don't beat yourself up about it if you do it is stressful having a baby in neonatal and that in itself is tiring.
Have you been able to get any milk when you hand express? I was advised to hand express until I could produce around 10mls of milk then start using the pump. You could also try the pumps at the hospital to see if they work better and if possible dual pump.
Easier said than done but try not to stress as this does effect supply. It is not easy to pump and get your milk supply going but it will happen and you are def not a failure. I was advised slightly differently for expressing and told to express 8 times a day with only one of them through the night so I would express before I went to bed between 11 and midnight then at 3am and then when I got up in the morning around 8am. There were a few times i turned the alarm of and went to sleep but I am now exclusively breastfeeding so don't beat yourself up about it if you do it is stressful having a baby in neonatal and that in itself is tiring.
Congratulations on the birth of your little one. I have been in your position - I had my baby 12 weeks ago at 27 weeks. I have managed to express the whole 12 weeks, and I'm now breastfeeding her, so it can be done!
Like you, I really struggled to produce anything at the start. I was struggling to get the 0.5ml that she needed every 3 hours when she was first born! After the first day or two I was getting 4ml. The midwife put me on the electric pump even before I had produced anything at all from the right breast and I was on it for about 45 minutes with nothing happening other than me getting very sore.
Your milk will come in properly in the next day or two, the only advice I can give is to keep at it with the expressing but do it by hand until your milk is properly in, like someone else (25 weeker maybe?!) said. It's apparently important to express at least once through the night as this does something for increasing your supply. Make sure you drink plenty water, and there is a tablet called domperidone that you can get if all else fails. although I didn't end up needing that.
If you can stick with the 3 hourly expressing it honestly will get better, and once you are allowed a cuddle with your baby, if you express straight after it will really help - all of a sudden I got 100ml after my first cuddle with Sophie - but she was 3 weeks old by that point.
Did your midwife show you how to massage your breasts to get the milk flowing? That really helps. I went to a breastfeeding support group in the neonatal unit a couple of times - it's run by a lady from La Leche - and they advised to stop and massage again after expressing for a few minutes. They also said - this probably looks really funny and best done in a room on your own! - to bend over and shake your breasts after massaging them! I never tried that but they said it really works!
You will find your supply increases the more you express and you may experience variations in the amount you express over the weeks. I was panicking last week because I was back to just producing 20ml each time - but then I started breastfeeding Sophie, and it started to increase. We got her home yesterday and it was my first day of breastfeeding her for all her feeds, and this morning when I woke up I was like Jordan lol! When I went to start feeding her this morning she just looked at me and the milk started pouring out before she even started sucking, I'm not kidding!! I'm hoping it regulates itself as we get used to the feeding - the nurses assured me I will start to produce the amount she needs and it will regulate itself.
If you have any questions, pm me. Good luck! xxxxx
Like you, I really struggled to produce anything at the start. I was struggling to get the 0.5ml that she needed every 3 hours when she was first born! After the first day or two I was getting 4ml. The midwife put me on the electric pump even before I had produced anything at all from the right breast and I was on it for about 45 minutes with nothing happening other than me getting very sore.
Your milk will come in properly in the next day or two, the only advice I can give is to keep at it with the expressing but do it by hand until your milk is properly in, like someone else (25 weeker maybe?!) said. It's apparently important to express at least once through the night as this does something for increasing your supply. Make sure you drink plenty water, and there is a tablet called domperidone that you can get if all else fails. although I didn't end up needing that.
If you can stick with the 3 hourly expressing it honestly will get better, and once you are allowed a cuddle with your baby, if you express straight after it will really help - all of a sudden I got 100ml after my first cuddle with Sophie - but she was 3 weeks old by that point.
Did your midwife show you how to massage your breasts to get the milk flowing? That really helps. I went to a breastfeeding support group in the neonatal unit a couple of times - it's run by a lady from La Leche - and they advised to stop and massage again after expressing for a few minutes. They also said - this probably looks really funny and best done in a room on your own! - to bend over and shake your breasts after massaging them! I never tried that but they said it really works!
You will find your supply increases the more you express and you may experience variations in the amount you express over the weeks. I was panicking last week because I was back to just producing 20ml each time - but then I started breastfeeding Sophie, and it started to increase. We got her home yesterday and it was my first day of breastfeeding her for all her feeds, and this morning when I woke up I was like Jordan lol! When I went to start feeding her this morning she just looked at me and the milk started pouring out before she even started sucking, I'm not kidding!! I'm hoping it regulates itself as we get used to the feeding - the nurses assured me I will start to produce the amount she needs and it will regulate itself.
If you have any questions, pm me. Good luck! xxxxx
NZBeth
Mum of 3
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My little man was born at 33 weeks and it took a while to get my milk to come in so he was supplemented with formula until he was 3 weeks old. I ended up trying a bunch of herbal remedies and a lactation tea which I'm sure helped me a lot. At 5.5weeks I'm now freezing a load each day (and have been for over a week) on top of breast feeding and giving him EBM bottle top ups, so there is time and things you can try to get your supply up to speed. The others have all given good advice. The massaging really does help and I do it while expressing too.
Did you have a c-section? I was told that a c-section can delay your milk coming in by a few days due to hormones not being released like during a natural birth. I also had a GA which I was also told can delay milk coming in too.
Did you have a c-section? I was told that a c-section can delay your milk coming in by a few days due to hormones not being released like during a natural birth. I also had a GA which I was also told can delay milk coming in too.
The pump didn't work for me at first so I hand expressed for 5/6 days . This really helped to get everything stimulated. I also got my partner involved, getting him to hold the pot as i did my thing. We did this every two hours & every 3 hours at night. I know it's tough, but try not to put any pressure on yourself. It will come
xxx
Kitty23
Mummy to Poppy and Noah
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Don't worry it took me 10 days for my milk to come in. Just keep expressing every 3 hours including at least once through the night and your milk will eventually come in. Remember even a few drops is great for your baby xxx
xxx
_Vicky_
Mum to twins
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oohh well done - and congratualtions xxx
can I just share a tip. DONT over pump - I was expressing for Fynn when he was in NICU and he was eating more than I had built up (I was feeding sam too so all was a bit mad along with trips to NICU and Sam being at home) so I had the great idea to pump every hour - which was fabulous for my supply BUT when Fynn came home and they were both only eating every three hours - I got mastitus and ended up in hospital with breast abcesses basically I didnt slow down gradually so I over produced. xxx
can I just share a tip. DONT over pump - I was expressing for Fynn when he was in NICU and he was eating more than I had built up (I was feeding sam too so all was a bit mad along with trips to NICU and Sam being at home) so I had the great idea to pump every hour - which was fabulous for my supply BUT when Fynn came home and they were both only eating every three hours - I got mastitus and ended up in hospital with breast abcesses basically I didnt slow down gradually so I over produced. xxx
