Is what I express what my baby would get?

[Juicyg]

Hi everyone,

I have a 5 week old baby boy and from quite early on I have been expressing my milk as I had some latching issues and needed a break.

At the moment we currently give him a bottle per night of expressed milk, or formula milk if I've not expressed enough.
When my husband gives him the bottle I express off the breast he would normally be feeding on.

My question is...
This evening I was doing this as per usual but I only got 3oz out of my right breast. I am not sure how much breast milk a baby should be having at 5 weeks but I know formula milk they have 5oz.
If I am expressing 3oz is that how much that breast is producing when I feed him, therefore is he not quite getting enough?

And one other question, I have only been feeding off of one breast per feed, should I be feeding or at least offering both each time?

The reason I haven't is because I'm cautious about becoming engorged and developing mastitis.
I have already had mastitis once but managed to spot it early on and got antibiotics that cleared it up.

Any advice is much appreciated.

Oh and by the way I LOVE breastfeeding! Never thought i would as much!

X

 

[Juicyg]

Anyone??

 

[summer rain]

No how much you express is not indicative of how much you produce at all. If this was the case then women who can only express drops, which is quite common, would be in trouble and starving their babies. Yet many such women have babies who gain more weight than average-they simply don't respond well to a pump. I can personally only express 0.5oz most of the time yet my babies tend to gain very quickly in the early days and have at least twice as many as expected wet and dirty nappies. 3oz is a higher than average amount to be able to express and unlike with formula the amount a BF baby takes as they grow doesn't really increase instead the milk becomes more concentrated as they get older. Most BF babies never take more than 3-4oz at a feed regardless of age. It's best to offer the other side when feeding just in case your baby wants it. It won't cause engorgement or mastitis. If baby doesn't eat much or at all from the second side I will then start on that side next time xx

 

[lysh]

Summer Rain already gave the answer I would have given, but on a personal note I never pumped well...when I had to go back to work I would use both my breaks to pump and between two pumping sessions I typically got 4-6oz. I know my LO was getting more when she nursed directly from the breast or she would have been dehydrated!!! My lactation consultant said the same thing....what you pump is not a good judge.

 

[Juicyg]

Thank you both so much for your replies. It makes me feel a lot more reassured after reading what you have said.

One more question though, I know he is only little still but how do they go longer between feeds when breastfeeding??
I've had a couple of nights where he has gone longer but it's nothing consistent. X

 

[cautious...]

I can only express 2-4 oz too, sometimes less than 1 oz. My LO is 6.5 months now and has never gone longer between feeds so I can't answer that one! I think he actually feeds more frequently now as he's distracted and takes less each time

 

[Bevziibubble]

Totally agree with Summer Rain that what you express isn't an indication of how much milk you're making and how much the baby makes. Your baby is much more efficient at removing milk from the breast than a pump is. Some people can only express drops but have a perfectly adequate supply for their baby

 

[summer rain]

They become more efficient at feeding when older and they can digest more from the milk, also the fat composition etc changes. First stage formula is designed for 1-3 month babies and because it doesn't alter as baby gets older that's why FF babies need more and more volume of formula as they get older and many FF babies seem to need solids by 4 months xx

 

[Juicyg]

Oh right, gosh I wish I knew all of this before. Maybe it's my lack of reading up on it. May have a look for breastfeeding books as maybe there will be everything explained in one of them.
Honestly I really love breast feeding,I love the closeness it gives me to my little boy and the convienence is amazing too.
My only thing is the night time when he wakes every 3 hours at least! It drains me.
He also seems to throw up huge amounts every time I feed him too which makes me think he isn't getting enough...
Have our 6wk check on Mon so am going to mention that there x

 

[summer rain]

You may have an oversupply which can make them quite sickly they do usually get used to it and stop being quite so sicky. My youngest was substantially sick after nearly every feed and sometimes had projectile sick until about a week ago (he is three months). Unless it is really affecting weight gain or causing pain it's just something they outgrow in time xx

 

[Juicyg]

Summer rain, is an over supply when the milk comes out super fast?
If so then I think you are right, he fizzles really quickly to begin with and sometimes actually chokes (which scares me so much).
You really seem to know your stuffwhen it comes to bf so I hope you don't mind me asking another question...how do you know if the baby is draining the breast fully?
I worry that he isn't getting enough hind milk and maybe that's why he is wanting to eat more.
I also have the problem that he falls asleep on me so am constantly tickling or niggling him to get him going.
He has lots of wet nappies and his stools are the runny yellow colour so I think he is getting what he needs but I wonder if he isn't getting enough. He spends 15 to 20 mins on one breast (because of the snoozing!) Before detaching himself. Sorry to be a pain it's just I'm determined to do this correctly x

 

[summer rain]

Oversupply and overactive let down (milk coming out too fast) are different things but tend to be linked. If your baby has yellow poo then that means its very unlikely to be a foremilk/hindmilk imbalance at this stage though their tummies are so small that they can't go more than about 3 hours between feeds and often it is less than this. Many FF babies feed this often at this age too xx

 

[Juicyg]

Ok so what is an oversupply then? Sorry I'm new to this and find it all quite confusing. Ok so that's good he probably is getting what he needs then. The reason I ask about the amount of time between feeds
is because he has been 4-5 hours between feeds before but this has
changed the past week or so. Should I always offer the 2nd breast too when he detaches himself from one breast or does him detaching mean that he has had enough?
Thanks so much for all your help it's so nice to speak to someone who has experience with this x

 

[summer rain]

Oversupply is producing more milk than baby needs but not everyone with this will have a forceful let down and vice versa xx

 

[summer rain]

It's normal for them to go less long between feeds every once in a while its called a growth spurt . Yes try offering the other side even if they come off the first side by themselves xx