I am thinking about starting to express and freeze milk for Shae for when we start her on some rice cereal in a month or two's time.
She feeds every 90 min or so at the moment and only one side per feed except at night when I feed her to sleep (over 90 mins usually)
When would be the best time to express some milk? I have a little medela swing which is useful, but how much should I express at a time? when should I be doing it? how many times a day to start "stock piling it"
I really have no idea what I am doing or how I should be doing it and I know all logic tells me the more stimulation the more milk but I am feeling a tad anxious about possibly ruining my supply, IF I see there is not much milk I may worry ITMS
Its a really dumb thing and believe me when I say I am in no rush to start her on any solids but I want to be ready for when she decides its time ...... which leads me to another question .... how will I know WHEN is the right time to start introducing stuff? other mums in my MG are already into solids but their bubs are formula fed and I kind of want to delay solids as longs as I can ( because I don't want my baby to grow up )
How did you EBM and when did you do it??
How and When did your baby try their first solids??
Best time would be to express while she feeds on the other side. That will help with let down & you will see much more milk then when you express with out her help.
Just always rememeber that what you can get with the pump is nothing compared to what she can get at the breast.
I agree with Ejjay regarding the best time to express.
With introducing solids, I find it is easiest to bypass the baby rice and mushed food stage altogether. The guildelines for starting solid food like that were designed when babies were fed solids at 3 months and are not really relevant for a 6 month old starting solids.
At 6 months she will be able to hold her head up and chew with her gums, so start by sitting her in her highchair when you are eating and giving her some of your veggies to play with. She will be able to eat anything she can hold and chew without teeth, so brocolli is great (has a built in handle and all the goodness can be sucked off it), cooked carrot sticks, small chunks of cooked chicken, asparagus, etc. It will not be long before she is just eating a small portion of whatever you are cooking for yourself which makes weaning so much easier for you, not to mention more fun for her as there are less expectations on her input and she will not have to sit and be fed with a spoon (which a lot of babies hate, they like to touch what they are eating before they decide whether or not to put it in their mouths.)
There will come a time when it appears as though if you had 6 boobs shae would still want more. She will be putting things in her mouth herself, and she will be curious about the things you are putting in your mouth. She'll let you know when she's ready.
Ok so I just spent the last 20 min very awkwardly holding shae yo one side and holding the bp to the other side for a measly 10ml thats it just 10 friggin mls Shae has not fed from that side since 4pm
if thats all I am going to get I am not going to waste my time and sit uncomforyably nor am I goin to make shae uncomfortable for 10 lousy ml, hell I am not even going to waste a snap lock bag for such a poor effort.
Don't be disheartened NaeNae, like breastfeeding, expressing is a skill that takes a while to master. Store every 10mls, it all adds up! Or if not add it to your coffee, mmm milky sweet
I always expressed first thing in the morning (on the few occasions I did) and it really is an art form (you full time expressers have my admiration!)
I too struggled to find a good time, so I was slack and only really made an effort when I was engorged.
Apart from the rice cereal idea, is there any other reason you want a stash? TBH I never found a reason to use the EMB and I just chucked out a whole lot because it had gone off (it was in the freezer for almost a year and we moved house).
I always took DD with me wherever I went, and her feeds eventually spread out. I know its hard to imagine now, but when she starts solids, you can leave her for longer and eventually she'll by feeding 3-4 hourly!
As for solids, check out the Baby Led Solids threads. I tried some rice cereal on DD, but she didn't like it. In fact she hates all that mushy stuff and has always preferred to feed herself. Which suits me because spoon feeding looses the novelty pretty quickly!
Is your little girl really 4 months old?!? Whoa, time passes quickly!
Sorry for the essay...DH is away and I haven't spoken to anyone all day (apart from DD of course lol)
Nae - expressing is definitely a skill - if my DD hadn't been born 6 weeks prem I don't think it is a skill I would have mastered but necessity made me master it... at first I got bismal amounts - colostrum is so hard to get out whilst expressing but when my milk came in I felt so full and I thought - this will be no problem but it was! I wouldn't get very much out but I kept at it and I got better at getting the milk out with the machine because DD was going great guns at getting it out (even with her weak suck).
It does get better and I often found expressing after the feed would sometimes be better as the bub had stimulated the letdown. That is how I started getting better amounts expressing.
Keep at it - as with BFing, EBM is a skill we need to learn
Nae - i found the best time is about 20 mins after E feeds off to sleep. like you, i'm a bit of a busty wench and there isn't a hope in hell i could express while feeding - so i'd feed, settle E to sleep - then express. the one she hadnt fed from, the one she had, the one she hadn't. i can get anywhere from 50-100ml doing about 5mins per side. given she is asleep and won't want a feed for at least an hour after the last one, it works for us.
if you are uncomfortable feeding and expressing, don't force it. 10mL is NOT a representation of what Shae is getting by a long shot!
as for solids - we waited til E was 6 months and showing an interest in food. we introduced steamed or boiled veg "finger food" - she has not had rice cereal at all and she's not suffering for it as she is getting the iron (which is why mchn's push it) from her breast milk - and is thriving on the baby led solids. she eats a better variety of food than her 9,8 and 5 year old cousins! scope out the Baby Led Solids threads for more info or PM me and i can give you some help if you want
All you have proven is that Shae is a much better expresser than you are!
If you do want to get a stash then one way to do it is to add an extra "feed" in each day, where you feed the pump rather than the baby. But if all you want to do is add it to cereal then you might actually find it easier to just squirt in to a clean bowl. She won't be eating much initially - 20 ml of EBM would be heaps...
I agree with TK, immediately after the feed (or as soon as you can) gets the most, and you know that she is getting enough because she has taken herself off.
Nae, expressing really is another learned skill - almost like learning to bf all over again! Try not to stress that your first attempt didn't go well.
There is no "right" time to express, but many mums find that they are able to express more in the mornings. Expressing from one side while feeding from the other can work for some mums, but for many of us it is awkward. If Shae has only fed from one side, you might like to express from the other side straight after the feed, otherwise breasts usually take around 20 - 30 minutes to refill when empty, so about half an hour after a feed can be a good time to express. Your breast are never totally empty, they are making milk even while Shae is feeding, so she will always have enough to drink.
Some other tips for getting out more are to put a warm face-washer on your breast before expressing, leaning forward, watching TV while expressing (to distract yourself), and/or gently breast compression while expressing. Some mums find it helps to have some of their baby's clothing with them so they have the smell. The let down reflex when expressing is a conditioned response, so that means it can take a while to have it happen when you are first expressing. Sometimes mums find it helps to express in the same place as they usually bf, as this helps their bodies recognise the need to let-down.
Having said all that hun, there is no need to give rice cereal when you start solids. Have you heard of Baby Led Solids? As others have mentioned, this is a great way to start babies on solids now that the recommendation is to start at 6 months, as they are ready for finger foods straight away. There are heaps of advantages - for baby, they are getting exactly the right amount of food as they choose how much they eat - if they are not ready for solids they will play with the food but not eat it, and when they are ready they will eat exactly what they need, they get better nutrition as there is more variety in family foods than baby foods, and the nutrients are more readily absorbed, they get used to more textures and tastes more quickly which is very good for them developmentally, and they are actually less likely to choke when they are controlling the feeding themselves. Sometimes babies gag, but this is a normal reflex which prevents them from choking. The advantages for parents are that they don't have to prepare purees, that they don't have to worry about how much to give their baby or if their baby is getting enough because the baby is controlling how much they take, babies are eating family foods earlier so there is no need to prepare two dinners, and eating out is easier as the baby can eat the same as the parents.
If you are interested in learning more, check out this thread - https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...atter-4-a.html. There are lots of BBers doing this already with great success. Another important point for all parents about to start solids, is that meat is now recognised as a very important early food. This is the best source of iron and zinc which are needed for brain development. Most babies love things like spaghetti bolognaise, and you can also give big pieces of steak and safe bones to suck/chew on.
Nae, I found the only times I could express well was when DD dropped a bf of her own accord. For a few days afterwards I would express that bf she no longer wanted.
nae - to put your mind at ease about volume. you've seen how big E has gotten - i just pumped about 90 mins after she fed to sleep - and managed to get only 60ml.
pumping is not always easy - so it's probably worth deciding if you NEED to pump yet. at Shae's age, E was feeding a lot more than she is now, and was very "hands on" - so i just didn't have time. you don't want to force yourself to express milk unless you need to - the stress of "omg i only got x ml's" is not worth it (and the stress may impact your supply)
Arcadia- its really just for some rice cereal and to have some on hand jic, if i don't use it no biggy some of the other mothers in my mg do it as their bubs are starting to go onto solids so i thought it would be a good idea.
Traveller - I couldn't possibly add it to my coffee its like condensed milk sooo sweet
TK1999 - thanks hun, I thought it would just be like BF and the milk would flow well
BG- thanks hun, Shae is so long now its so awkward holding her single armed. I expressed at todays second feed from "the good side" while Shae was on the right boob and we got 50ml in 15min so I think I might do that once a day and alternate sides, ideally the first feed for the day would be the best as both sides leak but tbh I value my sleep too much at 4am What do you do for breaky???
Kmn - thank you I didn't think of that lol
MR - you always give the best advice will chech out the link x x
Jennifer - thanks will keep that one locked in the archives for now until shae decides to drop feeds x x
brekki here is toast or pancakes - depends on the day. sandwich if she's being a fuss pot. E turns her nose up at anything resembling mushy food - if she can't be miss independent - well, the basic message we get is "jam that where the sun don't shine!". i figure she is still getting a lot of nourishment from the breastmilk she scoffs in the mornings. she has a big feed around 4-6am, another around 7-9 and will feed off and on for an hour or more both times. by traditional "breakfast" time it's more a mid morning snack. she will then have another big feed around 11 and go back to bed. if she is wanting something smooshy, we always have yogurt in the fridge. i'm not going to try to force her to eat something just because it's "breakfast" time. milk is still quite filling and i treat it more like a snack for her
now lunch is a WHOLE different kettle of fish! today was about a quarter of daddy's burrito and half a toasted sandwich with burrito meat and cheese. and half a dozen small pancakes while that was cooking. when she's hungry she lets us know!
Just wanted to jump in and say I agree with what's being said already.
I consider myself a pro-expresser (Brendan I expressed for 5.5 months and Tristan for a few weeks) Even when I was trying to express for Tristan so I could have a night out I was only getting 5-10ml and that's with all my little learnt tricks too! My point is that your breasts are making enough for what your DD is taking, so it will take at least a few days before you see results even if you were to express with every feed. So don't be too hard on yourself! And as someone said previously, you will never get out all the milk like D can
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Ok so I just spent the last 20 min very awkwardly holding shae yo one side and holding the bp to the other side for a measly 10ml thats it just 10 friggin mls Shae has not fed from that side since 4pm
if thats all I am going to get I am not going to waste my time and sit uncomforyably nor am I goin to make shae uncomfortable for 10 lousy ml, hell I am not even going to waste a snap lock bag for such a poor effort.
I couldn't possibly add it to my coffee its like condensed milk sooo sweet
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