Thanks everyone, your advice is received. It remains tricky for me for dd has absolutely no routine. She's a crap day sleeper (and not the greatest night sleeper) and between her and my veeeery demanding 3yo I don't have much time in the day where I can sit, relax, stare lovingly at my baby and express in peace, just doesn't happen. Mid morning is my best bet when dd is most likely to sleep.

I've called medela re: correct breastshield size and they suggested I talk to a lactation consultant who can abvise me on what I'm doing which I realise now I probably should do because expressing has always been a challenge for me, I wore myself ragged trying to express when ds was a baby and I wasn't ever going to do it again, but I do need some freedom so I'd like to make it work.

to be honest, I feel so disheartened when I hear other women talk about expressing 280mls or more in 1 sitting. Nothing in my life is ever that easy.