blast! The only other thing I can think of is to call the mother's direct shop and see if they can give you a price and availability on that part...
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blast! The only other thing I can think of is to call the mother's direct shop and see if they can give you a price and availability on that part...
Fleur, I bought a Amenda Purely yours online today :) Hopfully it works well for me :crossfingers:
What bits and pieces do you have?
Tried that KMN...apparently that part is not available as a part as such which is a bugger...on the plus side I may get a whole new motor out of it!
Well, I have dropped my morning pump... so I am down to one a day, and getting excited at the thought of finishing up soon (and a little bit sad too which seems strange).
It has increased the volume of my evening pump but I guess that should settle in a day or two.
Melbel, hope you're having some luck with your pump.
Mamaspice, basically just the pump parts, flanges & bottles, AFAIK all the Ameda pump parts are interchangeable, so it doesn't matter what bits you have, if it's an Ameda pump they should fit. I also have a few spare lines, valves & bits that I kept as sapres, I really seemed to go through the valves & made sure i had at least 2 on hand in the end.
Suprised :hug: I loved your 'song'! but not your reason for posting. Hugs.
We're done I think this is it... my last ever....
I don't feel relieved, I feel horribly sad :(
Hi lovely ladies,
A quick question for those who have EEd for older babies. My DS is almost 9 months, and I'm really unsure as to how much EBM to give him each day. I'm getting from 550-600mL per day, and I have been giving him 3 bottles of 200mL. However, now that he's at the age where you start to offer food first, then the milk, it's becoming trickier to know how much to give him. I've been giving him 100mL, then another 50 if he wants it, then more if he wants it. But it's hard to know if he actually wants it, or is just happy enough to drink it. If he was on the breast it would be a lot more dictated by him.
So my question is, as you approached the latter part of your expressing experience, what kind of amounts were you giving your babies, and how did you know they were getting enough.
TIA xoxo
I have found Connor will still set the pace. Like today for example I gave him 200mls instead of the 150 to see if he needed more than I was giving him....he was finished at the 150ml mark and threw the bottle away...LOL! I just try and be guided by him....if he sculls the bottle I offer a bit more, sometimes he wants it, someimes not, sometimes he doesn't even finish what is in the bottle first time round. I think he is starting to drop the bedtime feed becaus he not drinking very much at all at this one anymore....sculls his lunchtime feed though and still polishes off a full solids lunch...go figure!
I also have to add that Connor was always on the low side of normal in terms of volume...he never took more than 180mls at feed ever...
Same as Melbel said - if Pie wanted her full bottle she would have it, if not then she would ditch it. At 9 months she was still having 4 or 5 bottles a day, easy, as for how much, she never did take regular set amounts. So I just offered it, and if she wanted it she drank it :p
FWIW she is STILL having up to 3 full bottles a day (of cow's milk). I have no doubt if I had been BF she would still be night feeding, because that is when she has most of her milk. She still eats fine through the day & is starting to drop her daytime bottle (she would normally have it when she's going to bed, but is starting to push it away).
I just had to post: Made it to 12 months on EBM.....woohoo for me!!!!
Stopped expressing about four days ago and just about finished the reserves of EBM but ......WE MADE IT!! Never thought we'd get this far but we made it to twelve months....now I just have to find AF again so we can go back for number 2! LOL
Well done melbel that's awesome!! Good luck with number 2 :)
WOOHOO!! Congratulations melbel, that's fantastic! :dance: and good luck with number 2!
Hi ladies - I am after some advice please. For the last 4 weeks I have been exclusively expressing and before that, I was expressing 3 or 4 times a day and getting 1 or 2 BFs in. I am 8 weeks pregnant and DD has totally given up on the boob. Thankfully she will still drink my EBM from the bottle. I am still offering her the breast but absolutely no success. I think she's done. I am not really struggling with the EE thing, I was pretty much doing it before anyway and she's been through periods of breast refusal before. My problem right now is supply. I am struggling, struggling to get 500mls/day in 5 expresses!! I used to get 260mls in the mornings and this morning I got 150mls. What should I do? Please help me? I previously took fenugreek and made lactation cookies but the cookies didn't do anything and I don't think I can take the fenugreek while pregnant. I am getting desperate because I am running out of supply and I really don't want to supplement with formula.
Hugs hun. It's so stressful when you see exactly what amounts you're getting!
Have you tried brewer's yeast (don't need to have beer to have it - you can drink it in water although it's pretty yuck!) (can also make casserole/bread with beer which I think cooks the alcohol out)?
You can't have raspberry leaf tea. Can you have fennel?
Can you have motillium when you're pregnant?
Aktavite?
Maybe some of the others will pop in with ideas. xoxo
Melbel - huge congrats on your 12 months, what an awesome effort :clap::clap::clap:
starangelelk - oh i'm sorry to hear it. I think Surprised made good suggestions. I think there's also some recipes around for lactation cookies, try googling them (oh darn just re-read your post and realised you've tried cookies - sorry). I'd also second the aktavite or milo. And finally, the only other thing that always used to increase my supply was pumping more... ? Also, try to distract yourself as you pump, watching the bottle never helps either (easier said than done I know). If it is possible to try her at the breast again or maybe some nice baths together, maybe that would also help your supply? Lots of nice lovey dovey hormones?
Thanks heaps ladies, I am seriously clutching at straws here. I will try the aktavite, I had forgotten about that...... I don't think expressing more often is going to help at this stage, my body just isn't making milk even if I express every 2 hours. Apparently milk supply dropping is really common in early pregnancy so I just have to keep praying that it will increase again soon. I knew the EE would have some fab ideas for supply though, thank you SO much. Xx
Yes I remember hearing the same about supply dropping in early preg :( I'll cross fingers for you to pull through it. My only other thought - are you taking a good multi-vit, getting plenty of rest & drinking plenty of water? (ok so I'm going back to basics here... but when you're pregnant with a littlie, it's easy to forget).
I'm taking the Blackmores vitamins and drinking heaps of water.......I could be getting more rest though.........thanks for your help :D
No ideas beyond what has already been suggested, but offering hugs & support :hug: hope you can get through hun.
StarAngelK - I'm more of a stalker than a poster in this thread, but I've always had low supply (500-600 expressing a day is my max regardless of how often) and now that bub is 9 months, she is mostly happy to just have what I can give her plus a variety of solids and water / apple juice. Just thought I'd post because your bub is about the same age, so it might be ok, but if you're worried, ask Barb Glare in the professional advice section maybe? Also, I think I read that during pregnancy around the three month mark when the placenta takes over is usually when women see a significant drop in supply, the placenta produces high levels of progesterone which is why we don't start lactating before we give birth usually until the placenta comes out as it inhibits the prolactin from working. The body's priority will be the new pregnancy, so I hope you can maintain your supply or it comes back more, but you might be fighting nature a little bit too, so try not to stress about it too much, your bub is getting older and soon won't be needing as much so I hope it works out for you whichever way it falls. All the best, and congratulations on Bub #2!
Sas - thank you so much for your advice and also to the other ladies. I am so grateful. I am now expressing morning and night but we have started topping DD up with formula bottles. She's been sick for the last month and just wanted to feed feed feed and I just could not keep up. I agree with you though Sas, right now - she probably could go with just solids, water and the milk from me. It's some definite food for thought. I did put a message in the Barb Glare forum but she never responded :( I know she is probably very busy.
Hi ladies,
I'm after some advice and it seems that people here have a wealth of experience in EBMF.
I have been expressing every 3 hours since coming home from hospital about 10 days ago. I have had terribly sore nipples (with a history of sensitive nipples) and attachment issues and left hospital without establishing breast feeding.
DP is currently at home but going back to work next week. DP has been handling the feeding whilst I express during the day and I do both at night. One of my questions is how do you juggle both the expressing and responding to your baby? For example if you are expressing and your baby becomes unsettled.
The other question I have is that I have read about some type of bra which means that you can be hands free. Does anyone know where you can get one?
Thanks for your advice.
Congraulations on the birth of your little miracle bubba.
Juggling is hard but it does get easier...I know in the first few weeks/months I would get so frustrated and angry at the whole thing...I even threw the breast pump across the room a couple of times in the early days.
Keep in mind if you need to stop expressing to deal with bubba you can come back to it, there is no hard and fast rule you have to x amount of expressing ime right at that moment. In fact he more you express and stimulate the better your supply will be especially come the 6ish week mark when supply becomes less homone driven and more supply and demand driven. You will get to a stage when you may not need to express overnight if you can do a late express before sleep and then one as soon as you wake up so that will mean that middle of the night feed you may not need to express but that's a few weeks of. I tended to feed bubba put bubba back to sleep and the express while they napped, I even found putting him in the pram after his feed and sitting down to express, the sound of the machine would lull him off to sleep a lot of the time......as they get bigger you can put them under the play gym if they are awake and grab a bit of expressing time.
For good hands free expressing you need a pumping bra. It was a godsend for me.....we are not allowed to link but they are available from nursingangel and are called the hands free pumping bustier...i just checked and it is your lucky day as they are reduced from $49.95 to $29.95 bargain!! Mine lasted the twelve months I epxressed but would not do a second baby as the lycra was starting to go but still for twelve months it was well worth the money.
I hope that all helps a little bit...and Good Luck! It is tough road and is not for everyone but if you are determined to give breastmilk like I was it is well worth the effort....I am so glad I did it even though it nearly did my head in!
Mel summed it up really well. I used to sit there & stress about whether he would stay down/happy while I pumped, and I soon learned that the best thing was just to go to him if I really had to - as Mel said, you can come back & keep pumping. I found as he got older i got better at predicted when to do what. I do remember coming home from an outing with boobs bursting & him screaming for his bottle... arrgh! But honestly that didn't happen often and you do learn to juggle it. Having him in the bouncer at my feet as a littlie was handy. As he got older I used one of those exercise centre thingos. My record one day was double pumping while he held his bottle (a bit older obviously), having a cuppa & chatting on the phone! Expressing hones those multi-tasking skills like nothing else!! You'll have some bad moments when they're unsettled and you're trying to pump, but you can do it. How is your supply going with the pump?
Oh and I'm another one who swears by the pumping bustier too, mine is still going strong with 18 months use (admittedly not using it as often these days) - it's a godsend.
Lisa congrats on the birth of your bub :)
I made my own pumping bra by cutting holes in two old bras, it worked well enough for me.
The early days were really hard, I had the exact same questions and it seemed like sometimes she would need me just because I had sat down to pump! But it gets easier so quickly, really it was a matter of weeks. I started out expressing every 3 hours and after 3, or 4 or 5 weeks (I think?) I had stretched it out to 4 hours. That alone made it easier.
I second what everyone else said; it's much less stressful to just do what you need to & go back to pumping when you can, sometimes you don't have a choice; just do what you can & what you have to. And hang in there, because it does get much easier as time goes on.
Thanks Belfie and Melbel. I think you've both given me some really helpful advice and some confidence to persist with expressing.
Belfie - my bub is about 2 weeks old and I get about 80-100mls every 3 hours with a 15 minute double pump. A week ago I was getting about half that. I'm hoping that it continues to increase as I know that he will soon need more. I top up with formula maybe once every couple of days as I don't quite have enough to get through each feed - just depends on how hungry my little man is.
hi Lisa,
Don't know where you are in melb, but I saw a fab lactation consultant (IBCLC) who helped me to successfully feed my DD after EE'ing for my DS. The LC is based outer-east melb. Let me know if you'd like the details, I can PM them to you. To my foggy memory it sounds like your supply is going pretty well. I would definitely say as a "been there, done that" that it's worth trying your guts out to get your BF'ing going successfully. Your hungry little fella will change and grow (and most importantly his MOUTH will change & grow), and BF'ing may become much easier. EE'ing certainly can be done but it certainly is a lot of work too. I realise you're not in here for "pro-BF" advice, but I feel i'd be remiss not to encourage you. I remember being in the fog of pain, frustration and EFFORT that early EE'ing and comp feeding involves... and when I looked back after 10 months of EE'ing I wished I'd tried even harder to BF. So basically the door isn't shut yet, and as long as you are doing some expressing whether exclusive or not, you're still keeping that BF'ing door open - so huge congrats to you :clap: I know you're working hard right now :hug:.
Also, my nipples were excruciating at initial latch for the first few weeks - we're talking toe-curling, couldn't talk through it kinda pain. I still feed with nipple shields, and get a little discomfort at the start of a feed (flat nipples - i think it's discomfort as she draws them out) but NOTHING like it was. So that's the other thing to think about trying, with the right support from a good LC.
Hi hun,
You've been given some great advice by the other ladies. AFM I had a handheld (superduper electric - not hand pump!) so if DS woke when I was expressing etc, I could at least walk to his room and give him a pat or a dummy. But yes there were times I had to stop and come back to it later. I never used a handsfree bra - got quite good at holding it all up with one hand, leaving the other free to surf the web LOL.
Some days you just have to focus on getting through the next expressing session, but after a while it does get a bit easier - you know your body and your baby and it's not as crazy as those early days. I got to 11 months and 1 week and was able to wean straight on to rice milk. Wasn't quite the 12 months I was aiming for, but in the end it was good enough!
Would second the idea of getting in touch with a good LC to see if you can re-establish bfeeding. Wish I could have managed it!
Hang in there hun - you're doing a fantastic job!
Also wanted to ask the other EE-ers what you did with you pump and parts once you finished? Did you have to chuck the parts or did you just give them a really good sterilise? They cost a fortune and so would rather not need to buy a new set when (if) needed again.
Thanks so much girls for your encouragement, support and sharing your experience and tips. I just cried when I read your posts of support to me (I think I'm over tired). It's hard to get that kind of support IRL when everyone just seems to be BF champs early in or quickly switching to formula if it isn't working. There isn't much advice around for those people in between and how to manage when exclusive expressing.
For those girls who saw a LC how often did you see one and how many sessions did it take to get the attachment right?
The hospital I went through has a free LC and I have had one session so far and have a further one booked this week and one the week after. I have had the confidence to try some short feeds this week but it has ended in a painful disaster as it doesn't seem to matter how many times I try to attach I get it wrong. I'm not sure if a private LC will give any more support than I get through the public system. Yes, I'm currently EE with the aim of BF but not sure if I will make it or not.
Belfie - I'm in the northern suburbs but will keep your offer in mind if I need a private LC and can't find a local one. Thanks so much for the suggestion.
Lisa, I second what Belfie has said re. keeping trying. Probably my biggest regret is that I wasn't more persistent, even though I know I was at my limit - I had months (and the odd moment still) of thinking we could have done it if I'd tried harder. Persisting with it will be worth it even just for your own peace of mind down the track.
Surprised, I gave away my pump parts but I would think they will be fine for you to store & use again, I would just sterilise them before you use them next time? My pump was dead, i finished up on a hire pump, so that went back to the chemist :p
Overtired... hmm but you have a new baby... You're sitting back, relaxed, refreshed, sipping margeritas right? Ah no that's right i'm remembering the wrong book! I shouldn't be cheeky really - but honestly be kind to yourself. It is SUCH hard work what you're doing. I'm so glad to hear the support is helping, you deserve it. Have a good cry, sometimes it helps.:
And yes I remember well feeling like I was neither fish nor foul. The BF'ers didn't understand why I couldn't BF. And the FF'ers didn't understand why I was so obsessed about EBM. I felt like this odd little fish who wasn't quite successful really but just incredibly pig-headed & stubborn - and maybe that just made me stupid rather than smart (this was me in my over-worked, under-rested state of course!).
Fleur - I'm glad you've reiterated what i said (you know you're a star right?). It's the worst feeling looking back and wondering if you could have done more. I used to feel like that, but then when I told my story and when I went back and did another ABA class - well it all came back to me and validated that it just hadn't worked for us. So saying, if I had my time again, I still know there was more that I could have tried. So I would congratulate myself on my super-human effort but know now that i would turn EVERY POSSIBLE STONE I COULD. I guess it's about trying, trying and trying again - but also being able to forgive yourself if it doesn't work. And to accept when you have reached your own personal limit - which only you can know. So just ask yourself - what can I do? what do i need? I'm intrigued by your "every time I attach I get it wrong". Is it that baby just can't feed? Or it is damaging your nipples? (and hurting insanely to boot!). As for more support from private versus public LC, well I haven't tried public so I can't answer all that well... but my LC for the birth of my DD was incredibly supportive - available by phone at almost ANY time, visited whenever i needed it. I think we had about 5-6 sessions? Including 1 before birth. She came in day 1, day 3, day 5 ,then again at home a few times. It was expensive (but hey, cheaper than FF!). She was also very naughty and really did undercharge me. I don't think I can ever thank her enough, because I know without her we could not have done it. How can I place a value on this? I will treasure what she helped me to do for the rest of my life.
When I saw an LC with my DS (who did not feed well) we had maybe 2-3 sessions and then she agreed that it wasn't working & suggested I try once a day to "keep our hand in" in the hopes it would improve. In hindsight I would have tried another LC... or a lactation clinic day stay. I was so exhausted, frazzled, dispirited & discouraged that the thought of trying to attach him once a day was just horrifying - an exercise in stress & screaming. So one of my learnings would have been to try find a way for us both to become calmer before we tried - but at the time I didn't know how to get there (and his mouth-breathing was really not helping). Hmm have I side-tracked too much? Anyway, just thought I'd fill you in on my history with LC's! I also reallise that my second LC had a very calming effect on me. She just always made me feel I could do it. The first LC is perfectly good (and IBCLC qualified) but just didn't help me in that way. So I think I didn't realise how important it is to get somone you can connect with, and who will understand you and how you work and how to help you.
Surprised - I kept my parts, re-sterilised them and have used them again this time (just not as much!).
Thanks ladies. I will keep trying and seeking help. I get a bit resentful about being attached to the pump but would rather do that at this stage than give him no breast milk.
Belfie - thanks for your humour. Every time I get bub on the breast I get pain and it's hard to know when I begin the feed if it's because of my sensitive nipples or if I've got the attachment incorrect. It probably is a combo of both. Sometimes I pull him off and try again and other times I persist thinking it's just me being really sensitive. When I pull him off, line him up differently, try and aim the nipple for the upper palate I still get the same outcome each time (when the LC put him on last week she could just get him on, so I know it's possible to get him on). I now have some marks on my areola which I think are grazes (but I'm not expert on grazes). I saw the maternal nurse yesterday and she told me to give my nipples a break until see the LC next so I don't do further damage. I was going to try a few more attempts but think I need to repair to give the LC appointment the best shot. The nurse also told me about a breast feeding service through my council so I will also try this out.
Hi,
Just wondering if anyone can offer me some hints with when to express.
DD (2weeks old) is not thrieving on the boob. At this stage its not confirmed what the problem is but basically her suck is very weak and she doesn't drain milk from me. She attaches beautifully but sucks on me like I am a dummy. She doesn't have those long drawing sucks with the audiable swollowing. We are currently waiting on a paed review and scan of her heart as the concern is she has a cardiac condition which is tiring her out so although she demands to be fed once she gets on she appears to be sucking but is not actually getting anything. This has lead to me usually massive supply dwindling to almost nothing. DD is still 140grams below her birthweight and if she hasn't gained by tomorrow she is been admitted to paeds for further tests. Trying hard to prevent that due to the risk of germs, they will want to put an NGT in etc.
Anyway although Im not exclusively expressing (as I'm hoping to get her on me full time eventually) I express with every feed usually. The problem I have is say I express at 7am this morning, DD woke at 9am (had EMB and boob for about an hour) so I expressed again at 1030. She then woke at 12 and had breast and EBM then. I don't know how I can express every 3-4hrs when I'm demand feeding her and she doesn't usually go the 3-4hrs before she wakes for more. Expressing everytime she is due to be fed seems extreme and I wouldn't get much but it seems silly to feed her and express, then she wakes and I feed her, then express 1-2hrs after that. Does anyone have any suggestions? I am also currently trying to increase my supply. 48hrs ago I was only able to express 15mls at a time and now 48hrs later I can get out about 60-70mls so no where near as much as I want but a huge improvement from when I first started expressing. I'm also on motilium.
Also I feel a let down every hr or so. It feels like this is when I should express but if I've only expressed an hour earlier obviously I shouldn't go express again so soon. What does everyone else do about this? Just ignore it as I do have a letdown shortly after I start expressing when I do. What I am currently doing just seems so disorganised and wasting alot of time. 50% of my daytime hours are taken up BF or expressing but I'm determined to get my supply back and I want to keep DD on the breast so if she is able to start sucking effectively one day I can reduce the EBM (which is given in a squeezy bottle as she can't drink that effectively either without help) and let her get more from me. She seems to love the boob over the bottle despite her loosing a substancial amount of weight. Weigh in is tomorrow and FX she is up a minimum of 50grams.
Hi Mildez,
In the early weeks, DS had issues with weight gain, jaundice and attaching. I was told by the couple of midwifes looking after me in those weeks to feed DS every two hours due to his jaundice and to express the same to build up/keep my supply. It was very tiring and there were nights I'd set my alarm for the two hour intervals only to sleep through it and feel so guilty about failing. I guess at this stage, given you want to keep up your supply I would certainly express after each feed. That's what I did those times I tried DS on the breast first (though it would result in him needing a top up). It does seem like you are spending half you days trying to attach and/or feed your child and the other half expressing.
Do you have a double pump? That can lessen the time spent pumping. I also found fenugreek great in helping my supply, however given expressing is not as effective as getting the milk out as a baby, I'd say you are doing great with your amounts.
Good luck with the appointment and weigh in tomorrow.
Hi Mildez,
I'm pretty much EE at the moment but trying to sort out attachment issues. DS is 5 weeks old and I have been doing attempted BF and ending in EBM bottles and expressing at every feed for 5 weeks.
If it was me I would try and express 7-8 times a day and time these after feeds. I probably wouldn't be aiming to do it after every short feed as it is already so time consuming. I was told that expressing a minimum of 8 times a day every 3 or so hours was what I needed to do to maintain supply. Sometimes I only do 7. Getting 60-70mls at 2 weeks should be okay. I think I was probably getting a little less than this at 2 weeks and in the first 2 weeks did some FF when i didn't have the milk. Now at 5 weeks I get between 80 - 120mls every 3 hours so it has built up naturally through expressing about 7-8 times a day. My freezer is now overflowing with milk. The LCs I see have said that my supply is fine.
Perhaps monitor how your breast are feeling and if they can't wait until the 3-4 hour mark maybe express a little off to get comfy and to avoid mastitis (happened to me when I went 5 hours one night).
50% of my time or less now is spent on the feed cycle and it is exhausting. I am slowly refining things and getting more efficient. The things that have made a difference to my time and organisation are preparing the EBM bottle prior to attempting the BF, whilst attempting to BF have the bottle heating at my feet then when the BF fails hook up to the pump (double pump supported by my mat bra which I do up around the pump funnel so I can be hands free) and get the bottle and feed DS on the end of my knees. This had reduced my time and DS tears whilst waiting for the bottle.
Good luck with your DD weight, heart and feeding. I admire anyone who is on the express cycle as I know how hard it is.
Hi Mildez,
I can't see any way around it other than expressing after, or between feeds; if it was me, especially trying to increase supply I would be doing it between feeds, even if it means you're feeding or expressing every hour and a half - short term it's a major hassle, but long term if it picks up your supply & keeps her on the breast it will be worth it.
I have a supply line if that would be helpful to you to supplement her feeds at the breast - it was one thing I tried with Pie & didn't work - it's been used maybe three times. PM me if you're interested.
x
My son is 6mths old and I have been expressing the entire time. He has a heart condition so he's not allowed to breast feed as it uses up more energy than bottle feeding and initially he was fluid restricted.
I'm hoping to take 5 EBM feeds to 3 EBM and 2 formula feeds over the coming month/s. His condition is extremely time consuming, as it is, so I'm hoping to get some hours back in my day so i can at least get some house work done.
However making the switch is proving almost impossible. The most he's ever taken from a formula bottle is 40mls and he then refuses to take any feeds for some time after.
I'm looking for any tips, or advice on the best way to do this. Are there any formulas that babies like better? Times of he day that are better for weaning? Any help will be greatly appreciated.
I would also like to say to every long term expresser, WELL DONE! I think people underestimate how time consuming and exhausting it can be, so I think you all deserve some acknowledgement for what you're giving your baby. Yay you!
Hi brookenlachie, Welcome :)
I had the same problem when I weaning Pie (we weaned onto cow's milk as she was older) - she had tasted it before but absolutely refused to drink it from a bottle.
I ended up mixing EBM with cows milk & gradually increasing the amount of cow's milk (in your case it would be formula). I think we started with about 20ml of cow's milk in 180ml of EBM. After a week or so I doubled the cow's milk, so it was more like 40ml cows milk & 150 - 160ml EBM. From there it was a very quick transition to complete cow's milk, I just kept increasing the ration & she ended up weaning much quicker than I thought she would.
Hope that helps, might be something to try. Good luck & congratulations on 6 mths of EE, that's a huge achievement :)
brookenlachie I too thought I'd mix the two together and gradually increase the formula content as your son gets use to the taste.
Thankyou Fleur, Lisa and CeCe for your advice. This expressing really isn't going well. I only got 30mls out at 2am it took 40minutes. I was heartbroken. I was happier when the next time I got 90mls my best so far and i'm currently expressing away now. My (.Y.) are getting so sore. Only got 3hrs to wait until I see if my efforts has made a difference. FX they have. I think my biggest problem is I am using a tommee tippee hand pump which is useless and I'm sure causing my discomfort (its the breast not the nipple that hurts) I went all over town yesterday looking for a good pump but locally there is only the Avent hand pump or tommee tippee electric. I'm of to the last 2 chemists today and target and if they dont have a decent one I'll be ordering one onling this evening but because of where I live it will be a week until it actually arrives. The thought of using this one another week is torture. I've borrowed an avent hand pump and its crappy also. It doesn't hurt as much but it gets alot less out.
Fleur thatnks for the offer of the supply line. I was comsidering giving that a go if it meant J is still on the boob (I'm worried about her getting confused between the bottle and breast) so far so good but. She drinks much better from the bottle and seems so happy to get back to the boob. I think its a dummy thing. Her suck does seem a little better since she is having the bottle with every feed.
brookenlachie that is the concern with J is she has a heart condition (VSD) We are currently waiting on a scan to see where to from now. They don't seem to feel its urgent but which is a concern. She apparently is not feeding because she tires so quickly but hey who cares apparently. She can wait a few weeks. So of course I'm freaking out about her little ticker so she has a monitor on to sleep now. Since she is more hydrated now she does seem to be more alert then she was for the past week and a half.
Just thought I'd share my first expressing woohoo. I have just put my first bottle in the freezer :D I'm so excited. Hopefully when I get a new pump the stock pile increases very quickly.
Mildez: Great news re:expressing. I know it suck, especially in the early days, but you'll get used to it. As for you child's heart condition, i hope everything will be ok, if the doctors are not worried, you shouldn't be. My son has a a serious heart disease and we pend our time around a heck of a lot of doctors, if they're concerned you'll know about it!
Lachlan is currently staging protest my not taking the bottle AT ALL! we tried a new formula Holle, he seems to be digesting it well (no cramps or wind) but now he won't even have EBM.Thank god we have a feeding tube in.
Fluer: He already has mixed feeds with EBM and formula, but still not taking straight formula feeds. So frustrating.
Best of luck with everything and if you need any further advice on heart or expressing stuff feel free to PM me x