I cant express!! vent

Just frustrated i am trying to express some milk to put in the freezer 'just incase' and i cant even get a single drop out atm!

It's making me really frustrated ..Sorry just had to post it so i wouldn't scream and wake DD :(

:hug: Have you tried expressing while looking at a photo of bub and being totally relaxed?? Lots of water and in between feeds. FWIW I fed J until he was 17 mths and I think I expressed once in that time when he was about 3 mths old. Do you have an occasion coming up that you need the milk for??

I guess i am not the most relaxed atm, maybe i should try later .x
No reason in particular that i need to have the milk i just think i would feel better if i did have it just incase something came up, so i don't really need it i guess.

But aother reason i was doing it was i keep getting blocked ducts in one breast and i read that its good to try and express after a feed to make sure the breast is empty of milk as if there is still some milk left froma feed it can cause the blocked ducts as well? Not sure if this is true though

Being relaxed really helps, try having a warm shower, or after a feed when she's settled and asleep.

Oh how annoying...I found the only time I could get any reasonable amount of milk out was first thing in the morning. I'd feed DS off one and express from the other either before or after his first feed of the day.

As said above with expressing you do need to be relaxed. If no milk is coming out take a breath and walk away for little while.. put on the tv and watch something and forget about what you are doing..

What sort of pump do you have or are you hand expressing? I found I could get nothing with hand expressing no matter how relaxed or hard I tried..

Also maybe wait till bub has had a drink rather then a feed and express the rest if you get what I mean..

It sounds really boring, but are the seals on your pump all sealing OK? Can you feel "suck" but nothing happens, or is it just not sucking very well?
If it is just after a feed then maybe there isn't very much there either - you should probably be at the stage by now where you pretty much make what bub needs and not much extra.
If you do need a stash then the most reliable way to do it is to add another "feed" to your day where you feed the pump rather than the baby - after a few days your boobs will get the idea and you will have the extra milk supply.

Thanks Ladies

I did everything you said..I also think my pump was a bit loose or something maybe.

It took a while but i expressed 50ml just then,not much ? But at least i got something!
And i think it would work better in the morning or like you said KMN pump an actual feed

:)

So gld you were able to get 50ml :leap: - fabulous job :hug:

I always found mornings bought a better express for me too.

:loveshower: ooohhhh Double the love for you today!!

Yay! It took me a few attempts before I could express. So far I have made a few bottles now, but have not needed them. DD wont take them anyway, I just feel better if there is some there, so I know how you feel!

The dreaded express. FWIW I express more often than I BF as DH is SAHD and despite my body being very used to expressing, sometimes I will only get 80mls. It's frustrating but I find lots of water, relaxing as much as possible and also stroking the breast lightly before expressing works wonders. My biggest problem is getting to the let down stage. If I am stressed, this sometimes won't happen.

Good luck! I think it's a great idea for you to have some milk in the freezer just in case but don't let it get too stressful for you :)

It is so frustrating isn't it. I have never been able to express more than 20 ml at any given time. I used to spend hours expressing what I could just to get a emergency feed and did everything that the ABA suggested (I even got up at midnight to try a few times). I found little bit by little bit got enough for what I needed. If I had my time over I would hire a electric pump for a month and try that.

50 mls is great hun. With some practice you might get more, or you might not. 50mls is more than many mums get so well done. You can mix batches that are at the same temperature too, but I always found it best to store in 50ml batches.

One other tip that might help is to put a warm compress on your breast before expressing, and some gently breast compression while pumping can help too.

Just want to say a big thank to everyone for posting! It has given me some encouragment to keep trying :) I will try again on a good stress free day lol
I know i don't 'need' to have the milk but i would feel so much better if it was in the freezer just incase

xx