Can't express anything! Help!

With DS1 I had absolutely no problems expressing milk. I have an electric pump (Phillips Avent Isis) which was great last time.

With DS2 I have tried a number of times of the last three months to express milk but I just can't get the let-down. I've mostly tried expressing after a feed (is this right??) but also recently tried expressing from the other breast while feeding DS2 so I could 'catch' the let-down. This didn't work either. DS2 currently feeds about 3 hourly around the clock - he was 2 hourly up until a few weeks ago.

I'm not sure what's going on but I'm getting a little stressed as I have a function to go to in the next month where I'm leaving the kids with DH so DS2 will need a feed. I'd prefer not to feed him formula but I'm thinking that I might have to.

Also, DS2 flat out refuses a dummy so I'm wondering if he will even take a bottle of ebm. What other ways are there of feeding? I've heard of cup feeding but not sure how it all works - DS2 is almost 6 months.

Any suggestions/advice welcome :D

Things to try to encourage let-down:
- Relax!!!! Deep, calm breaths... be somewhere you find relaxing, try to eliminate any pressures (eg I must get this done before DS2 wakes up), be calm, relax...
- Look at a picture or a video on your phone of DS2 - or even better, look at him! Smell him, talk to him, think about him in general
- Warm face washer on breast before expressing
- Sometimes massage on the breast or nipple stimulation can help too

Its the oxytocin that triggers let down - that's the "love" hormone don't forget!

As for best time to feed - prolactin (milk making hormone) is strongest over night/early morning, so the absolute best time to express is early morning - before baby wakes for first feed. I'm talking 2-3am. But that can be extremely difficult if you are sleep-deprived and exhausted!!!

So try in the morning after baby wakes. An hour or so after his first feed maybe.

The ways you could try to give him the EBM and with a cup or spoon. With a spoon, it generally works best when they are little, newborns, I'd go straight to a cup. Has he tried water in a sippy cup yet? If so, did he like the sippy cup? That'd be my bet to try first. At 6mths, he can handle it.

Try an hour or so after a feed, rather than straight after.
Distract yourself as much as you possibly can, and try to physically relax.

Hand squirting can help to get things started too.

And (very boring) check that the pump is sucking well - they have little seals that can become not-so-sealing, and the motors also can wear out.

In the meantime, try to get him used to drinking water (even in tiny amounts), so he has some drinking practise - sippy cup, or straw cup, or bottle.

I second the suggestion to check your pump parts - they may have perished or become worn.
Here's my best tip for expressing milk: choose a time when you are full (if baby sleeps at night then after an overnight sleep or a longish day sleep)
Feed baby one breast. Give him to his dad or pop him in his rocker. Express the other breast. If he is a 'both breast boy" feed him the breast you just expressed from - there will be plenty left for him. Also, choose a time when your toddler is occupied or has some-one to look after him.
Let us know how it goes

Thank you for all the advice.

I think I'll try the sippy cup seeing as he'll need to get used to that for drinking water anyway.

And I'll try to wait until my hubby is home on the weekend so he can occupy my DS1. I'm sure that's at least part of the issue - can't relax.

DS2 is a one breast baby (it seems to work better with his reflux) so thanks for the advice about pumping from the other breast, Barb.