Hand Expressing & Storing EBM.

Hand Expressing

Hand expressing is one of the more gentle ways of expressing Breastmilk for you baby. There is a nack to getting it right so practice makes perfect :).
Remember to RELAX!

1. Place your thumb and forefinger on either side of your areola, well back from the nipple, with an imaginary line between them running through
your nipple. A mirror might be of assistance if you cannot easily see the
lower part of your breast.

2. Gently press your thumb and forefinger back into your breast tissue, until you feel the bulk of the breast. If your breasts are full, your breast tissue might feel hard, lumpy or even a little sore. Treat your breasts gently; expressing should not hurt. When the let-down reflex occurs and the milk flows, the breast tissue softens and expressing becomes easier.

3. Press your thumb and forefinger towards each other, using a slight rolling action. This will compress the large ducts in the breast just behind the nipple and cause the milk to flow out of the nipple. Until the let-down reflex occurs, the milk may drip from the nipple and you might need to hold your bowl close to catch it.

4. Continue this compressing motion, in a rhythmical way, until the let-down reflex is triggered. The milk can seem to spray from the nipple. Several jets of milk can occur with each compression. The let-down reflex may take several minutes — don’t worry, the let-down is a conditioned response and will soon occur quickly each time you express.

5. When the flow eases, move to another section of breast, working your way around the areola. Remember to place your finger and thumb on either side of the nipple, as before. If your hand tires, you might like to use your other hand.

6. If the flow seems to decrease, try expressing the other breast in the same way. Change hands and breasts frequently if your fingers tire. You will find they become stronger with practice. You can swap between breasts until the milk no longer flows well.

7. If your supply is low you may find that you get only a few dribbles at each expressing session. Do not be discouraged. Frequent short sessions will gradually build up your supply. See the Australian Breastfeeding Association booklet, Increasing Your Supply.

8. When you are expressing all your baby’s needs, you should aim to have some longer and some shorter expressing sessions. During the longer sessions you might find you will get two or more let-downs and thus produce more milk.

9. Some mothers use their right hand for their left breast and vice versa, others use the left hand for the left breast and their right hand for their right breast, still others use a combination. With practice you will find what is easiest for you. To avoid strain in your forearms and shoulders, relax and change your expressing positions frequently.

Storing, thawing & using EBM

Storage:
Breastmilk freshly expressed into a closed container can be kept at room teperature for 6–8 hrs (26ºC or lower).

If refrigeration is available store milk there 3–5 days (4ºC or lower) Store in back of refrigerator where it is coldest 2 weeks in freezer compartment inside refrigerator.

Breastmilk can be kept for 3 months in freezer section of refrigerator with separate door. Or 6–12 months in deep freeze (-18ºC or lower).

Previously frozen & thawed in refrigerator (leaving it in the fridge to thaw over night) but not warmed can be kept at room temperature 4 hours or less (ie the next feeding). Can be kept in the fridge for up to 24 hours. Do not refreeze.

Thawed outside refrigerator in warm water can be kept for completion of feeding. If thawed in warm water but NOT given to baby straight way can be kept in the fridge for up to 4 hours or until next feeding. Do not refreeze.

Once your baby has begun feed, breastmilk should then only be kept for completion of feeding, then discarded.

Glad Snap lock type bags are NOT recommended for storing EBM. Chemicals in the plastic may leech into the EBM.

FJ - just a question -once frozen can you transfer to a plastic bag or what about the ice cube trays with EBM in them can you remove from trays and then store in bags or tupperware or ? .

Not that I do atm.

I have some milk stored in sterilised baby plastic food containers and Avent - can I now remove and store in another bag ?

I will suss it out, by other bags do you mean the snap lock ones?

any really like freezer bags/double bagged or if inside tupperware type conatiners?

I think it would be safe to put into tupperware. I would probably avoid any plastic bags that aren't EBM bags.

If I express a couple of times during the day, can I combine them in one bottle? Or would it be bad to add room temp milk to chilled milk? (With the intention of feeding the same day, not freezing.)

FJ -how can tell if EBM has gone off ? I had some 2.5 days old in fridge since expressed it and it smells funny ?

Should be ok, BM does seem to have an odd smell once its been cooled or frozen. Your ok for up to 5 days in the coolest part of the fridge.

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If I express a couple of times during the day, can I combine them in one bottle? Or would it be bad to add room temp milk to chilled milk? (With the intention of feeding the same day, not freezing.)

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ETA - You need to chill it before mixing it.

thank you FJ

Oh god I just combined milk i expressed late lastnight with freshly expressed this morning and i didnt chill it before mixing them.. Will this be an issue??

Sorry I didn't reply to this earlier. But for next time, I never use to chill before adding to already cold milk. It was never a issue for me. But ABA does reccomend chilling before mixing.

If I am keeping it at room tempurature can I mix them together??

Yes thats ok, its just adding new milk to cold or frozen milk that you need to chill the new milk before adding it. But if you are just adding room temp milk to room temp milk from the same day thats fine.

with the EBM bags, can you add to them, or do i have to seal it up with what you have put in them. I want to buy some but If i cant do that then its a waste of moeny for me.

Umm you should be able to add to them, I don't see why not. As long as you chill the new EBM before adding to whats already in the bag. Can't see why it would be any different to adding to a bottle KWIM?
However you can't reuse the bags so if your looking for something that you can reuse look out for cheap baby bottles to use. You can usually find the little ones pretty cheap in the junk shops.

The bags are single use, well at least the last time I looked at them they were but I haven't used them in aggggeeesssss so its possible something reusable has come onthe market.

Just a quick question:
For those of you that express BM, and use bags,
which bags will hold the most milk- the ones i have, Kanesno only hold 200mls, but DD has about 220ml. Do you think that i would fit it 250ml as an extra, or would that be pushing it?