Expressing Breast Milk

I am trying to express some milk to store in the freezer in case I get sick or I need to sleep and hubby can bottle feed the EBM, but I am struggling.

I have an Avent manual pump and I often struggle to get even 20mL, 10mL is sometimes a pipe dream. On a very good day I'll get maybe 40mL. This is pumping for a good half an hour.

What am I doing wrong? It is SO time consuming and I find I have to sit awkwardly to get the milk to flow down the neck of the pump which has left me with an aching back.

I hate having to wash and sterilise the stupid pump every time I use it just for 10mL, it's doing my head in. Please help. :wall:

I cannot offer too much advise in the way of expressing to get extra milk on top of BF as I express full time however I want you too know that once you get the hang of it it does get easier :) maybe try an electric pump (you can hire from chemists if you don't want to buy one, just to try) maybe change the time that you express eg: immediatly after BF, if that is when you are doing it try about half an hour after feeding. Most of all relax, you need to relax to get a let down, I find if I tense up and stress about the quantity I get less than if I watch TV or read a book to take my mind off of what is happening.

Good Luck :hug:

Deanne.

ETA: As far as back pain, I sit on the floor with the couch behind me to support my back so I sit straight, with pillows as required under bum and in arch of back if required, I sit in like a meditation pose with feet together and bottle near my hmm thingy. I find this easiest. It may depend on size and shape of body and breasts though?

ETA2: :lol: It is just as annoying to wash and sterilise for 250-400mls :lol: The hospital (Royal Childrens Melb)advised that it is only necisary (hmm sp?) to sterilise pumps every 24 hours if this helps. Just wash with warm soapy water in between.

Hi Kuraiza, I just wanted to say that I was the same. I would struggle to express any more than about 20 or 30 ml. Most times I'd get something between 10 and 20 ml. One time I got 60 ml, but that was after a full day of not breastfeeding and my breasts were so full. I actually stopped expressing because I just couldnt express any worthwhile amounts and I was always home anyway and DH didnt look after her much so it was more trouble for me than what it was worth. I was mainly just expressing incase I had to go out for an appointment or something and it was only DH home with her.

I talked to a lactation consultant who told me I was doing it right (I did it by hand as I couldnt get a seal at all using a pump - i must have wierd shaped breasts or something!). She said that some people just have more diffulculty expressing than others and sometimes its not really anything to do with your pump or technique.
Are you doing it after a feed or between feeds?

I'm guessing your supply is ok becasue youre feeding your baby, right?... Have you tried talking to a lactation consultant or maybe a breastfeeding counsellor from ABA?

I sometimes found it helped if I had a warm shower beforehand (but maybe a hot water bottle or one of those wheat bags would have the same effect?). Hope you can find something that works for you.

hi I don't know if anyone has said this but best time to express is in the morning because that's when your breasts are at it's fullest. I massage the breast to get it going thinking of my son feeding in my head and usually that helps also use a manual one too. I normally don't have any problems tho, I can fill a 125ml bottle on one side. Hopefully you can try these ways and it will work for you.

kurazia
i use the avent manual and i find i do 2-3 pumps then pull off my breast and resuction back on.
I do this through the whole express and have bub or a picture near me to relax for the let down.

If i dont pull the pump on and off - i will be sucking away and only get milk out for a few pumps and then it hurts and nothing comes out... try that maybe

Hi hun

I am a hopeless expresser too ..

However what works for me is to put the pump on when bub is on the other boob so you can make the most of the let down etc

Oh, I just realised it is easy for me to do cos I have a mini electric one - a manual one might be tricky - but perhaps Dh could help you??

And yes, the first couple of feeds in the morning are the best ones to try when you are (supposedly) more rested and milk.

If I try and express when bub is in bed mid-feed - I too can only get a pathetic amount! But, Jude would only be taking around 50mls at the moment anyway based on around 8 feeds a day and his weight, so maybe that is all your body is gunna give up!

Good luck

Thanks for your replies. I do try with Jude next to me so I can watch him but he smells the milk and wakes up very upset that I'm messing with his milk supply and not giving it to him.

Hmm I've tried different times of day, the only success I can get is if my breast is quite engorged with milk. I usually wake up when Jude wakes me up crying for a feed, if only I could pre-empt him I could probably express some milk in the morning, but I don't think my boobs are producing enough milk to feed him AND express. Maybe I need to wait until he weighs a bit more than 2.8kgs and my boobs are producing more milk??

I can't do it while I'm breastfeeding I'm just too uncoordinated, but I suspect it would work if I hired an electric pump, however having spent the money on the manual pump I don't want to spend any more money on it.

I too have some trouble getting a good seal. I must have weird shaped boobs, too. Who are these lactation consultants and where do you find them? Do they come to you or do you have to go hunt them down?

Argh, why can't it be easy for me like it is for so many other women? I'll try the yoga position, MatildasMummy, and see if it helps.

The sterilizing is not something you have to do every time - just rinse your pump with cold water and put it in the fridge. Then once a day give it a hot wash and a sterilize if you want to.

Distract yourself with a book or CD or something - a watched bottle never fills!

Do you have the correctly sized snozzle for your nipple - you can get bigger snozzle-bits for bigger nipples.

Lactation consultants are found at some hospitals and maternal and child health centres. There are also some in private practise, who will come to you for a fee. The ABA helpline might also be useful.

On the bright side, the pumping (even it it doesn't make much come out), will add to your milk supply.

I had to express when my DS was born 6 weeks prem, I found that once my milk came in I was getting quite a large amount in the early days, using the hospital's machine. I bought a Medulla Swing when I had to leave my DS in the SCN and I was d/c home. It was around this time we also began to BF. DS had nasograstric feeds for the first week. So I would BF one side and express from the others. I would get anything from 60ml in the morning to 10 mls by the evening. After DS came home I continued with this regime for a short while, but had a reasonal supply in the freezer, so I started to ween myself from it. I still occasionally express, but after a dismal attempt a few weeks back I started to feel expressing was not working anymore. The suck of my DS is so much stronger than the machine. On Wed morning I chucked a hissy fit as DS was being unsettled and between him and my cat I was not getting much sleep, I left him in bed with DH (DS prompltly went to sleep) I got up to express and managed to get about 120ml.
I think the time before, where I had low supply was becasue I wasn't drinking enough water. I have since made an effort to increase my water intake. I have also found I don't get as much milk from expressing as to what I'm sure DS is getting from BF.
Also your bub is still quite small so you probably don't have a large supply yet.

I wash my bottles and pump in hot soapy water and sterilise ever day or so.

I recommend you express with every feed, cool it all in the fridge before combining them, then freeze. You may only get 1 feed per day, but you will slowly build up a supply.