breastfeeding..but want to express so i can give bottle

[kmaddison]

hello i am exlusivley bf and would like to know when the best time to express, so that if i want to go out of the house he will have a feed as im uncomfortable with bf in public.
my lo is 5 weeks, not sure if he will take to bottle but worth the try if i can have my coffee mornings back!!

[Motmom]

hi there

I like you wanted to express so I could give a bottle, I wasnt personally comfortable with feeding in public as I am really awkward, but my main reason for wanting the bottle was in case anything happened my supply and I was forced to give bottles....anyway...

I started pumping at 6 weeks, as my baby started to sleep through the night and no longer needed the 3am feed,

I then pumped off the breast that I was not feeding with first thing in the morning

dont forget that even though you are giving a bottle you still have to pump when you would normally feed otherwise you will get engorged

I started using the pumped milk for the dream feed so that DH could feed the baby too, so I ended up pumping twice a day, in the morning and when DH was giving the morning milk in the bottle at 10  clock....is this too confusing??

any help?? 

XX

[kmaddison]

hi that sounds great thank you. i still want to breast feed though mostly. but if i was to express in the morning say the first morning feed, and then again at the 10 am feed would there be a good enough milk supply for a decent feed. if i didnt use the EBM. and did you keep the EBM in the fridge, didnt this confuse your LO as it would be cold. and how easy did LO take back to the breast im afraid that DS will get nipple teat confusion,
which bottle did you use. my LO is 5 weeks.

[Motmom]

I found it difficult to feed my DS a dream feed by breast at 10pm so I started with bottle. I use the milk I expressed in the morning, which I had stored in the fridge. I would take it out about 10-15 minutes before the feed just to take the real cold out of it but he had no problem taking it. I never really had an issue with nipple confusion either he just seems to take whatever he is given!! Try a very slow teet on the bottle at first though and take it nice and slow!!!

What I did re morning time was eg; if I was feeding on the right breast, I would feed baby, then make sure the breast was empty with pump and then empty the left breast. then on the next feed, 3 hours later I would offer the right breast, next feed right, next feed left etc etc. I would get about 6oz & I would store this in the fridge as I said above. When DH feeds the baby at 10, I then sit and pump again, generally I would only get about 3 oz or so here which I was freezing, I used this milk on days I was out, or a day that I wanted a break to relieve a sore nipple etc etc.


So thats hat I was doing, hope its helpful, let me know how you get on and post again if you have any problems xx

[kmaddison]

hi that has really helped me. i only want to use what i express that day if im going out anywhere that day.
thankyou again, i'll let you know how i get on. x

[Motmom]

great...am glad it helped...I reread it and thought it was a bit confusing!! best of luck and here's to many days out with a happy mommy and happy baby xx

[liacarmen]

I always pumped an hour after a feed. I also warmed up the milk by putting a mug in the microwave with water in it, then float the bottle in there for a few minutes. Don't microwave breastmilk, it messes with it and you can get hot spots in the bottle. Use the newborn nipples which are the hardest for them to suck from, they're closer to the real thing.