expressing

[nicola f]

my girl is a 11 weeks old and i decided it's time to express so i could go to the gym for an hour and my partner could feed her but when i've tried to express using a battery expresser it took me 40mins to get 2oz and that was with me expressing a little myself i have tried this twice, i feel relaxed and she is on the 3 hour easy plan and a good weight so my milk supply must be ok i think any tips out there:?  nicola

[Erin (redstarfalling)]

What's the model of expressor you're using?  Are you able to try other ones?  Some types of pump just work better.  Also, what time of day are you pumping?  The best time is usually about an hour after the first feed of the morning - your milk supply will likely be best then. Once you can get enough for the feed while you're out, you can then express once you get home from the gym - you should do this anyway, to make up for the missed feed.  With a good pump, and in the morning, you should be able to get a bit more after doing it for a few days.  At 11 weeks, I imagine she'll eat about 4oz? (I'm not 100% sure...) You can always combine the milk for the first few days until your body gets used to producing more for that pumping session.  Hope that helps!

[nicola f]

thanks Erin, will try after the first 

[annamum]

What is also good to do while pumping, try to imagine your lo and don't get too tense "I must pump" if you know what I mean. I had to pump once for my dd and didn't have much time, I assumed I will have no problem with it, I never did before, and of course, this one time, I couldn't pump much at all.

And yes, morning is the best for expressing milk!

[marlowho]

And another tip-  I never seem to be able to pump in the morning (unless it's the weekend and I have DH around for help)- so I pump in the evening.  We don't do a dream feed, so this works well for us.  My milk supply isn't great at that time of day, but I've just made it a habit to pump at that time each night.  HTH