Breastfeeding and Slimming World

[sammyb1985]

i dont want to give up,jus struggling at mo and i really dnt want to bf in public so i,meed to express more.can you express at any tim of day and as many tines as poss? or will this affect the bf for the baby?
yes she dus bring it back upo too ,most of the time

Well done for keeping at it. You can express any time of the day hunny. I feed Jack from one breast and pump the other at each feed. I make sure to alternate which breast I feed him from each time so they both get equally stimulated to produce more milk. Try pumping for 20 minutes each time, as you will have multiple milk let downs in a session. That will also make the breast produce more milk. I did that and within a couple of days I was up to being able to pump 20 - 25oz a day, which ended up being too much and i had to freeze some! I also dont like to breast feed in public so that was my main reason for expressing, but now on the two nights a week my fiance doesn't have to get up for work I make him get up for the night feeds so I get two good nights of sleep a week, which really helps. At 3 weeks old your daughter is probably still feeding every 2-3 hours throughout the night, so you'll need a lot expressed to cover a whole night if you're wanting to do the same, but in a few weeks she will probably space those feeds out. I now put Jack to bed about 9pm, feed him around midnight/1 am and then about 5am and he then wakes up at around 8am, and Jack's only 7 weeks older than your little one so you will get a bit more sleep soon hunny i promise xx

 

[Clouise29]

i dont want to give up,jus struggling at mo and i really dnt want to bf in public so i,meed to express more.can you express at any tim of day and as many tines as poss? or will this affect the bf for the baby?
yes she dus bring it back upo too ,most of the time

Try pumping just after a hot shower or sitting in the bath and morning is more milk..I struggled so much and if you get sore theres a cream called HPA Lanolin I used that is the only reason I could continue! It really is worth it but so hard. Also don't forget Mothercare has feeding rooms x

Sent from my iPhone using MiniMins

 

[beccaharrison89]

Well done for keeping at it. You can express any time of the day hunny. I feed Jack from one breast and pump the other at each feed. I make sure to alternate which breast I feed him from each time so they both get equally stimulated to produce more milk. Try pumping for 20 minutes each time, as you will have multiple milk let downs in a session. That will also make the breast produce more milk. I did that and within a couple of days I was up to being able to pump 20 - 25oz a day, which ended up being too much and i had to freeze some! I also dont like to breast feed in public so that was my main reason for expressing, but now on the two nights a week my fiance doesn't have to get up for work I make him get up for the night feeds so I get two good nights of sleep a week, which really helps. At 3 weeks old your daughter is probably still feeding every 2-3 hours throughout the night, so you'll need a lot expressed to cover a whole night if you're wanting to do the same, but in a few weeks she will probably space those feeds out. I now put Jack to bed about 9pm, feed him around midnight/1 am and then about 5am and he then wakes up at around 8am, and Jack's only 7 weeks older than your little one so you will get a bit more sleep soon hunny i promise xx

i think it could be me being impatient.
i jus would like to be expressing more so my mum could help out etc.
it sounds like i,am trying to get rid of,my baby girl, but im not i love her to bits and,she,best thing i have ever done i jus need lil break to get some sleep.

so would you say any time i get through day to keep trying to express more and,eventually it will be easier?

also wen do they norm sleep through for longer,between feeds?

 

[sammyb1985]

Try pumping just after a hot shower or sitting in the bath and morning is more milk..I struggled so much and if you get sore theres a cream called HPA Lanolin I used that is the only reason I could continue! It really is worth it but so hard. Also don't forget Mothercare has feeding rooms x

Sent from my iPhone using MiniMins

Wanted to 'like' this post but there's no option to for some reason. Good advice! The lanolin can be a life saver xx

 

[sammyb1985]

i think it could be me being impatient.
i jus would like to be expressing more so my mum could help out etc.
it sounds like i,am trying to get rid of,my baby girl, but im not i love her to bits and,she,best thing i have ever done i jus need lil break to get some sleep.

so would you say any time i get through day to keep trying to express more and,eventually it will be easier?



also wen do they norm sleep through for longer,between feeds?

It doesn't sound like you're trying to get rid of your little girl hunny at all, you're a wonderful mother doing the best thing possible for her by breast feeding, but i understandthat you need a break sometimes, we've all been there, and it can be hard to get that time to catch up on sleep when we're the only ones who can feed them. It may just be that you're not seeing anything coming out and giving up, i'm not sure, but if you keep at it then you will eventually produce more. I'd say any time tou get the change then express, just make sure it's not from the breast you'll be feeding her from next unless you'll have at least an hour until her next feed so that it has time to make more for her feed. It will eventually get a lot easier. You're still only 3 weeks into this and it's still only early days, you're doing such a great job!

I don't knw if there is a normal time where they start to sleep through longer between feeds, but I know that Jack used to feed at 10pm, 2am and 6am by time he was about 5 and a half weeks old and then he gradually started dropping the 2am feed. He still has it every now and again, but mostly he feeds at 11pm/12 ish and around 4/5am ish which will feel like heaven! xx

 

[beccaharrison89]

at first when i express milk flows great but then slows down and i get impatient i think and stop as it slows down to barely a drip.i express wen i gt up with her in,mrn after her first feed.
at the mo she is constant feeding a lot,like yday i fed her,from 4-11 ,kept trying to put her dwn for her to stop feeding bt she wudnt.i think she been having growth spurt last few days.
i expressed 3 n half oz dis mrn n jus done another,ounce n half before,so oh gt 5 oz to give her later.

 

[sammyb1985]

i think it could be me being impatient.
i jus would like to be expressing more so my mum could help out etc.
it sounds like i,am trying to get rid of,my baby girl, but im not i love her to bits and,she,best thing i have ever done i jus need lil break to get some sleep.

so would you say any time i get through day to keep trying to express more and,eventually it will be easier?



also wen do they norm sleep through for longer,between feeds?

It doesn't sound like you're trying to get rid of your little girl hunny at all, you're a wonderful mother doing the best thing possible for her by breast feeding, but i understandthat you need a break sometimes, we've all been there, and it can be hard to get that time to catch up on sleep when we're the only ones who can feed them. It may just be that you're not seeing anything coming out and giving up, i'm not sure, but if you keep at it then you will eventually produce more. I'd say any time tou get the change then express, just make sure it's not from the breast you'll be feeding her from next unless you'll have at least an hour until her next feed so that it has time to make more for her feed. It will eventually get a lot easier. You're still only 3 weeks into this and it's still only early days, you're doing such a great job!

I don't knw if there is a normal time where they start to sleep through longer between feeds, but I know that Jack used to feed at 10pm, 2am and 6am by time he was about 5 and a half weeks old and then he gradually started dropping the 2am feed. He still has it every now and again, but mostly he feeds at 11pm/12 ish and around 4/5am ish which will feel like heaven! xx

 

[sammyb1985]

at first when i express milk flows great but then slows down and i get impatient i think and stop as it slows down to barely a drip.i express wen i gt up with her in,mrn after her first feed.
at the mo she is constant feeding a lot,like yday i fed her,from 4-11 ,kept trying to put her dwn for her to stop feeding bt she wudnt.i think she been having growth spurt last few days.
i expressed 3 n half oz dis mrn n jus done another,ounce n half before,so oh gt 5 oz to give her later.

When you first start and the milk flows fast that's the fore milk and it's thinner and flows faster. Afterwards the milk that's slower to come is the thicker creamier hind milk. Keep expressing through it and you'll find you get another let down of fast flowing milk. This can happen a number of times during a feed.

There is a growth spurt around 3 weeks old and she will want to constantly eat, but it should only last a couple of days and then go back to normal or even get a bit better than it was before hun, it is tough going though hunny, but you will get through it xx

 

[beccaharrison89]

thanks hun,you have been so helpful.i fed amelia before for around 20mins n used my pump on the other breast and i expressed 2 oz,really pleased as i already expressed 5oz dis mrn for tonights feed so the extra 2oz can be frozen.
mum wud luv to have her one night at weekend but wudnt no how much expressed milk she wud need.
how mucj

 

[beccaharrison89]

how much would you do for the night ?

 

[sammyb1985]

how much would you do for the night ?

If you work out how many times she gets up each night and times that by 5 then you'll have the number of ounces you should need for a night. I would then pump an extra 5oz just in case too if your mum is going to have her for a whole night.

Frozen breast milk is fine, but if you will be using it quite soon then it is best to keep it in the fridge. It can stay in ther up to 8 days if you have it cold enough. Just make sure you keep the oldest milk at the front of the fridge so that it gets used first. I usually pump and put in in the fridge in a row, newest at the back. As long as it's getting used quickly enough then that's better because it keeps more of the cells that are so helpful to baby, as freezing can destroy some of the cells (though it's still better than formula even when it's been frozen). If you're worried about it going off, just smell it. It's just milk and so when it goes off it smells, if it doesn't smell bad, it's fine. Also don't worry if it seperates, that's normal as the hind milk is thicker and creamer and will seperate from the fore milk if left to stand for a while, but give the bottle a little swirl and it will mix up again and is fine.

If you're managing to pump at least 5oz a day (7oz today though - good job!) then you should have enough for your mum to take her over night in a four or five days. So say you want your mum to take her from 8pm and she feeds on average every 2 hours (not sure how often she feeds, but you can use this example to work it out), then I would make sure you have at least 35oz pumped for your mum for the night if you want to be able to pick her up after 8am the next morning. 5oz per planned feed (6 feeds) and an extra 5oz just in case. Like I said, after a few days of pumping more regularly you will start getting a lot more out and it will be so much easier. I only have to pump 10oz to cover 2 night feeds when my fiance takes the night feeds, but there is always extra in the fridge if Jack decides he's extra hungry one night. xx

 

[beccaharrison89]

the 5 oz i express each day gets used for,her last feed for oh to give to help me out.
maybe i should try do few nights just bf without using that one bottle n will soon have enough for mum to have her overnight.
tried to express whilst feeding amelia,before but impossible to hold amelia and breast pump ha.
35oz,jus seems million miles away, esp wen using 5 oz every day tha im expressing

 

[sammyb1985]

the 5 oz i express each day gets used for,her last feed for oh to give to help me out.
maybe i should try do few nights just bf without using that one bottle n will soon have enough for mum to have her overnight.
tried to express whilst feeding amelia,before but impossible to hold amelia and breast pump ha.
35oz,jus seems million miles away, esp wen using 5 oz every day tha im expressing

You'll get there hunny, i promise. just think, if you go for four nights not having your other half feed her and manage to pump extra like you did today then you should have enough by Monday night, maybe even Sunday night if you pump loads and start getting more! :O) xx

 

[beccaharrison89]

im going to try that tonight,im going to freeze all the milk ive expressed today which is now 8oz as i did another oz before and jus get through the night. i no i will be exhausted tomorrow but wil be worth it wen get full nights sleep when mum has her overnight.
each chance i get i am going to try express bit more each time
i find i express ok on left breast but find it harder on right for some reason.
is this just me ?
at what age was your child when you started expressing?

 

[sammyb1985]

im going to try that tonight,im going to freeze all the milk ive expressed today which is now 8oz as i did another oz before and jus get through the night. i no i will be exhausted tomorrow but wil be worth it wen get full nights sleep when mum has her overnight.
each chance i get i am going to try express bit more each time
i find i express ok on left breast but find it harder on right for some reason.
is this just me ?
at what age was your child when you started expressing?

My left expresses better than my right too, not sure why, but i always get a bit more from it. I started expressing when he was 2 weeks to see if i could do it and how much. At that point i managed 4ozwhich was enough for his dad to give him a feed. Once I knew he was ok with a bottle and going back to breast then i expressed 12oz to cover the time it would take for my partner and I to go to the cinema and my mum watched him for us. Only problem with my mum is she keeps trying to feed him too much, if he fusses after a feed she thinks he's still hugry and goes onto the next bottle, when he doesn't actually need it, he just has a bit of wind and once it comes up he's fine, but my mum has always been a feeder (hence me needing to lose this weight lol).

Just remember, if it'll only be in your fridge a few days then you don't have to freeze the milk, it can last up to 8 days in most fridges, that way you don't have to defrost it and it's not wasted if it's not used as defrosted milk has to be used within 24 hours xx

 

[beccaharrison89]

i have frozen what i have done,today but the next few days ill keep in fridge. managed ti do 8n halfoz tday so ill c wat can do tmz.
we were gna go pics etc but we done in, we jus wna gt a film in n spend sum time together n av gd sleep.ha

 

[sammyb1985]

i have frozen what i have done,today but the next few days ill keep in fridge. managed ti do 8n halfoz tday so ill c wat can do tmz.
we were gna go pics etc but we done in, we jus wna gt a film in n spend sum time together n av gd sleep.ha

Bless ya, that's all we wanted too, we were knackered! It was my fiancées birthday on 23rd April and we were going to go see the avengers on the 26th for it when it was released, but my little boy had other plans and decided to come on the 25th! Lol! So after a couple of weeks that's when I started expressing and managed to get enough together for us to leave him with my mum for a couple of hours and go watch it. It was nice to just have some chill time together you're doing great hunny and that full nights sleep is just around the corner for you. Just make sure you have your pump sterilised and ready to go for the next morning because when you wake up your breasts will be rock hard and sore and you'll be starting to leak do you'll need to fully pump one breast and pump a bit out of the other to relieve some of the pressure, as if your breasts are too engorged it can make it difficult for your little one to latch on properly, and they will be engorged because you won't have used them all night. Xx

 

[mrss2010]

I'm a walking zombie 20 weeks and 3 days and still up through the night :-/

 

[bunnylovesalan]

Seriously, when i first had Charles all I thought about was sleep, it was around christmas and all I wanted was soeone to look after charles for a few hrs that would of been the best present ever, lol Boy, do you appreciate sleep once you have a little one!!! It does get easier though and Charles slept through when 4 months but kept going through periods where he will wake if he is going through a bad teething phase!!!!

 

[sarah83]

I won't even mention the fact that Bella is still up about 4/5 times a night at almost 9 months old...
She is the exception though, I don't know anyone who's the same! I'm sure it'll get better for you and you'll start feeling human again. Definitely try and nap same time as the baby, I still do sometimes now x