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Expressed Breast milk

Hi

I am planning to breast feed my daughter when she is born in Jan, however my OH really wants to be involved in feeding. He is a chef and works long hours and feels that he can bond with LO if he can give her a feed a night.

Anyway, I have a few questions

When should I express this milk and if I store this milk in the fridge should I just leave it to come up to room temp or should I heat it to a certain temp?
The bottle it is stored in, is this ok to feed her from or should I use a new freshly sterilised bottle?

So many questions??????

Thank you

Joanna

Replies

  • I can't really advise about when it is best to express. The morning is recommended as a lot of women find they get more milk then but I actually express in the evening, while my husband is feeding our son the bottle I expressed the night before. I store the bottle in the back of the fridge overnight. When it is time for his feed, I take it straight from the fridge and pop it into a jug of warm water to heat up to body temperature (test the temp on your wrist, like with bath water). So yes, I just store in a sterilised bottle with its cap on and he feeds straight from that.

    Hope that helps.
  • Hi,

    It's great that your oh wants to help out and feed your little one, my oh loves feeding our little boy and it's great for bonding.

    In answer to your questions:

    The morning is a good time to express but see how you feel and try other times of the day, the more you try the easier it will become.

    Used a sterile bottle to express into and just freshly sterilise a teat etc.. when you are ready to use the ebm. You can get screw top lids to use when storing your milk so you can freeze or store in the fridge. I use the tommee tippee bottles and lids etc..and they are great.

    You can store ebm in the back of your fridge for about 24-36 hours. You can freeze ebm for up to 3 months. Just rotate it and write the dates on the bottles so you can keep track.

    Warm the milk up to temp using a jug of hot water or a bottle warmer, I bought a bottle warmer but to be honest it's just as good using the jug method so save the money and use it on something else! Always test the milk on your wrist to make sure it's not too warm, you should not be able to feel it hot or cold it should be same temp as your skin.

    I waited 6 weeks before expressing and introducing a bottle and my boy happily switches between breast and bottle, I have since read 3 weeks is also fine but see how you feel. My hv said 6 weeks which is what we followed. If you leave it any longer you may find baby doesn't take to a bottle at all!

    Well done for planning to bf it's not easy the first 6-8 weeks are hardest but it's worth keeping at it if you can as it's so lovely when you both get the hang of it!

    Good Luck

    xx

    [Modified by: Sazzle33 on September 07, 2009 10:03 AM]

  • If your DH is going to give a bottle at night as HistoryGirl said you can express the feed your lo would be having then but most find it easier to express in a morrning.

    At first you might not be able to express a full feed in one go but if you express some you can put it in the fridge and add to it later. You need to re sterilise the breast pump and put the second bottle in the fridge so the milk is also cold before adding to the first bottle. Then treat as fresh milk from when the first bottle was expressed!

    I hope this makes sense?
    xx
  • Double post

    EITHER BABY EXPERT...........................................................................

    [Modified by: michelle07 on September 07, 2009 10:31 AM]

  • double post

    OR THE LAPTOP........................................................................
    xx

    [Modified by: michelle07 on September 07, 2009 10:33 AM]

  • double post

    HAS GONE MAD image.................................... iT CAN'T BE ME :lol:
    xx

    [Modified by: michelle07 on September 07, 2009 10:35 AM]

  • thanks for your replies ladies, they have really helped and I now feel alot more confident about expressing.

    Hopefully all will go well and I will be able to do a combination of breast and bottle for the first 4 to 6 months

    Fingers crossed....

    Joanna
  • Joanna - I am so glad you asked these questions as we are in the same position and I was wondering these things too!

    Thank you so much ladies for the helpful answers too :\)

    Love NN 21+6 xxx

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