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Expressing

Some of you may have read in Baby I'm feeling abit blue and down, so I'm hoping to express some milk and give myself a break allowing hubby to take a feed.

I haven't done this yet though, I've hand expressed but not recently. How do I express with a pump, whens the best time to do it? Any advice or tips welcome please

Replies

  • they say first thing in the morning is a good time as you're rested (?) and have a good supply then to feed from one side and express the other.

    if you do it regularly at the same time everyday you can always store it in the freezer then when you feel you need a break take a feed out and let your OH do it...
    take it slowly at first, and be prepared that you might not get much at the first couple of times. but every little bit can be saved. you can express say at 9am, then put the bottle in the fridge then express again at 11am and add it to the other milk, and again at 2pm etc etc.... without it causing any problems.

    Hope you're feeling better soon, and that your OH can give you plenty of hugs

    xxxx
  • I used to do it in the morning from one boob whilst feeding from the other boob. Once you've mastered it, it is definitely the easiest way to get some out. (Was for me anyway). Also, it's good to express when you should be feeding to keep supply up...the problem I found with this was that instead of getting the rest you're craving you're always bloody expressing instead!!
    It always took me a while to 'let down' when expressing away from baby, so don't be too discouraged if you dn't get much at first. (Photo's etc. do help, or I used to sniff her head!)

  • For the first few attempts they advise hand expressing a few drops first to encourage the let down, the starting to pump. My avent pump came with good instructions which is to start off with 5-6 quick pumps, then a couple of slow pumps held for 2-3 seconds. I find this works really well for me, really encourages the milk to flow.

    Corinna x
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