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Expressing and formula
Hiya I've been expressing milk exclusively for the last 2 weeks, lo is 18 days old now and I'm finding it hard to keep up a supply of milk. I can express about 60-80ml each time but am having to sometimes top up with formula as she seems to still be hungry afterwards. Should I be doing this or just give her what I can manage to express? I am expressing every 2-3 hours day and night ready for each feed. Also is there anyone else exclusively expressing and if so do you manage to have enough milk to store as well as for each feed, and how often do you express? Thanks! xxx
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I would suggest trying to express more frequently for a couple of days to increase your supply (as if you were feeding she would be latched on more frequently to do this herself) - maybe express an extra feed (not that you will get much at first but after a couple of days you should) in between your standard expresses....
I started expressing at 3 weeks (as well as feeding - expressed for feeds for when i wasnt with lo..) and found that after a couple of days my body got used to producing another feed....
but you need to give it time for it to catch up - you will not see instant results! (and this is usually the time many mothers give up bf as they think they havent got enough milk when in reality baby is just having a rwth spurt and increasing your supply so that they can get more, and go longer between feeds)
When you express have lo near you, or a pic at least, make sure youre drinking plenty of fluids and restin enough, and eating the extra 500 calories your body desperately needs in order to produce the milk for your baby....
xxxx