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How much expressed milk should I leave for evening feeds?
My son is 20 weeks old and is exclusively breastfed. Although I have left him with my husband for an hour or two with around 100 mL of expressed milk I have never left him for a longer period of time. Next week he will be left for seven hours with my father from 4:30 PM. I am very worried that I will not be able to pump enough milk. How much milk do you think I would need this period of time?
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I used to leave 5oz (about 150ml) for every feed. So for 7 hours (like I used to leave my daughter for the 2 days that I worked) I would leave 3 bottles of that size although, as it's overnight you might not need as much depending on when he sleeps. How often do you pump? I used to pump every night or early morning at roughly the same time each day (with my daughter on the opposite breast to stimulate my let down) so I could slowly build up a stash for going back to work. Good luck x
I didn't manage to breast feed or pump for as long with my 2 due to differing factors, but to be on the safe side leave as much as u can. Better to be safe than sorry, if baby has a hungry period, or suffering with teeth and needs a comfort feed, or having a growth spurt. I'd rather know there was extra milk there for them than have them going hungry or having to have a formula feed if they've never had formula before. X