Can anyone help with breastfeeding/expressing?

[Lorrymac]

Hi all, i've been quiet I know - I just don't get much chance during the day to get on the computer. Isobel is coming up to 11 weeks old and we've been enjoying the time we've had together so far but I need to go back to work soon so the reality is that I need to start expressing and getting used to giving Isobel a bottle so that my husband can feed her when i'm out.

Problem is, my milk has gone weird recently. after taking the health visitors advice of letting isobel latch on to comfort herself and ending up with a huge sore right breast, now after listening to other advice, my right breast seems to be feeding Isobel on it's own while my left is just pathetically limp and empty. I can express by hand on the left (although i have no idea how much it yields) but 2 hand held pumps don't seem to be able to get much more than half an ounce out at best. It used to work when my breasts were fuller but now it doesn't. My right breast is ok with the pump which makes this strange. Any one been here before?? I'm currently expressing to try and up my milk production because it seems to have dropped and so that I can express and store some milk.

Thank you! Lorraine xx

[Psychick]

Hi Lorry, hope you are all well :)

Im not really going to be able to help Im afraid, other than suggest seeing a different health visitor if you can. I could be alone in this, but Im very surprised she has suggested letting Isobel latch on for comfort! That will mean every time shes upset, tired or poorly, she will expect to do just that which is fine sometimes, but what about when youre at work or trying to get housework/dinner done?

Are you against using a dummy as a comforter? What about a little teddy or blanket to cuddle?

Each time Isobel would latch on for comfort, was she always going on the same side?

I think the only way your milk production will increase again is by feeding her from the breast rather than from the bottle. Even when expressing you still need to feed her yourself to keep the production up.Are there any times during the day she feeds better than other times? I would try expressing after shes only had a small feed rather than a big. When expressing, make sure youre nice and comfortable and relaxed. I believe placing a warm flannel on your breast beforehand can help. If youre having more success with hand expressing, stick with that for now until you can get milk supply up again. Also, when you have managed to express some, offer that to Isobel in a bottle first, then top her up on the breast. Hopefully this will help in getting her used to the bottle.

Good luck :)

[natalie_1982]

Hi Lorraine. Like Psychick, I have never heard of baby using breast as a comforter except perhaps when she has finished feeding and is content suckling nothing!

I, too, had a problem with one breast producing more. From birth it seemed that I produced more from my right than my left despite trying to feed from both sides alternately. I began trying to express milk but stopped breastfeeding when Emilia was 5/6weeks old in the end as she began sleeping through then and wanted several large feeds in the morning that I couldn't produce, I wound up topping her up with formula, which in the end took over. Even now she has three large feeds in the morning then very little throughout the rest of the day (she's 9weeks today).

Could the pump be the problem? I used an Avent manual pump, which was good but a lot of effort if doing it manually for more than the occassional feed. I also used an electric Medela pump but didn't find that useful as my boobs were too big!

[PringlesQueen]

Firstly congratulations for persevering! If I had a pound for every time I threatened to give up on breastfeeding I would be a rich woman! My beautiful little girl is now 14 weeks old and breastfeeding her has not been easy to say the least.
Ask your health visitor if there is a local breastfeeding support group. ? I attended my local group for a very similar problem and found it invaluable.
There are some really good websites and telephone helplines. I can recommend the Breastfeeding Network site and their helpline is excellent http://www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/
Just like Natalie and yourself I too struggled with expressing - I tried an electric and a manual pump and could only get about 2oz a day. I gave up expressing. Now, I get Daddy to give bubs a bottle of formula milk at bedtime. This was a really hard decision to take, but, I am so glad I did.
Good luck xx

[Lorrymac]

Thank you for the answers ladies. I have tried for the first time today to not only get Isobel into a proper routine, but also to start expressing properly to stockpile my milk so that we can start to introduce a bottle. I have expressed 3 times today from both breasts and have yielded a pathetic 4 fl oz! and that's an hour and a half of pumping....on top of feeding times - that's a lot of time sat on my bum not doing much - it's very frustrating!!! And i'm concerned now that as Isobel is feeding every 3 - 3.5 hours, and i'm expressing an hour after her feed for a while that I only have about an hour to tank back up again.... I am glad i'm still going but i have to admit that it's getting harder not easier to stick with it. I do have days when i think it would be so much easier to use formula but then i feel so selfish and think well, it's only maybe a bit longer before we start weaning her......I will definitely check out those websites, and yes i do have a local support group but kept thinking i'd get there on my own (i'm a bit of a proud person obviously!)

thank you again, Lorraine x

[natalie_1982]

Lorraine don't feel bad about giving your baby formula if you want to; obviously breastmilk is best, but don't put pressure on yourself as it will be so tough going back to work as it is, so don't just dismiss the idea of formula because you think you will be letting Isobel down; weigh up the pro's and cons. I felt the same way you did and I eventually gave in at about 5/6 weeks, you are doing fantastically well.

What hours will you be working? And how many feeds are you likely to be out of the house for? How does your husband feel about you continuing / stopping / mixing breastfeeding with formula feeding? A lot of women can successfully do both, I have a friend who is breast and formula feeding twins who are now 12 weeks old.

Good luck with whatever you choose to do. Oh, and I didn't go to a breastfeeding support group either; I visited one before I had Emilia and it really put me off. I am all for breastfeeding but sadly I am one of those people who doesn't want to see other people blatantly doing it, and all the mums at the group I went to were just whopping them out left right and centre with no discretion atall. Before I get shot down by other readers, I know this is my problem and not theirs, which is why I didn't feel like I wanted to return to that support group. Perhaps there is a telephone number you could ring for support instead?

[pinkbunny]

Hey I spent soooo much time expressing milk this year as I had my daughter very early and all I could do was express for her in the first few weeks while she was very sick in ITU. The advice I would have is to express off one side while you feed your daughter off the other as the "let down" of the milk happens in both breasts and you might find it easier to collect some. If that sound too much like a juggling act then sit by your sleeping daughter and look lovingly at her as you may get the let down then too. I found that I used to get more milk off one side than the other.
Also another thing and please dont want to kill me for this lol but your milk production is at its best in the early hours of the morning 2am kinda time I always got loads of milk off then so it is worth setting an alarm to get up to do it as your hormone levels are very high then. Also do it regularly every 3-4 hours to keep the stimulus going its very hard I know it is I have been there and done that and its hard work all the advice I have given you came from the breastfeeding advisor I saw in intensive care and it worked for me I will give it some more thought tommorrow when I am not so tired and see if I can add to it for you x x best of luck x x

[pinkbunny]

The other thing the nurses used to nag me about was eating and drunking it is vital you eat and drink very well whilst breastfeeding as it uses up alot of calories and fluid from your body especially in this heat at the moment. x x