Combined feeding - help me get started

Esmari - well done on the 1 month mark.

For me, I hated BF but wanted to make sure baby got my milk. I would feed him and then express after his feed. I took what was left of the 1 boob and then empty the one he hadnt taken from.I was like a dairy cow and often even after a feed would have enough milk for at least 1 more feed... So sometimes i'd alternate the 2. 1 Bottle, 1 boob. I threw so much milk away because I had spare. Eventually he was an EBF baby and then I moved him to formula.

Hi Esmari,

In terms of the bedtime routine, I would suggest you bath and feed him at 6:30 like you are now and then express at about 10 pm, before you go to bed, your DH can then use this expressed milk to feed him at 1:30/ 2:30 , so that you can get a bit more sleep, then you can feed him again from boob at 5 30

Perhaps he is just going through a growth spurt and thats the reason for drinking every 2 hours.

I rarely managed to express a full bottle at one express, so would aim to express as muhc as possible in the morning, so ussually express about an hour after my daughters last feed adn express off both boobs. then I would collect all these bits into one bottle

in terms of storage I use the medela freezer bags. I never elave milk int eh fridge for longer than 2- 3 days and int he freezer for longer than 6 months. thawed milk must be used within 24 hours.

good luck

Mornings. Jay, I got 60ml in the refrigirator. We are trying it later today. I will feed him, bath him and then let dh try bottle.

another couple of questions. I get conflicting info regarding the lifespan of the milk. My breastpump info says fresh milk at 4 degrees can last 3-5 days, but internet says 8 days. And in freezer at -18 degrees up to one year, and then 24h at 4 degrees after defrosting. But info on internet says only 3-6 months. So which is correct. And when my lg was born and prem, I was told to freeze in glass containers, but now the info I get says plastic or plastic bags. Can I use regular freezer bags for this? Hehe, I feel so damn clueless!

Thanx for the tips ladies.

I think it would be good if I also give you my 'routine'.

lets start with night time feed.

I bath him at 6, then feed him at 6h30, and then its bed time. He usually sleeps auntil anything from 1h30 and 2h30. Then he feeds. Then he wakes up again for a feed at 5h30, and then he wants to feed at 8 again. And then my 'problems' start. He wants to feed every 2h! He sleeps very little durimg the day. About 4h total. The rest he just refuses, and I end up giving in and feeding him to sleep. He doesn't want to take the dummy to 'comfort suck', so he ends up using me as a dummy..
Before he would go 3-4h during the day, and I could get stuff 'done'.

I did use my pump today just to 'see' if I remember how it works. I didn't do it to save the milk, so I used the breast he finished feeding from - he feeds one at a time. First time I got about 10ml when he was done, and second time nothing.

I THINK I should change the night time routine to start with.

how long does it take your breast to make the ammount of milk that he drinks?

Def express in the am. I was given the following flexible "routine" from 6w by my paed

6.00 feed left boob
8.00 express right boob
10.00 feed left boob, massage play with and dress baby. Then offer right boob.
12.00 express left boob
2.30 feed right boob
6.30 feed left boob, bath, feed right boob and bed.
10.30 dh offers bottle of expressed milk (aim for 120ml)

(feed on demand at night).

I usually expressed the full 120ml from both boobs at 8 during J's morning nap. I found expressing in the morning, 1 hour after stopping breastfeeding was best. Plus I usually wanted to go out at 12. James also dropped the 10.30pm feed early on so I changed bedtime to boob, bath, bottle, bed.

Hi Esmari,

Congrats on reaching 1 month!!

As far as I remember, expressing before 11 am in the mornings are the best time. With my LB I usually worked in an "extra" feed to express. So I would feed baby at around 6 am, then express at 8 am and feed again at 10 am. Then I would try one more expression session some time after lunch. Not the best time to do it, but it worked for me and I managed to "teach" my body to produce the extra milk.

With my 2nd baby, I usually let her drink for as long as she wanted on each boob. And I found that by bath time every 2nd day I would have an over supply of milk. She would then only drink one breast for bed time and I would express the other one. I usually got a full 150 ml out of that breast every 2nd day.

What ever you do, keep doing it often. If build up an over supply of frozen milk, then you can always throw it away or donate it to a breast milk bank. But if you don't express often and at regular intervals, your body won't have enough milk for that one time you need it. And if you let DH do the night feed some nights, express first thing in the morning when you are overly full because of missing the night feeds. Don't let your body start believing baby is sleeping through, or else it will stop making that milk and you'll have to go back to getting up every night.

For the thrush, go speak to your pharmasist. There is help out there!! Don't just "take" it, its not worth the pain.

My baby will be 1 minth old tomorrow. (Wow, time sure has gone fast)
I just bought a bottle today. A nuk wideneck one, and I have a breastpump. But heck, I have no idea where and how to start!

First baby; exclusive breastfeeding up to 5 months, then fell pregnant and he went onto bottle.
Second baby; she was prem, so I had to use the pump to get her her food for 2 weeks, then I breastfed her until my 6w exam - I just couldn't take it anymore. She didn't drink well, and expressing with another baby to look after didn't look possible to me. So she went onto formula straight away.

SO, I have no clue how to go about breastfeeding and expressing to give with a bottle.
When do I express? From what breast? Do I give him one breast, and then express from the other and let him drink the same breast at next feeding? See, I am clueless. I don't want to 'steal' his milk supply. But I want to be able to go to see my sons performance at the eistedfors on monday without having to breastfeed in front of a ton of kids. And I want to get some nights of sleep and let dh feed him. While I catch up on some sleep. And, I want to give my nipples some rest - we both have thrush, and I am in a lot of pain.

anyway, thats it. Hope I can get some good advice. I know there is a lot of you with experience in this. Thanx in advance.