Forum : Pregnancy

Its easy enough to feed and also express. I generally wouldn't express during a feed as my breast pump was to loud. It i good to get regular breastfeeding established before using a bottle to avoid nipple confusion but now with the new bottles nipple confusion is less likely from the start I expressed and the midwifes would use a little syringe to dribble the milk in ( I had gall stones and some times was in so much pain they had to help) I always found nipple shells useful as i could gather the milk from the side the baby wasn't feeding from. I don't want to sound a know it all but the recommended way to feed is to let the baby suckle for as long as they want on one side and then offer the other side. This is because you make two kinds of milk the fore milk which is like a drink and the hind milk which is food if the baby is thirsty he or she may only want the fore milk and so will feed a little from both sides or if they are hungry they may not want the second side. All baby's are different and what they need varies depending. but the more you feed or express the more milk you have so good luck

Hi,
My son is 4 months old now.
I breastfeed him, it is our first child and my partner wanted to do some of the feeding as well. . for the first couple of weeks i found it very hard to express (nothing seemed to come out) then when i did manage to get something out he didn't like to drink it from the bottle. After about a month expressing got a lot easier and he seemed to grasp the idea of the bottle and the nipple.
A tip that i got was use a hand pump while feeding (quieter but doesn't get as much out) and express in the same room as the baby . . if i had know this from the start maybe i would have found it easier from the beginning as it may sound strange but it really did help.
what i am trying to say is, if you are finding it hard don't give in, i think it just takes a little time to get used to it. .
As for the "one breast for one feed and the other for the next" , this is the way i do it (i use a safety clip so that i remember which one i am on).
I find expressing while feeding the easiest now but if i don't do it this way i just use the "other one" in between feeds if you get what i mean.
Breast-milk stores for longer than i expected . . (check this link out http://www.lansinoh.co.uk/StoringBreastmilk.php ) and maybe if you don't express enough for a feed all at once if you store it correctly you could get enough together for at least 1 feed per day
Also as said in the post by "smcormack" offering the other side after your baby has "finished" is the recommended way for the reason she described. . you will know if your baby is just thirsty as he/she will take the other one straight away . . if not he/she will refuse it.
Sorry if i went on a bit but when i was pregnant i had no one to talk to about this so had so many un answered questions therefore would love it if i could help someone else out in my position!
Hope this helped.
Take care x

hi, i have a 10 day old baby and im breast feeding only (she is my first child). She is doing really well and i have really got the hang of it now. However, im getting really tired because its only me that can feed her. I want to start expressing so that others can help (and i will be more confident about going out as she can have bottle insead of breast). but im really nervous about introducing a bottle. I feel guilty because baby is no problem at all and breast feeds so well. Also my OH is worried that if we start giving her bottle she wont go back to breast. I only planned to breast feed for first month or soso a bottle will need to be introduced at some point anyway.

Can anyone give me some advice on this or put my mind at ease? im so anxious about it its stopping me completely relax!

great thanks for your help!