Expressing and Storing Your Breastmilk
*under construction *
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FAQ:
(click on the title to move straight to that section, or scroll down the page to read them all)
How do I express my milk?
When should I express?
How much EBM will baby need?
How do I ensure the milk stays sterile?
How should I store EBM?
How should I warm EBM?
How should I thaw frozen EBM?
Can I re-warm unused EBM?
How can I feed EBM to my baby?
How can I get my baby to take a bottle?
Why does my defrosted EBM smell funny?
Returning to work - your legal rights
Q: How do I express?
Q: When's the best time to express?
When is the best time to start expressing and introduce EBM?
Q: Could someone advise me when I can start giving my newborn expressed milk?
Sarah
A1: Hi Sarah,
It's advised that you wait till around six weeks if possible before introducing an expressed feed as expressing is less effective than suckling and so it can affect your supply before this stage (at around 6 weeks is when your supply is established more or less).
Also, introducing a bottle this early could cause nipple confusion. Getting milk from a teat is far easier and requires a different sucking action to breastfeeding so she could end up preferring the teat! Everybody is different though and it is obviously your decision in the end.
Kara
A2: My DD was great at latching from day one. I gave her a bottle of EBM at 3 weeks, but it is normally advised to wait till 6 weeks to avoid nipple confusion. I thought as I had such a good feeder there's be no problem, and there wasn't that time. However when I tried again two weeks later she had trouble going on the breast she kept licking it like it was a teat. It was breaking my heart to think I had jeopardised our BFing.
This obviously worried me so I spoke to my BF counsellor who said just to keep putting her to the breast. She soon latched on fine again. I was told to try and avoid giving too many bottles/dummies etc cos a baby can easily and quickly become confused as suckling at the breast is vert different to sucking on a bottle/dummy. Erin is fine with both now at 16 weeks and I try to give her a bottle of EBM once in a while so she knows how to drink from a bottle should anything happen to me.
In my opinion I would say your baby is too young to try with a bottle yet plus you need the suckling action to keep stimulating your milk. If you need to try a bottle for any reason I would advise a short time on bottle followed by time on the breast immediately after to remind your baby how to do it. Try that the first few times you try a bottle if I were you.
Charlotte
A3: I started expressing straight away and freezing the EBM because I knew I was going back to work when the twins were 13 weeks old. I didn't introduce a bottle until 6 weeks, and tried my DS first because he bf easier to start with (no latch problems). Within 24 hours we had bottle preference so I didn't try again until he was 8 weeks old. No problems that time and they were both able to switch between bottle and breast without any issues.
We were advised to keep using the newborn teats even as they got older because that at least makes it harder to drink from the bottle. They used newborn teats until they were 6 months old by which time they had switched to having their EBM from a feeder cup and straight from the fridge rather than warmed so it was a totally different experience to bfing.
And they've had no problems since although I stopped expressing when they were 18 months old and now they just bf on demand if I'm there (usually morning and night) and don't give 2 hoots if I'm not LOL.
HTH
Ellie
Mum to twin 21 month old nurslings
Q: How much will my baby need?
Q: How do I make sure the bottles / pump are clean and sterile?
Q: How do I store EBM?
Q: How do I warm EBM?
Q: How do I defrost frozen EBM?
Q: I have expressed a bottle of milk for my husband to give my son this evening. If he doesn't drink all the EBM that is warmed up can it be put back in the fridge and used it again (reheat it) later on in the night ?
Any help would be great cos I really don't want to waste my milk after the effort to get it !
Jenny
A: Yes you can reuse/reheat breastmilk. And I did on a regular basis. I went back to work when my twins were 3 months old working 6 nights on 8 nights off. I expressed EBM and there's no way I would throw it away.
Check this info out http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/reusing-expressedmilk.html
Ellie
Q: How can I feed EBM to my baby?
Q: How can I get my baby to take a bottle?
My frozen milk smells funny.
Q: I have been expressing and storing milk for about 2 months but have just started using it. I defrosted some the other day and it has a strange smell - kind of metalic! Adam has been unsettled for a couple of days (I think he's teething) so it's hard to know if the milk has upset his tummy or it's just teething.
Have any of you had funny smelling milk? My DH has smelt it and said that it doesn't smell of anything.
Help please!!!
Thanks
Steph
A: Hi Steph,
Have a look at this....
http://www.breastfeeding.com/helpme/helpme_asklc_ans135.html
I had a similar problem with my ebm, and judging from the number of times people ask similar questions on here, it's not uncommon! What I did (can't remember where I found the advice sorry, but it worked superbly) was to "scald" the milk before storage ie heat it up to not quite boiling (don't let it boil. This apparently destroys the lipase enzyme but doesn't significantly change the milk otherwise, and stops the changes occuring. Storing in glass bottles is said to help too - they sell some nice ones in the "Bump to 3" catalogue.
Fiona
Fantastic - I'm so pleased that it hasn't gone off. I was so worried that I would have to disgard 2 months' worth of milk.
Thankyou for your reply
Steph
Q: Do I have any legal rights re breastfeeding / expressing and going back to work?
List of kellymom articles on the subject or pumping, storing and feeding EBM