Expressed milk | ExpatWoman.com
 

Expressed milk

477
Posts
EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 26 January 2012 - 14:20

Dh has been great with doing all the shopping etc but i need to get a couple of things and need to get out the house too. Im ebf my son and have only been out once (to the clinic) where we ran into feeding time but had the facility to bf. im not confident enough to bf in public (my hands are still fumbling and i havent tried bf without a pillow yet). I thought perhaps i can express and keep a bottle handy but have a couple of questions. Obviously i'll feed just before we leave the house:

1. Do i express the other breast and take that with?
2. How many mls do i need for the next feed?
3. I express into a bottle then just keep it like that ready for the next feed? Or how do i control the temperature?

I hacent done this before so any suggestions / tips are welcome.

Tia x

4
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 31 January 2012 - 17:49
Hi ilovewine, My daughter usually finishes 100mls in one sitting, sometimes less. When she's had enough she lets me know. I usually burp her, wait 5 -10 minutes and try to see if she wants anymore. But every baby is different, so in time you will know how much your baby needs per feed, but it's better to have surplus in the bottle that doesn't get consumed, than to have an unsatisfied baby, so I usually make sure I heat up at least 100mls. The breastflow bottles are great for my baby, as it mimics the let down of the breast and hasn't caused any nipple confusion. It took some time to get my head around milk pumping, storage and bottle use, but my baby is now almost 5 months, so i've had lots of practice and it's made such a difference as I don't have to worry about changing rooms or baby rooms when I am out and I can sit at a lunch table or coffee shop and feed her. Good luck!
477
Posts
EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 31 January 2012 - 08:41
Thanks Jaxy, thats exactly the information im looking for! Does a baby drink 100mls a shot or will he stop when he's had enough? Im so clueless with bottles ... Thanks again!
4
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 31 January 2012 - 00:39
Hi there, I too exclusively breastfeed my 5 month old daughter and I have a system that works for me and hopefully for you too. I regularly express into medela storage bottles which hold 100mls each. I am usually able to get between 100mls and 150mls from each breast, and I label the bottles with a date and time and pop them into the freezer where they can keep for up to 6 months. If i have to go out, I take a bottle out of the freezer into the fridge the night before so that it is defrosted by the next day, but still cold. When I leave the house, I carry the defrosted milk in an insulated baby bottle bag which you can find in mother care or babyshop. I think I paid 70dhs for mine and it is big enough to hold 2 medela storage bottles. I also carry a small flask of hot water, just in case I am nowhere near a coffee shop. If you're in mall, you won't need to worry about a flask. once out of the fridge, the milk has to be used within 4 hours. If I will be out longer than 4 hours, I take one frozen bottle as well as the defrosted bottle of milk and the frozen one can be used 6 to 8 hours after I leave my house, as long as it is in the insulated bag and remains cold. The medela storage bottles are available in babyshop and you can get 10 bottles for 48dhs and I sterilize and re-use them. Also, to feed my daughter, I use the "breastflow" bottles, which I bought from Waitrose in Dubai mall but I believe they are available in babyshop too. I hope you find this information useful. All the best!
297
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 26 January 2012 - 16:48
If you are headed for the mall, some of them have quite agreeable mothers rooms. Deira City Center has, with sofas, Dubai mall is ok, a bit uncomfortable i found, but not smelly. Burjuman center have a huge room for ladies with sofas and armchairs, mercato has a mothers room hidden away near costa coffee. I found the ones at Mall of the emirates revolting as it always smelled gross in them. In ibn batuta the bigger ladies rooms have a seating area opposite the sink area, but it can be a bit busy there. Similar for festival center. For the few times I brought expressed milk with me (i found it personally too much trouble and preffered to find places to nurse instead) I kept the cooled bottle in the insulated compartment of my diaper bag and would hold the bottle under hot tap water to warm it a bit. Avoid shaking the bottle with the breastmilk.
477
Posts
EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 26 January 2012 - 16:18
Thanks ladies. My son is 3 weeks old. I have been expressing and usually get between 75ml to 100ml per breast, i suppose im lucky? Im ok with defrosting the milk at home, i was wondering how to go about it when out and about. However, kiwispiers, i suppose you are right, i can always try to feed in a changing room. I just dont want to do it in a public toilet! I havent tried bottle feeding before, no.
319
Posts
EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 26 January 2012 - 15:51
I exclusively expressed for DS, so should be able to help with your questions, but just quickly, how old is your little one? I don't think you have (from the sound of your post), but have you tried to bottle feed before, and do you have an express machine? Quickly to cover off, I was exclusive express breast feeding, so I used to express both breasts until they were completely empty each time. Once you have the breastmilk, this then needs to either be immediately stored in the fridge or frozen (perhaps just the fridge if you are only doing a small amount for a specific purpose, and it is going to be used soon). To rewarm it, I used to get a bowl of boiling water, and place the bottle into this bowl to bring the milk up to a warm temp (It doesn't take long), I used to lift it out, and swirl the milk around to make sure it was heated through and not cold in the middle of the bottle. It should not be reheated in the microwaved as this kills off some of the nutrients in the milk. If you answer the above questions, I should be able to help out a bit more with volume etc as well.
2782
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 26 January 2012 - 15:43
Have you tried expressing before? you might be disappointed by the amount you get (some women get great letdown for the pump but others (like me) only get a fraction of the amount of milk that is there). So if you express for 20 min and end up with 30mL don't freak out I had to express several times to get enough for one feed. keep your EBM cold or room temp and then when its time to feed you can warm it to body temp by putting the bottle in a bowl of hot water. (don't microwave it) Anyway clearly I'm not the person to give you tips on expressing but if you find you don't get a good yield then an alternative is to simply take yourself off to a changing room in a shop where you can strip right down and faff around getting your latch right as long as you need. You don't need to be covert the sales assistants will always be fine with it (in my experience anyway).
 
 

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