Expressing breast milk questions - please help!

Hi Mums

I am having an operation on 21st October and I am not allowed to breastfeed on that day and the two days afterwards due to the anaesthetic.

I just bought an Avent Isis breast pump which is marvelous but there is no info in the instructions on how much milk to express for your baby. So I have two questions:

1. How much milk should I express for each feed for a 7 month old baby (she has 5 bfs a day)

2. How long can you keep expressed milk in the fridge and add to it before it needs to be put in the freezer (if that makes sense)?

Any information would be appreciated, I don't have much time left to express.

Many thanks
Kristi

hi, well if you can try to express about 200ml for every feed, it is really hard to tell how much baby will drink but its better to have too much then not enough.

It can be kept in the fridge for up to 48hrs, if you are going to add to it would be best to refidgerate the new milk seperatly then add it within 24hrs. Dont add warm new milk straight into the cold milk.


Good luck with your expressing

The health nurse at my local maternal health centre says that a baby needs 150 mls per kilo of body weight each 24 hours.
eg: a four kilo baby needs 4x150mls= 600 mls per 24 hours and if they feed 6x's that = 100mls
Not sure how much your baby weighs but you could use this method to work it out. Good luck with your operation, and expressing.

i had on operation 6 weeks after i had my son i was under a general anaesthetic i was told to express after the op and throw it out then after that i was told it would be fine to continue breastfeeding like normal. i was told this by the anaethatist. i had no probs

Kristi,

Hi my name is rebecca and i am just starting to express and i am going to freeze it for rainy days when my mum might look after my baby litle girl zoe.

She is 5 weeks old and weighs 8pounds 10oz or nearly 4 kilos.

did you find out how much to express if so how much would zoe need in one feed?

Cheers Bec