Expressing breast milk?

Question

i am going out tomorow evening for a couple of hours...i currently breast feed my daughter and it is the first time i have left her. i am going to express some milk so that my partner can feed baby whilei am out. i am having trouble expressing a significant amount though every time i express milk i only get 1 or 2 ounces. is it ok to mix two lots of breast milk together when they have been expressed at different times?

Answer 1

Yes definately fine.  Just refridgerate as you go along and add the fresh to the refridgerated.  Make sure you feed the milk no later than 3 days from when you first started expressing it...not 3 days since you finished as the first milk may be too old (if you pumped on seperate days).  You'll see the cream layers start to seperate to the top as our milk is not pasturized.  Don't worry, when you warm it up in a mug of hot water, the cream/fat part melts and you can mix it all together.  More importantly, make sure your daughter is willing to drink out of a bottle!!!!

Answer 2

Absolutely, just remember that the milk "expires" at the same time as the earliest milk (8 days in the fridge, 8-12 hours room temp).

Because I so rarely go out I just pump it all into one bottle, and tell the sitter to leave it at room temp (so that the fat can be recombined easily, and because repeated heating damages the milk).  I've learned there is no point in attempting to save it because I always end up leaving it in the fridge and not getting around to freezing it ;-)

How much expressed milk will my baby need?

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/milkc...

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/pumpi...

What is normal when it comes to pumping output and changes in pumping output?

Most moms who are nursing full-time are able to pump around 1/2 to 2 ounces total (for both b*****s) per pumping session. Moms who pump more milk per session may have an oversupply of milk, or may respond better than average to the pump, or may have been able to increase pump output with practice. Many moms think that they should be able to pump 4-8 ounces per pumping session, but even 4 ounces is an unusually large pumping output.

It is quite normal to need to pump 2-3 times to get enough milk for one feeding for baby (remember that the pump cannot get as much milk as a baby who nurses effectively).

Breastmilk Storage & Handling

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/milks...

Reusing expressed breastmilk

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/reusi...

http://www.llli.org/NB/NBJulAug98p109.ht...

Research shows that human milk has an amazing capacity to resist bacterial growth, and can be kept at room temperature for up to ten hours. In a landmark study, mature human milk was expressed into clean, not sterile, containers, some stored at room temperature (19-22o C or 66 to 72o F) and some refrigerated for ten hours. The milk was then cultured to evaluate bacterial formation. No statistically significant difference was found between levels of bacteria in the milk that had been refrigerated and the milk stored at room temperature (Barger and Bull 1987).

http://www.breastfeed-essentials.com/sto...

HANDLING AND THAWING

Fresh human milk separates into milk and cream, so it is important to gently swirl the container to mix the milk before offering it to your baby.

While it was originally thought that a mother had to cool her fresh breastmilk before combining it with previously expressed cooled milk, the latest research now shows that you may pump directly into already refrigerated or cooled milk as long as the milk is added within 24 hours of the first milk expressed. You should then follow the storage recommendations based upon the time and date of the first milk expressed. You may pump directly into milk that has been stored at room temperature as long as you do so within 10 hours. This milk would need to then be used.

You may add your fresh milk to what you have already frozen as long as you chill the fresh milk first for about half an hour and it is a smaller amount than the amount that you are adding it to.

Answer 3

Yep this is fine, sometimes it takes me 2 pumping sessions to express a full feed, aslong as you store it in the fridge in a sterile container/bottle it should be fine.

The more you express in between bubs feed's you will gradually be able to get more out with the pump.

I express and freeze the milk if my son sleeps longer an i get engorged...this way i have an emergency stash of milk if i ever needed to go do something an didn't have time to express.

Enjoy your night out, you deserve it!

Answer 4

Yes, its perfectly alright to mix two batches of milk together.

As long as the first batch was stored in a refrigerator before mixing it, then its fine. Its recommended, though, that you store milk in 2-4 oz container (or bags), and use what is needed at the time only.

I personally have an OVERsupply, meaning I have way more milk than my son needs. When I pump with a manual breast pump, I can get 6 ounces from one b*****s in 15 minutes -- 12 ounces of milk if I pump both b*****s together. So instead of freezing and storing a full 6-12 ounces, I separate all of the milk into 2 oz. bags and freeze them.

Whenever my son gets hungry, someone can thaw one of the 2oz bags and feed him. If he's still hungry, warm another and feed him that, etc. So this way, no milk is really wasted!

A lot of women combine pumping sessions though. If you get 1-2 ounces right now and pump in 2 more hours and get another 1-2 ounces, combine them and store it together! But I'd only mix milk together if it was expressed within 24 hours after the first batch -- otherwise, just store them separately and let someone feed your daughter what she needs.

If she's still hungry.. they can always make another small bottle for her.

Good luck! <3