What is the best way to express milk. Pumping while breastfeeding. Manual method: instruction and video

15.11.2021

WHEN NOT TO DEPRESS?

With normal breastfeeding, if the mother is not separated from the baby for a long time until the moment when he is able to drink and eat "normal food" in sufficient quantities, there is no need for pumping. If the baby takes the breast correctly (see article), and feeds on demand, there is no need to express after feedings in order to maintain lactation. In case the child does not have enough milk, he will begin to apply more often (perhaps, he will even “hang” on his chest for several days) and increase the volume of milk from his mother. However, there are not so few situations when it is necessary to express some milk or even regular breast expressions.

WHEN SHOULD YOU DEPRESS?

Express milk into the baby's mouth to calm him down and stimulate him to breastfeed;

Relieve the condition with a strong filling of milk or breast engorgement, when it is difficult for a child to take a full breast;

Relieve the condition with blockage of the milk duct or lactostasis;

Feed a child who, for some reason, cannot yet suckle at the breast (weak, underweight child, illness of the child, premature baby, refusal to breastfeed, the child is learning to breastfeed with non-standard nipples);

Leave breastmilk to the baby or simply maintain lactation while the mother is away or goes to work.

Pumping consists of two stages. At the first stage, you prepare clean dishes for pumping (wash with soap and then sterilize or fill with boiling water for a few minutes, and then drain the boiling water), and also prepare yourself. The second stage is the actual expression of milk. Manual pumping is usually quite effective; if pumping is necessary for a long period of time (for example, the birth of a premature baby who is not yet able to breastfeed, going to work, school), then it makes sense to buy a breast pump.

WHY THE MILK STARTS ROUTING FROM THE BREAST

Milk in the breast is stored in special "milk sacs" (alveoli) located throughout the breast (there are millions of them). Milk ducts lead from the sacs to the nipple. Closer to the nipple, the ducts merge (like rivers), at the very nipple there are small expansions of the ducts, which then go to the nipple through narrow channels. When the baby is properly attached to the breast, he presses on the expansion of the ducts at the nipple (sometimes they feel like small beans to the touch), squeezing the milk to the nipple. Milk flows out of them and runs into the baby's mouth. In order for the expansions of the ducts to fill up again, milk must again flow from the ducts. This is not a fast process. However, if the oxytocin reflex kicks in, the milk squirts out. When does this reflex turn on? When the baby begins to stimulate the nipple, as well as in other situations (the mother hears the crying of the baby, thinks about the baby), the hormone oxytocin is released. In response, the walls of the storage sacs located throughout the breast are compressed, and the milk is squeezed out of them directly into the ducts, and from there the flow rushes to the nipple and into the baby's mouth. The calmer the mother, the more she thinks about the child, touches him, the more her nipples are stimulated, the better this reflex works. Sometimes a woman herself feels the work of the oxytocin reflex, then she calls it "a rush of milk." This may be a tightness or tingling in the chest, tingling in the nipple area, leakage of milk at the moment when the mother begins to think about the child or feeds him with a second breast. If the baby comes off the breast and you see streams of milk, this is a sign of an active oxytocin reflex. However, a nursing mother may feel hot flushes only during some feedings or not feel them at all, however, the oxytocin reflex will be active. When the baby begins to suck or the breast begins to be stimulated, the reflex turns on, but after a while it stops and the jets weaken. If the stimulation continues, the reflex will turn on again (there will be a new "tide").

HOW TO MAKE MILK DROP FASTER

In fact, in order for the milk to start flowing, often only a little stimulation of the breast is enough. But some women are helped to achieve greater volumes of expressed milk certain tricks - often something different for each. We offer a list of different methods.

In order for the oxytocin reflex to turn on and the milk that has accumulated to flow from the chest, it is best to relax as much as possible. Are you sure that everything is fine with you, there is milk. It is stored in millions of sacs that fill your chest. You eliminate any sources of pain and anxiety, forget about them for a while. You can sit quietly in a comfortable position, drink a warm drink (but not coffee). If possible, have a loved one massage your neck and back to help you relax.

It helps many people to look at a photo of a child or even hear him cry, if possible - look at the child himself or even hold the child in his arms, touching his delicate skin and smiling at him, talking to him. Give free rein to pleasant thoughts about the child. You can warm your chest - for example, put a warm compress on it or take a warm shower. It's a good idea to stimulate the nipples for a while by gently sipping or rolling them with your fingers - this is a very effective way to trigger the oxytocin reflex.

Sometimes it helps to imagine splashing jets of water, for example, a waterfall.

Some women find it helpful to gently pat their breasts with their fingertips or a comb. For some women, it helps if they gently stroke the breast towards the nipple with clenched fingers. You can also do breast massage. Starting at the top, move your fingers in a circular motion on the chest, for a few seconds and then move in a circle. Press as much as you need for a pleasant feeling. Massage in a spiral around the chest towards the halo. After that, you can make light strokes from the edge of the chest to the nipple, around the entire circumference of the chest.

Here are examples of breast massage before pumping - video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXtlqY002s0, description (another massage method, also very effective) http://www.mleko.ru/index.php?pid=4

One preparation option is to massage mom's back before pumping. At the same time, you sit down, lean forward, fold your hands on the table in front of you and lower your head on them. The chest and back are bare, the chest hangs freely down. Your helper clenches his hands into fists, thumb out, and with that thumb begins to make small circular motions, rubbing his back along the spine on both sides from top to bottom, from the neck to the shoulder blades for two to three minutes.

After the preparatory procedures, you can proceed to pumping.

MANUAL EXPRESSION

Sit or stand comfortably, holding the vessel close to your chest.

Place your thumb ON TOP of the areola (nipple circle) and your index finger BELOW the areola opposite your thumb. The remaining three fingers of the hand support the chest.

Lightly press your thumb and forefinger into your chest as you push them deep into your chest, plunging your nipple into it. Not too deep so as not to pinch the ducts. Then, with your thumb and forefinger, squeeze the area of \u200b\u200bthe chest behind the nipple and halo. You need to press on those very beans-extensions of the ducts (although you can’t always feel them, but if you feel them, click on them).

Press and release, press and release. The procedure should not cause pain. If, nevertheless, the procedure is painful, then the pumping technique is incorrect.

Milk may not come out at first, but after a few presses, it starts to drip. It can spurt out if the oxytocin reflex is active.

In the same way, press the sides of the areola to make sure that milk is expressed from all segments of the breast.

Avoid rubbing the skin with your fingers or sliding your fingers over the skin. Finger movements should be more like rolling.

Avoid pinching the nipples themselves. Do not express milk by pushing or pressing on the nipples. It is the same as if the child sucked only on the nipple.

Pump one breast for at least 5-6 minutes until the flow of milk slows down; then express the second; then both again. You can express each breast with one hand or change them if you are tired. The most effective pumping scheme is 5+5, 4+4, 3+3, 2+2, 1+1

An important condition is that the mother herself must express, because. another person, especially a non-professional, may injure the chest or injure.

Important condition - do not look into the pumping container! Studies have shown that this way (without looking into the container) you can express more milk.

In the picture, the green arrows show the correct pressure points for a correct grip and correct pumping, the blue arrows show a good flow of milk. By pressing at the base of the milk reservoirs, we squeeze the milk out of them. Incorrect pressure points are shown in red, they correspond to poor outflow of milk.

Expressing milk properly takes 20 to 30 minutes, especially in the first few days when there may still be little milk produced. It is important not to try to express milk in less time.

beautiful animation in the middle of the article! http://breastfed.info/milk-expression-2/

Hand expression video (in English, but there is a translation text next to the video) http://new-degree.ru/articles/consultant/handexpression/

EXPRESSING WITH A BREAST PUMP

With breast engorgement and soreness, it is sometimes very difficult to express milk with your hands. Helps with breast pumping. The breast pump is easier to use when the breasts are full. It may be less effective for soft breasts. It happens that mothers combine two types of pumping - first the breast pump to the stop, then with their hands, or vice versa (in case the breast pump does not take the overfilled breast well).

Also, a breast pump is useful when you have to express often - in this case, if the milk is flowing normally, while pumping, you can think about something else, for example, read, watch a movie, talk on the phone, which saves time and effort. On the other hand, hands are a more versatile tool that is easy to clean, always with you, in any situation, and does not cost money.

IF THE MILK GOES VERY BAD - THE WARM BOTTLE METHOD

The "warm bottle" method for expressing breast milk is a useful technique for relieving severe engorgement in cases where the breast is very inflamed and the nipple is very tight, making manual expression difficult. It is used in the event that it is impossible to express milk in another way, and it is impossible to attach a child. After you have pumped a little with the bottle and reduced the engorgement, you can then pump by hand or attach the baby.

1. You will need a suitable bottle:

Made of glass, not plastic;

Volume 1-3 liters, not less than 700 ml;

Wide-necked: at least 2 cm in diameter, if possible 4 cm, so that the nipple fits in it.

2. You will also need:

A pot of hot water for heating the bottle;

A little cold water to cool the neck of the bottle;

Thick fabric to hold a hot bottle.

3. Pour some hot water into the bottle to start warming it up. Then

Fill the bottle almost completely with hot water. Don't overfill the bottle

Quickly, otherwise the glass may burst.

4. Let the bottle sit for a few minutes to warm up the glass.

5. Wrap the bottle in a cloth and pour the hot water back into the pot.

6. COOL THE BOTTLE NECK with cold water - inside and out. (If you do not refrigerate the neck of the bottle, you may burn the skin of the nipple.)

7. Place the neck of the bottle against the nipple, touching the skin around the nipple, and make an airtight contact.

8. Hold the bottle straight. After a few minutes, the entire bottle will cool down and provide a gentle suction effect that will allow the nipple to be drawn into the neck of the bottle. Sometimes a woman feels a suction effect, she can move away from surprise. You may need to start over.

9. Heat promotes the manifestation of the oxytocin reflex, milk begins to flow and accumulates in the bottle. Hold the bottle as long as milk flows from the breast.

10. Pour the breast milk out of the bottle and repeat if necessary, or do the same with the other breast. After a while, the sharp pain in the chest will decrease and it will be possible to express milk manually or breastfeed the baby.

SANITARY REQUIREMENTS OF SOME Maternity Hospitals

In some Russian maternity hospitals, it is forbidden to give a child milk expressed by a breast pump; you can only express it manually (SES requirements). In this case, it makes sense to first stimulate the breast with a breast pump for several minutes until the oxytocin reflex turns on and the milk splashes, then manual pumping for the baby, and finally pumping with a breast pump to stimulate lactation. In order for more milk to come next time, it’s a good idea to continue stimulating the breast with a breast pump for a couple of minutes when the milk is no longer flowing. In this case, more milk will come next time.

HOW OFTEN DO YOU NEED TO PUSH?

To establish lactation, if the child after childbirth for some reason cannot suckle

Pumping should begin as soon as possible. Preferably within the first 6 hours after delivery. At first, it may be just a few drops of colostrum, or even nothing at all, but it will help start milk production and speed up the process.

Then you need to express as much as possible and as often as the child would like to eat. At least once every 2-3 hours, including at night. If nighttime pumping is difficult, let's say a night break of 5 hours. With infrequent pumping, milk may not be enough.

To maintain milk supply

Express at least every three hours

To increase the amount of milk, if it turned out that not enough is pumped

For several days, pump very often (every half an hour - an hour) and at least every three hours at night.

To leave milk to the baby when the mother is at work

Express as much milk as possible for your baby before leaving for work. It is also very important to express milk while at work to maintain a sufficient supply of milk.

MILK STORAGE

There are many different standards for storing milk. In the maternity hospital, you will hear some numbers, from the pediatrician - others, from girlfriends - still others. In particular, in a maternity hospital, hospitals, the requirements are usually increased and it is desirable to consume milk as soon as it is expressed, i.e. The whole process should take no more than an hour. At the same time, at home, the requirements are much less stringent. The fact is that breast milk contains protective antibodies that prevent bacteria from multiplying, even if the milk is out of the refrigerator. A scientific study published in 1987 in the International Journal of Childbirth Education showed that milk expressed into a clean (but not sterile) container and left at room temperature (19-22 degrees) contained approximately the same number of pathogens after 10 hours. bacteria, as well as milk put in the refrigerator for the same 10 hours. However, there are few such brave mothers who leave milk for 10 hours outside the refrigerator. But, after reading about such a study, you, having expressed milk with your hands washed with soap and water into a clean, washed with soap and thoroughly rinsed container (for a full-term baby and at home and not in a hospital), will not worry that the milk will stand for 2-3 hours without a refrigerator. For a couple of days you can leave in the refrigerator, more - freeze. A very detailed article on milk storage from the site http://lllrussia.ru/hranenie_moloka/. Our website has a detailed article: "" about breastfeeding for working mothers who pump regularly. There are the following numbers

In summer in a room (cooled by air conditioning) - up to 6 hours

In winter in the room - up to 10 hours

In the refrigerator - not in the door, up to 5 days

In a cooler bag with ice - 24 hours

In the refrigerator freezer - not in the door, 3 months

In a separate freezer (dip freezer) - 6 months or more

References

Back to

leonika (mother of twins) about pumping

from forum.maternity.ru

At some point in our feeding, I decided that I needed to freeze milk just in case. On this occasion, a breast pump was rented. Here the most interesting began. Breast pump Medelovsky two-phase. I began to express myself and began to worry - something to express more than 80 grams, well, it’s not possible. I'm already starting to get nervous, wondering how many times I need to apply them so that they eat the norm. And I understand that it doesn't work. They don't eat that much. I think where to freeze there, to feed the children. Here I’m sitting in the bathroom, at first I’m decanted, all upset, and the milk sucks, and then I think why am I so unhappy, what beautiful smart daughters I have, I imagined how we would go to the sea with them to relax, and then to my grandmother, and then to Bali or Cuba, in general, milk, not only flowed, just broke through - 170 grams of 3 tides in 29 minutes, my eyes popped into my forehead - I turn out to be a super milky nurse, I just need an approach to my breasts. It's like in sex, some need a romantic foreplay, while others don't, probably my breasts need a romantic foreplay. I then checked on feeding the girls. If I tuned in, there could be three tides in one feeding, and for the first time I saw that the girls began to choke on milk. Then I noticed that one breast responds more easily to hot flashes. I have each breast for each child its own. Clemi tried to feed the first one then three flushes were guaranteed, it didn’t work so well on Angelina’s breasts, but she didn’t complain. To be honest, I stopped feeding at the computer, as this clearly reduced the number of hot flashes. They helped a lot when I was very tired of their first pictures from the hospital. And about how much they eat like this now with complementary foods, I realized I’m not fattening pigs, well, the child doesn’t want to eat, we don’t eat 200 grams of porridge in any way and we don’t eat 150, but it happens when the teeth hurt and they don’t want to breasts, but in general they look good, they are healthy, but I don’t even look at the norms, I see them and I see that everything is fine with them.
In my opinion, feeding is affected by stress, fatigue and excessive demands on oneself and children. As soon as there is an understanding that in any case the child will not die of hunger, you can tune in a positive way, well, let the child eat as he wants, and if he needs to give him the opportunity to starve, it will immediately become easier to let go of his suspiciousness.

does not work...

I began to notice that my son does not have enough milk :-(

Yesterday I sucked both breasts under the frequent before going to bed. After 4 hours, I woke up hungry, I feed him, and there is almost no milk in my chest. After 4 hours I woke up hungry again. How to increase milk production?

Today, after feeding, she expressed those drops that were. It's been 3 hours already, and the chest is confusing. What to do?!

and the chest is empty

Hello Tatiana

The fact is that the visual filling of the breast usually takes place only in the first weeks. After that, the breast is no longer heavy, soft to the touch, but still contains a lot of milk. If you still want to increase the amount of milk, it usually helps to do this by feeding more often (for example, once every 2 hours or more) at each feeding.

often milk is actually enough, but it seems that it is not enough. The collection "" has a lot of information on this topic. I hope you find something useful.

If my answer is not informative enough, please write more specifically - how much the child adds, how often he feeds during the day and how often at night, how you alternate breasts, and so on.

Pumping

Good evening! Please tell me, I can’t find information on the correct accumulation of milk anywhere, I doubt whether I am accumulating it correctly ..? Those. Can I express milk into a breast pump, then pour it into a bottle, put it in the refrigerator, repeat the same next time and pour the milk into the previous milk? I just pump 50 ml. Is this the correct accumulation of milk?

milk storage

hello. as far as I know, you need to combine cold milk with cold. If you express warm, it is better to cool it in the refrigerator and then combine. Do you store this combined milk for a long time in general?

Hello, tell me

Hello, please tell me how the breast pump should fit to the breast and how everything should happen there. I just can’t learn how to express properly, neither manually nor with a breast pump, first 2-3 jets run, then nothing and it even hurts. Maybe my chest is not standard and nothing suits me?

correct breast pump position

Hello. The breast pump should be positioned so that the funnel is clearly in the center, the nipple in the very middle. It should fit snugly to create a vacuum. It shouldn't hurt!

In order for the milk to go, the tide must begin - there is just above about this, in the article. When the tide comes, the jets go. In different women, the duration of the tide is different; usually when a woman has been breastfeeding for some time and the milk is coming quickly, the flush lasts for at least a few minutes. After that, the jets dry up, after some time a new tide begins and the jets appear again.

Please tell us if you are breastfeeding a child, if so, how does the child eat. You may just not be able to "turn on" the tide. when you pump artificially.

In general, there is a large psychological component in pumping (for example, actively feeding women often have a rush when they hear a baby cry, or even think about a baby, and have not fed for several hours) - and without any breast pump))) and vice versa, with artificial pumping, it can little to go out, it is not uncommon. It also occasionally happens that the breast pump does not fit. Sometimes you can find the right size funnel, sometimes not.

So if you need help, please write about your situation in more detail.

lump in the chest

down the left under the breast I noticed a lump, the size of a plum. I tried to spread my breasts, after 2 days the induration became smaller, like beans, but it does not disappear. already painful to press the seal. tell me how to get rid of it? no temperature. I tried to give the child to "ate", but it remained so. How long should you pump your breasts after a feed? I feed c / s 2-3 hours. baby 1 month old. I would be grateful for a prompt response

hello, Galina, situation

hello, Galina, the situation is quite alarming. If you are in Moscow, contact Karina Oganesyan.

If not, you need to contact a GW-friendly specialist who would help you. Optimally - to an AKEV consultant to refer you to a doctor. You may be asked to do an ultrasound, or a puncture, to determine the nature of the contents in the seal (milk or pus?)

Consolidation is always there, does it happen that it disappears? Have you recently had a fever? redness in the chest?

Hello! me through

Hello!

In a few days I need to leave my baby with dad for 4-5 hours, he is completely "on the tita". Please tell me how much milk I need to leave them so that the child does not scream from hunger. Baby 4 months old

Hello. The question is:

Hello. The question is: when filling the breast with milk, in the center of the breast (in the region of the milky ways and ducts), when pressed, can it hurt, or is it some kind of illness? After feeding, the pain disappears, literally two days ago I finished the treatment of this breast with ultrasound (there was a seal on the side - everything went away).

The baby takes only one breast.

Good evening.

My daughter is 1 month old, I have been breastfeeding her for the whole month, because. on the second breast she does not like the nipple (retracted). I constantly express this *unloved* breast with an electric breast pump. Now one breast is twice as big as the other! Considering that the daughter should eat more and more milk for feeding, I conclude that this difference will only increase. I don’t want to give up my breasts, but I have absolutely no desire to make myself a Frankinstein! Tell me, if I stop breastfeeding my daughter and use only a breast pump and bottle feed her, will the milk remain or do I need constant stimulation by the baby? Can you advise something in this situation.

Hello. Refine

Hello.

Please clarify, do you give your baby expressed milk? If yes, from what source?

In fact, the vast majority of women have different sizes and volumes of milk in their breasts. However, noticeable differences are less common, usually when feeding this happens when the baby eats milk from only one breast. Such mothers often write that after the end of feeding, the breast size evens out after a while. However, even during feeding, you want to have breasts of close size, so, of course, I understand that you would like symmetry, especially since there is milk both there and there.

When expressing, you seem to be able to express less milk than when breastfeeding. breasts are noticeably smaller. So, if you refuse to feed completely, it is not known whether the baby will have enough milk. In addition, with pumped feeding, additional problems arise, such as a decrease in the amount of milk with a delay in pumping, with menstruation, illness, refusal to pump at night, and so on. Increasing the amount of pumped milk for most women is not easy, that is, it is quite a serious burden.

Since your baby is still small, there is usually a good chance of transferring completely to the breast at this age. Are you able to invite a lactation consultant? It is possible that she would have helped to attach the child to the second breast. It often helps to form a fold from the chest, to shift from chest to chest (especially when half asleep), to choose a suitable position for feeding.

In any case, to even out the sizes, you need to empty the smaller breasts more. The best thing to do is a child; before the baby takes this breast, it is best to express from it more often. Often it turns out to express more during the flushes of milk, i.e. during feeding from the first.

You might find some of the following links useful

Thanks for the answer! Consultant

Thanks for the answer!

The consultant has already been invited, the postures and the correctness of the application have been checked. Since there is a chance to align everything without taking it off my chest, then I will apply it! I freeze expressed milk

What city are you in? Child

What city are you in? The child is small, the consultant should help at this age.

In your case, the child lost the habit in a few days, and perhaps was offended that there was no breast, he stopped taking it. Many women are helped by the nest method, i.e. carry the baby in your arms, sleep together.

I don't know how acceptable this is for you? Write please

Good evening! Daughter (2 months)

Good evening!

The daughter (2 months old) fell in love with the right breast, sucks it well, the rush comes right after the start of sucking and then the tides are regular in the course of sucking. I once counted 7 in 25 minutes. Those with oxytocin refrex are supposed to be fine.

Left breast sucks reluctantly, sometimes cries (in various positions). After motion sickness and soothing, he begins to suck and falls asleep, sucking. Tides are very rare. Always only after prolonged sucking, after 30 minutes and with a small number of sips, when the baby is already sleeping and suckling. Once only the tide was at the beginning, at night. I think she cries because of the lack of at least one flush at the beginning of sucking. There is milk in the breast - if I myself stimulate the nipple zone, as when decanting, while the nipple is in the child's mouth, she sucks and eats her throat. And for some reason she does not want to suck or cannot. We have a good grip, invited a lactation consultant.

In this breast there are only 2 ducts in the nipple: one is small, droplets; the second is a tight jet that hits a meter. Maybe she doesn't manage to press hard on the areola, so the milk doesn't flow well when she sucks herself?

And what could be the reason for the practical absence of tides? I count the tides by the characteristic sips - one sip per jaw movement.

Are there any anatomical features?

Hello, yes everyone

Hello, yes, for all women, the left and right breasts differ in volume and size, some have a little, some have more. The problem with hot flashes can be associated with back problems, for example, pinching of some nerves. How do you know there are no tides? There is no one swallow-one suck behavior on that breast at all, right?

Try to feed from different positions, such as under the arm, or in a relaxed position ()

Have you tried compression on this chest? Or, for example, to give it when there is a rush in another (usually it is more or less at the same time)?

The child sucks not only due to the compression of the areola, but also due to the vacuum. Does she have any extraneous sounds while sucking? Clicks, smacks?

There are no clicks and clicks, and

There are no clicks and clatter, and the consultant looked at the capture - in order.

Yes, on the left breast there is practically no behavior at all - one sip one sucking movement. The last time was probably a week ago, and always about 30 minutes after the start of sucking. I myself can express from this breast from 20 to 40 ml - immediately after the start of pumping, without a flush (I think, without a flush).

Tried different poses, does not help.

In a dream, she first gave breasts with tides to suck out three tides, then quickly changed to this one - the child immediately starts pushing, as if it’s hard for her to suck, groaning appears, tries to push off with her feet from my legs - as if she is very tense. As a result, she switches to small sucking movements and sucks herself 2-4 sips every 5 minutes.

With compression, small sucking movements are activated. But the behavior "one movement - one sip" is still not there.

The child gains little weight - for the first month 500 grams from the minimum, the second - 380 grams, so I'm worried that the breast without tides is on duty for the prescribed 1.5-2 hours - my daughter suffers, somehow sucks, even sometimes it's normal in a dream, but he drinks much less milk than from the other breast.

Writes normally.

A "strong" breast will be more stimulated and produce more milk. some even feed the baby only on one breast ... (in this case, some asymmetry may occur, which mostly disappears after feeding is completed). When feeding from the weak, perhaps every time it is worth using compression? If you switch to it after 30 minutes from the start of feeding from "strong", will there still be no tide for another 30 minutes?

Apparently, you need to try everything in order to stimulate weak breasts during feeding. Maybe try to express before feeding? Does it speed up milk flow in any way? or while feeding.

This happens (very different breast behavior) incl. with back problems (signals reach differently). Also, maybe after 30 minutes of sucking, the grip changes? Watch the child.

20-40 ml is not so small, how much do you express it for? Are you sure. that there is no tide? How did you understand this - only drops go?

Good afternoon, I thought

Good afternoon,

I counted the piss several times - it was more than 12.

I express 20-40 ml in 10-15 minutes. I have been thinking a lot these days and I am more and more inclined to believe that there are tides in a weak chest, but she cannot suck them out - there are only 2 ducts, from one there are always droplets, and from the second a very thin, tight stream beats under great pressure (it is only visible if you look closely). Maybe it’s not physically possible to squeeze milk out of such ducts in one sip, since they are narrow? From the second breast 4 trickles, thicker and not tight at all.

The child is still small, there is no regimen, we have about 15-20 applications per day, 5-7 of them at night. Almost all sucklings (at any breast) end in sleep after 20 minutes. At the same time, she can sleep, sucking, for an hour. At what point in this case to offer a second breast? How to understand that the chest is already empty? She does not require a second even in the evening, she does not cry. If there are whims, then immediately after application, after 10-15 minutes, he sucks normally, after 20 - he naps or sleeps.

In general, I understood, I'll try to alternate more often, I'll look at the increases. Thanks for the help!

hello 12

Hello, 12 urination is an average figure, even below average. Some children add well to 15 pieces, someone to 20. Everyone has a different volume of one pee. Our main criterion with you is weight gain.

Probably don't focus on the presence of hot flashes, just try to feed more by volume. A baby can suckle for an hour inactively and suckle very little ...

If possible, look at the increase weekly or even once every 3-4 days. Based on these figures, it will be possible to assume what will happen in a month and adjust. In the first month, your increase was higher, maybe something was arranged differently in feeding?

At 1.5 months there was weight loss

At 1.5 months, there was weight loss almost to the level of weight at 1 month. This coincided in time with lactostasis of the more milky breasts, although the consultant said that the amount of milk could not decrease so much that there was such a loss (about 150-200 grams). I weighed then once a week and late noticed the weight loss. Now I weigh myself every day, although this is not recommended. We are still not gaining weight very well - over the past three weeks, 340 grams; on average, from 90 to 140 grams per week, depending on the day, when you count - the weight either costs 2-5 days, then it jumps by 20-50-70 grams. And yet she does not poop herself from the hospital, once a week I use a candle or a tube - the weight is reduced by 30-50 grams.

Now for one feeding I try to give one or two breasts.

A breast that is without tides, the daughter sucks badly - both in behavior and in quality. She is still indignant at a weak flow, as you write - she throws the nipple, arches, but after a while I persuade her, I walk with her on the handles. I can’t stop giving this breast at all, the milk will be gone.

If at the same time I do not actively massage the peripapillary zone during feeding, then the throats rarely go. Milk is not always sucked out of it (although there is not much of it). Sometimes, right after feeding, I can express the same 20 ml. 5 times carried out control weighing - eaten from 0 to 20 grams.

The milky breast sucks well, but in the evening it is naughty just like a weak breast, if there is no third or third flush for a long time. From which I conclude that the appearance of hot flashes in a weak breast would stimulate the daughter to suck it better, which means that there would be more milk in her.

Since in this situation the milk breast is our main source of milk, I will not know how to stimulate an increase in milk in a weak breast. I can't start giving it to the bowl, because we are gaining weight badly - weight loss will begin. At night, in a dream, she also sucks badly. Maybe just decant it all the time? Although during the day I already feed every 1-1.5 hours (with the exception of sleeping on the street at 1.5-2 hours) - by the way, for 2.5 months, this is probably too frequent feeding, and indicates a lack of milk?

In a word, so far my attempts to adjust the GW and normalize the weight of the child have not been very successful. The only good news is that the baby looks healthy and she is not restless. If she had been crying, as many people write, I would definitely have broken down and switched to NE.

"Maybe just express it

"Maybe it's just a matter of expressing it all the time?"

yes, this is a very good option, but only on condition that you can supplement this milk from a spoon or cup, without sucking. This is a good stimulation, and the amount of milk in this breast, and the work of the tides, and the width of the ducts. But you can’t supplement with a bottle (just like giving a pacifier, well, I think you know that))).

"for 2.5 months, this is probably too frequent feeding"

No, there are no such laws. women in the tribes feed up to 4 times per hour)))

"Sometimes I can express the same 20ml right after a feed."

this is what surprises me. Have you tried changing positions while breastfeeding? under the arm?

honestly, 9 to 1 that the grip is wrong on this breast if you can express that much immediately after feeding! And at the beginning the tide does not come, and then it can come - when will the grip change? ;) Is the child definitely not wearing a short frenulum? Can she put her tongue on her bottom lip? Does it do it often?

Have you tried chest compressions, according to Newman? When you squeeze not at the very nipple, but further to fit the milk. many women do it intuitively.

I feed the expressed ones from

I supplement with expressed breastfeeding from a syringe, we do not use bottles and nipples. The frenulum is in order, the tongue sticks out of the mouth when awake regularly. The grip may not be ideal in terms of symmetry. Especially at night when I feed lying on my side, stomach to stomach. But the areola is almost all in the mouth. I tried relaxed feeding a month and a half ago, when my tummy hurt regularly. But she doesn't like to lie on her stomach. Moreover, if the flow of milk is weak, then she needs to strain even more to suck out of such a position.

For a little over a week now, I have been changing my breasts often: one or two feedings, a change during feedings - I read an article on this topic on your website. At first glance, the gains have improved and stabilized - we add 20-30 grams every day. Previously, they stood at the same weight for 2-5 days, then there was a jump of 40-70 grams. Let's wait and see.

The day before yesterday I fed well with weak breasts from the armpit, yesterday and today from the cradle - with hot flashes with frequent sips (sips are few, but at least something). I try different poses - sometimes it takes better in one, sometimes in another. Today I applied compression - it seems that pharynxes appear more often.

I'm thinking about buying an electronic breast pump for weak breasts to pump it out. I think if there was more milk, my daughter would drink more.

Thanks a lot for your time and advice!

Hello Daria! Thank you

Hello Daria!
thanks for answering))

different women have different sizes of areola, so whether it is all in the mouth or not - it means different things for different women. An asymmetrical grip and a wide open mouth, a chin resting on the chest - this is most often enough. If the child is loosely pressed lying down, depending on the size of the breast, it can help to press the baby with his stomach to himself, and put his legs a little even on himself, or vice versa, take him away from himself so that the head is pulled closer and the grip is better (from below, where there is a strong lower jaw, should be captured more than from above).

if you have a manual breast pump, the electronic one will most likely pump about the same, the only thing that you get less tired from it (less manual work), for this it is used.

Help! Lactostases

Hello! I was literally tortured by lactostasis. For 2 months of feeding, there were 7 pieces with fever, wild pain in the chest and when feeding and when touched, to the point of tears, at the moment there is lactostasis in both breasts, it is difficult to disentangle the lumps, they are from the armpits at the very base of the chest, I go to ultrasound. For the first and second months, my daughter gained 1300 and 1300, respectively, I feed on demand, I also wake up at night + when I sleep, the grip, I hope, is correct (flat nipples), I don’t use nipples, bottles, pads. The first lactostasis happened 2 weeks after giving birth, I went for an ultrasound, then there was a repetition, there was no month and a half, now again, one after another, there is no strength. After feeding, I don’t express (although all doctors strongly recommend it, I’m afraid that there will be even more milk and I will have to express it all the time). I'm pumping to relief now. Breasts are heavy and dense already 2 hours after feeding, after feeding milk remains in most cases. My daughter has thrush in her mouth (plaque) - we treat it with soda, I smear my nipples with candida and soda. HELP! This is simply unbearable, I endure lactostasis very hard, but I also need to take care of the child (6300 kg in weight).

Moms most often pump at the time when milk is the most. For example, someone in the morning, someone at night has such an opportunity. If there is left after feeding, and the child ate a lot, ate, - after such feeding and express. Some express after, and some during feedings.

Just be sure to try to give your baby THAWNED expressed milk. And then some refuse;) then the stock will turn out not for the future.

If it's not a secret, are you often going to go away? For example, once or twice a week, like for an exam, for example, or every day?

3. About the increase - usually in our pediatric tables it costs 600 in the first month, then 800 each. According to WHO, the minimum is 500, but in general it depends not only on weight, but also on the height of the baby. If you write down the weight and height at birth, and the weight at discharge, it will be easier for me to check this figure for you. But you can see for yourself, here are links to WHO charts? just in case. Or do you not consider such options?

How are you now, are you satisfied with feeding? Do you get enough sleep (maybe there are night feedings?)? Are you doing what you planned? Is it comfortable to eat?

do you need to express?

Good afternoon, I ask for advice.

We are 11 days old. Milk came in 5 days. Feeding on demand. I alternated breasts every 3 hours approximately. The chest was equally filled. But one morning, I noticed that one breast was filled, and the other was not. And the pressure of milk from the smaller breast is very weak. The baby on this breast sucks effectively swallowing milk for a maximum of 10 minutes, and then falls asleep. Despite the fact that there is milk in this breast, he stops sucking it out. The other breast is constantly full. but it doesn't hurt. Just heavy.

hello early days

Hello, the first days of milk can be too much, but now is an important period, it would be good for you to pump no less than the baby needs now. Please tell us how many times a day you pump, what breaks, including at night, two breasts or one?

You can also give breast after a bottle, it is very good, for example, for sleep. Didn't they do that? Are you using a pacifier, or is it not needed?

Hello! Daughter 1 month

Hello! Daughter 1 month 3 weeks. Because of her illness, I feed her with expressed milk. I feed every 3 hours 110-120 ml, the last time at 24:00 and then at 05:00, I don’t bother feeding at night (we get sick) and she doesn’t wake up herself. Born weight 3010gr. Height is 55 cm, for the first month we gained 1 kg, now we weigh 4700 g, height is 57 cm. But the fact is that I have a feeling that the child is not full, I feed her, and after 40-60 minutes she starts to worry, cry, waves her arms and legs, if you pick her up, she starts looking for her breasts. To calm her down, I give a nipple, she sucks as if she had never been fed at all: (she sleeps badly during the day (4-5 hours for the whole day) and only on her stomach. I can’t feed more in volume because milk is back to back. Tell me, her behavior says that she is malnourished or is it something else? And is it possible to somehow rationalize feeding in our case? Maybe I have "poor-quality" milk?

Hello. I'm right

Hello. Do I understand correctly that it is impossible to breastfeed or even let the baby suck on the breast?

If so, you can try pumping more often if you want more milk. However, the increase is good, that is, there is enough milk. But it is difficult to understand the behavior of the child, not knowing what she is ill with and why she is not able to breastfeed.

Studies show that women have milk of different fat content, different volumes, but this does not prevent children from filling up and being satisfied. In order for the milk to become of poor quality, the mother must really practically die of hunger, that is, be in conditions of severe malnutrition. This is because lactation was established thousands of years ago as a very stable and sustainable mechanism for the survival of the young. That is, you don’t have to worry about the fat content and “quality” of milk, there are problems only if in the form of allergies.

Hello Anastasia. how

Hello Anastasia.

As I understand it, you need to go for treatment and you are worried about how the baby will be fed, what, and whether he will then take the breast.

Quite a few questions immediately arise.

1) quite a few drugs are compatible with HB in one way or another, and even if an incompatible one is prescribed, it is very often possible to find a compatible one. Unfortunately, doctors do not always know about this, because. it is customary for us not to feed during any treatment, but this does not take into account that if you do not feed, there is a risk of refusal of the breast, a decrease in milk, which is more harmful to the child than milk with a small amount of a drug compatible with breastfeeding. Now this concept is being revised, because. it became clear that it is better when feeding is not interrupted.

2) to express - of course, this is very individual. Often, women are best at expressing milk at night and in the morning. Sometimes they even express before feeding, because it is still impossible to express everything, and then the child will still eat milk anyway. In addition, there is still such a good option - when you feed with one breast, you express the second. By the way, do you usually feed one at a feeding or two at a time? As it turns out?

3) some women are considering the option of going somewhere with the child together so as not to be separated. After all, the child will miss not only milk, but also mothers. However, if the baby stays, he will be bored and perhaps you can think in advance whether he knows the person with whom he remains well, whether the baby agrees to drink from the container from which they will be fed - this can be a cup, and a spoon, and bottle. Not always bottle fed. How will the baby calm down, does he suckle the nipple, or maybe, to calm him down, they will pump him, carry him in his arms, or give him a clean finger to suck on (they also do this, especially since the finger is more like a breast than a nipple, so children then take it better breast). I have a selection of useful materials on this topic:. And an article on the subject, . Some even leave some things that smell like mom so that the smell soothes the baby.

Please tell us what you think about these questions?

Breast pumping at the birth of a premature baby

Good afternoon! I would be very grateful if you could help me with advice.

At 32 weeks of pregnancy, premature birth occurred, the baby is in the department of premature babies, feeding through a tube. My milk "came" on the 3rd day, in the maternity hospital they said to express one breast every 3 hours, including at night. I still do this, it turns out to pump 50-60 ml from one breast with a breast pump. Feeding the baby with milk is possible not earlier than in 2-3 weeks. Now I want to start freezing milk and was puzzled by the following questions:

1. Is it not enough to express milk from one breast at a time? (a week has passed) or should I shorten the intervals between pumping?

2. Is it enough to pump only one breast every 3 hours or should I pump both at once?

3. What pumping schedule would you recommend for my situation?

There is probably not a single moment in breastfeeding on which every mother would not have her own opinion. Take, for example, pumping. Some women, relying on the experience of previous generations, believe that breast milk must be expressed after each feeding; others claim that this can only be done under certain circumstances. Who is right?

What was before

Previously, a nursing mother was advised to express her breast after each feeding, otherwise there would be excess milk, lactostasis and mastitis, and besides, it was believed that pumping promotes milk production and the baby certainly will not remain hungry. Yes, pumping increased the amount of milk, but this did not take into account the fact that the mother's breast adapts to the needs of the baby - and produces milk exactly as much as the baby sucks. It is now known that if after each feeding the breast is additionally expressed, then the body of a nursing woman receives incorrect information about how much milk needs to be produced, and produces more and more of it. As a result, pumping "leftovers" can turn into a continuous process: with each pumping, milk comes in, the baby cannot completely suck it out, the mother has to express the leftovers, and by the next feeding milk again comes in excess.

What's wrong here? Excess milk is a direct road to its stagnation (lactostasis), and a woman is forced to constantly express her breasts. It turns out a kind of vicious circle.

What they say now

Today, doctors recommend feeding a newborn on demand, in this mode, he eats the amount of milk that he needs. By the next feeding, the required amount comes again, and no pumping is necessary. Yes, there will be periods of growth of the child when he needs more milk than before, but the baby will regulate this process on his own. At some point, the baby will begin to suck harder and ask for the breast more often than before. At first, it will seem to the mother that there is not enough milk, but in a couple of days everything will stabilize, the milk will begin to come in the right (larger) amount and no pumping, let alone supplementary feeding, will be required.

When pumping is necessary

It turns out that pumping is not necessary at all? Most often yes, but still there are some situations when you simply cannot do without it.

When pumping is necessary:

1. If the baby is premature or weak, he cannot breastfeed himself yet and must be bottle fed.

2. If the mother has a very strong flow of milk, beginning mastitis or the first signs of lactostasis. In general, with a strong rush of milk and lactostasis, it is recommended to apply the baby to the breast more often, but if he is not hungry, then the breast will have to be expressed.

3. If there is not enough milk, but only if it is, and not “I think so” or “my mother-in-law said that I have little milk and I need to pump.”

4. If it is necessary to part with the baby for some time, but at the same time you want to maintain lactation.

5. If a nursing mother is ill and she has been prescribed medications that are incompatible with breastfeeding.

How it works

If you still need to express the breast, then you can do it with your hands or with the help of a breast pump. The advantage of manual pumping is that there are no material costs, but, perhaps, this is all its advantages. There are many more disadvantages: not all mothers know how to express their breasts correctly (even after looking at the instructions). And most importantly, manual pumping is not as effective as mechanical pumping, and in general it is often unpleasant and even painful. But expressing breasts with a breast pump is much more convenient: it quickly helps to express a significant amount of milk, saves time and effort and does not cause pain. The only downside is that it costs money.

How to choose a breast pump

Do not rely on the opinions of friends and reviews on the Internet: like someone else's breasts, it is impossible to try on someone else's pumping experience.
Carefully study the model of the breast pump. For a device already purchased or donated, the size of the funnel, the intensity of pumping, the shape of the handle, the number of parts, the noise level may not be suitable.
The more often you plan to pump, the more advanced and versatile pump you need.
Strictly follow the instructions supplied with the device. Remember to sterilize your breast pump before each use and keep it clean.
Do not get carried away: if you use it too intensively, there is a risk of earning hyperlactation - more and more milk will be produced, and as a result, pumping will be endless.

Why Problems Occur

Sometimes mothers say that, of course, a breast pump helps, but they would like it to be about more effect. There may be several explanations for this. Or there is really little milk, and then you need to express at least a couple more minutes after the last drop appears. Or the device itself turned out to be not very suitable for a particular breast .

For example, manual breast pumps are much less convenient and efficient than electric ones. They, in fact, mimic manual pumping, just a little more comfort. However, they are also small in price.

So if you really need a breast pump, then it is better to choose models with high power, decanting both breasts at the same time, electric, stationary, with the ability to change traction and speed. There are no problems at all with such breast pumps: put it on your chest, turn on the button - and go about your business.

As you can see, there is no unequivocal opinion about pumping. With normal well-established lactation, it is not necessary, but it becomes necessary for some problems. The same can be said about the breast pump. And if so, then we feed calmly, focusing only on our situation and the needs of our baby.

After childbirth, a new mother has many problems associated not only with the care and feeding of a newborn, but also with her own well-being. On the third or fourth day, milk begins to actively arrive and literally tear the chest. The baby is still sucking reluctantly and weakly, the milk becomes more and more, the temperature rises. During the critical period of establishing lactation, doctors recommend expressing milk from the breast. Experienced nannies show how to express breast milk with their hands and help in this difficult undertaking.

Reasons why pumping is necessary

In Soviet times, hand pumping was considered a mandatory and integral part of breastfeeding. Many women could not stand even three months, gave up feeding, switched to mixtures. Those who wanted to feed continued to suffer, but the milk still disappeared. Now it is advised to express in extreme cases, when it is absolutely necessary.

What forbreast pumping is required:

when a premature baby is born. Feeding naturally is a difficult task for him, he suckles sluggishly and cannot get enough without help;
stay of mother and newborn in different wards of a hospital or maternity hospital;
when babies need bottle feeding. To avoid complications, natural feeding is temporarily contraindicated for them (heart disease, birth trauma);
for the formation of lactation on the 3-4th day after childbirth and to avoid stagnation during swelling of the mammary glands;
it is necessary to maintain the volume of milk and stimulate the flow, and the child eats poorly and rarely;
taking medications by the mother, based on alcohol or prohibited during breastfeeding;
you need to leave for a long time, go to work and leave milk to the child;
you need to introduce complementary foods and mix vegetable dishes with breast milk;
with an abnormal shape of the nipple. The baby fails to properly capture the chest;
lactostasis developed () - stagnation of milk with the formation of seals. At the same time, it is advisable for the child to give a sore breast, and if he does not want to suck, decant;
if necessary, do a fluorography. Usually it is done in regions with an increased incidence of all women in labor in the maternity hospital - the BCG vaccination administered with a possible infection from the mother with tuberculosis is dangerous for the newborn. Doctors advise, having come to the ward after a fluorography, to express both breasts until empty;
when mom abruptly stops feeding;
alcohol consumption . If mommy decides to take alcohol, she needs to express before drinking and after. Even a small concentration of alcohol, getting into the blood, instantly penetrates into milk and can adversely affect the health of the baby.

Do I need to pump after every feed?

The mother's body produces as much milk as the baby eats. When the need increases, he sucks more and more often, stimulating production. All that a mother needs to do if the baby is healthy is to provide herself with drink, rest and proper nutrition. If you start additional pumping, milk will increase, although there will be no need for it. This can provoke mastitis (see what is its danger), stagnation, burnout and breastfeeding will be compromised.

When to start expressing milk

There are 3 ways to pump: with the help of hands, a purchased breast pump, with a warm bottle.

With lactostasis and the urgent need for pumping, the chest is massaged for 15 minutes. circular motions and rubbing. Then the woman has a question - what to do with the expressed milk? She can hand pump it into a bottle and store it in the refrigerator for several days. After childbirth, inexperienced nursing mothers acquire breast pumps at the first pumping failures. It is convenient to press the button or squeeze the pear - and the milk will flow by itself. But even the most high-tech apparatus is not able to drain the chest as it should. Frequent use of devices causes swelling of the mammary glands, injury and enlargement of the areola.

You can use another method - a warm bottle. It helps with engorgement of the glands with a tense nipple, when it is impossible to manually express, and there is no way to attach the baby to the breast.

Forthis is taken:

Glass (not plastic) bottle, 700 ml. with a large wide mouth.
Pot and water to heat.
Cold water to cool the neck.
A thick cloth or oven mitt to hold the hot bottle.

Warm up the bottle by pouring boiling water into it, and let it stand so that it warms up well. Wrap the bottle in a cloth and pour out the water. Cool the neck and apply to the nipple, avoiding air ingress. The bottle, cooling slowly, will draw in the nipple, forming a vacuum. The heat and the "sucking" effect will help the milk to come out and it will start to flow. When it stops standing out and draining, the process is repeated for the other breast. After that, you can express the hindmilk by hand until the breast is completely emptied.

Manual expression of breast milk

Mommy needs to lie down, relax, close her eyes, listen to quiet music. Before decanting, it is advisable to drink warm tea, compote or herbal infusion. Some do a light breast massage in the shower or with fingertips without squeezing or squeezing.

Excellentremedy - put a warm towel on your chest. You can ask relatives to stretch the neck, forearms and back. The presence of a child, his smile, smell, and cooing for stimulation helps a lot. A good way is to put it on one breast and pump the other. So milk will arrive faster in both glands. There are no rules to prepare for a better and more fulfilling pumping experience by providing yourself with a flush. Each breastfeeding woman herself finds her own universal way to make the task easier.

After preparatory manipulations, it is advisable to wash your hands. Take a comfortable position, sit down, position sterilized container closer to the chest.

Pumping procedure:

Grasp the areola so that the thumb is on top, and the rest lie below, like the fingers of the second hand.
With your thumb, hold several movements up and down towards the areola. Press - release, press - release.
The chest is supported by the rest of the fingers, rhythmically massaged from below.
The first drops will not appear immediately, but after their appearance, jets should splatter. If this happens, pumping is happening correctly.
They try to “get” milk not from the nipple, but from the peripapillary region. You can not delay it and squeeze it - this will complicate the process.
Fingers should not rub the skin, but slide a little over the body.
It shouldn't hurt when pumping.
To heighten the effect, you can lean down if your back does not hurt.
It is recommended to move your fingers around the circumference of the areola so that the milk leaves evenly from all sides.
One breast is filtered for no more than 5-6 minutes, then they move on to the second. After that, both breasts are decanted again. The whole process takes about half an hour.

Video tutorial for manual pumping

How to understand that the breast is empty of milk

Young mothers, trying to squeeze the last drops out of themselves, do not know how to understand when the breasts become empty. The emptied breast becomes soft and milk does not flow from it, and rare drops appear thick and large when expressed.

What can you express milk into?

The container where the milk will be expressed must be washed with soap and boiled.
To make it more convenient to express, the dishes should be with a voluminous wide mouth and a twist so that you can store it in the refrigerator.
Breast pumps are equipped with plastic containers suitable for pumping, feeding, storing milk.
If you need to express only once, you can not buy special dishes. It is recommended to use glass jars from children's vegetable and fruit puree. They are sterilized with lids for 3 minutes in boiling water.
Pharmacies sell sterile plastic containers that are designed for long-term storage of milk in the freezer.
It is advisable to express milk in the container in which it will be stored.

What mistakes to avoid

Some nursing mothers, out of inexperience, act incorrectly during pumping. They squeeze the nipple painfully or, feeling sorry for themselves, do not squeeze milk enough. You can sit for an hour by the glass, and the treasured drops will not appear. If the nipples are strongly squeezed, nothing will work except for bruises, cracks and scuffs. Sometimes stretching of the nipples provokes stretching of the milk ducts, which leads to mastitis.

Important! It is advisable to visit a gynecologist so that he shows how to properly express breast milk, if the nurses did not do this in a timely manner at the maternity hospital.

Basic pumping tips and rules:

if the milk does not run in a jet, but only drips weakly, there is no need to interrupt, most likely, time is needed for decanting;
it is impossible to stop the procedure earlier than after 20 minutes. The first milk will be extracted, and the most nutritious - hind milk will remain, and the baby will not receive the necessary substances that he can get enough of;
breasts should be pumped in turn, alternating pumping for 5-6 minutes;
one serving that the baby will need for feeding is sometimes expressed more than once. To do this, you need to mix milk with what is already available. If the child eats little, and the mother leaves for a long time, she will have to express herself repeatedly. You need to mix milk correctly - the morning milk is cooled and placed in a container, the next milk is also cooled and only after cooling is mixed with the morning milk.
each pumping will be easier. The procedure requires skills and abilities that come with time.

Many are interested in the question of why pumping during weaning. An experienced mom understands that when you stop feeding abruptly, the glands become engorged, fraught with lactostasis or mastitis. This requires pumping. There is no need to completely empty the breast and there is no point in pulling out hind milk. After all, the baby is switching to another feeding. By gradually reducing the amount of pumped milk, its production decreases.

Some mothers decide the issue radically and are pulled over with a towel. This is a cruel method that can cause serious health problems.

Every nursing mother sooner or later has to face the need to express milk. This must be done correctly so as not to damage the chest and glands. There are 2 ways: manual and with a breast pump. Everyone chooses the method that he considers more suitable for himself.

Indications

The reasons why a mother needs to express milk can be different:

For whatever reason, mom needs to leave. There will be no opportunity to breastfeed the baby. In this case, you need to stock up on food for the child in advance.
The first time mothers face the need to pump is during the first postpartum rush of milk. During this period, the body can produce it in excess.
If during feeding the mother undergoes medication.
To maintain lactation, if for some reason the child cannot be breastfed (for example, the mother urgently had to leave for 1-2 days).
Expressing milk can be used to stimulate the glands.
If the nipples become excessively rough, this procedure will help develop the breasts.
If the child is weak, he does not have enough strength to suck on a hard breast on his own, they express a little milk to make the task easier for the little one.
With stagnation of milk (lactostasis).

To express milk, the mother chooses the method that seems most convenient to her. However, there is an increased risk of injury when using a breast pump. Also, special devices are not recommended for use with lactostasis and during the first week after childbirth, while the breast is being developed. The rest of the time, a breast pump will help speed up and simplify the process.

Training

When the breast has already been developed, there are no congestion, special manipulations and a special attitude will not be needed. However, at first, a little preparation is required before expressing breast milk. Each woman chooses those methods that will be most effective for her, because what is suitable for one mother may be completely ineffective for another. In most cases, all efforts are aimed at causing a rush of milk. For this purpose it is necessary:

Warm up your chest. You can use dry heat. A hot shower helps a lot, because it relaxes. Some may find it sufficient to apply a towel soaked in hot water.
10-15 minutes before the procedure, you should drink something warm.
Imagine your baby next to you, as detailed as possible: smell, voice, eyes, etc.
Shake and massage your chest a little.
If the baby has enough milk from one breast, then the other can be expressed during feeding.

More thorough preparation will be needed for lactostasis. In this case, stagnation has already occurred. Before expressing your milk, you need to knead and rub your breasts well. Then do a special massage. This will take 15-20 minutes.

Hand Expression Technique

Express breast milk only with clean hands. Before the procedure, they must be thoroughly washed. You also need to prepare the dishes in advance. It should be a container with a wide neck or a bowl. Dishes must be sterilized!

So, how to express breast milk with your hands?

It is necessary to prepare the workplace: process hands and dishes. Place the container at chest level so that you do not have to reach for it or bend over later. Take a comfortable position. You can express milk standing or sitting.
Grasp the areola with your fingers so that the big one is on top, and the rest are on the bottom. The position of the brush will resemble the letter "C".
The thumb and index finger should be brought together, squeezing the dark circle near the nipple. In this case, the fingers should not go beyond the border of the areola or come off the skin.
The remaining fingers support and also squeeze the breast a little, helping to express it.
First, drops will appear, then milk will flow in streams.
The fingers must be moved in a circle to free the other lobes of the mammary gland.

As a rule, it takes 10-15 minutes to express milk with your hands from 1 breast. But the procedure can take up to half an hour. A little practice - and this action will no longer cause difficulties or difficulties.

A few notes

In order to avoid problems when expressing milk, it is necessary to take into account a number of nuances:

Fingers should be clearly fixed in one place, they do not fidget back and forth on the surface. Otherwise, abrasions may appear on the skin.
Be sure to change the position of the fingers, because the mammary gland is divided into segments. Each of them should be expressed.
But at the same time, you need not to overdo it and stop in time, find out if the milk has run out. Further ineffective attempts will only injure the glands.
It is necessary to change the breasts when decanting: 5-7 minutes one, then the other. And so 2-3 times. Complete emptying will take at least 20 minutes.
Do not squeeze your breasts too much: the amount of milk expressed depends on the correct technique, and not on the strength of the pressure.
It is not necessary to pull the nipple back, as this can lead to cracks.
Fingers should lightly press only on the areola.
If the technique of decanting breast milk is correct, then the pain does not bother. If there is discomfort, then something is being done wrong.
Be sure to take a comfortable position so that you do not have to bend over, as this can lead to an overload of the back muscles.
Before the first pumping, you should consult with your doctor.

Advantages and disadvantages

Like any method, expressing milk by hand has a number of positive and negative properties. Of the undoubted advantages, the following can be noted:

no contraindications;
no investment required;
the woman herself regulates the whole process;
the risk of injury is minimized;
less discomfort than when using a breast pump;
when in contact with the skin, milk production is stimulated;
you can develop the chest only with your hands;
no side effects (for example, when using devices, the areola may increase in size, the skin becomes rougher, etc.).

There are a couple of drawbacks to this method:

for high-quality pumping, it takes quite a lot of time;
training in the correct technique is required;
not all women succeed in carrying out the procedure with high quality and emptying the glands, therefore, in some cases, the effectiveness of this method becomes very low.

What to do with milk?

Sometimes pumping produces quite a lot of milk. In this case, you need to decide what to do with it. It is best to store the product in the refrigerator in a sterilized container and tightly sealed so that harmful microorganisms cannot enter it. At room temperature, breast milk can be stored for up to 8 hours. It can be kept in the refrigerator for no longer than 2 days (but it is better to keep within 24 hours). You can also freeze it. In this case, the shelf life is extended to 4 months.

Expressing breast milk is not as difficult as it seems at first glance. After a little practice, this will be easy. When performing all movements, you need to monitor your feelings, listen to the body. It is important to learn to understand when to stop and when to continue.

The approach to breastfeeding has changed dramatically in recent years. If earlier babies were breastfed exclusively according to the regimen, today this practice is considered outdated and fundamentally wrong. It was replaced by on-demand feeding of the newborn, which, according to experts, fully meets the needs of the child's and maternal organisms.

However, new mothers still have a variety of questions about how to properly breastfeed their baby, whether to express breast milk after or before feedings, and why to express.

Is it possible and necessary to express breast milk

Despite the fact that stereotypes are becoming more and more a thing of the past, many women still think that if they do not express milk, then it will be lost. There is indeed some truth in this, but only if feeding is carried out by the hour, that is, in accordance with a strictly established regimen. If a woman puts her baby to her breast every 3-3.5 hours, then for 6-7 hours or longer one breast remains intact, and subsequently less milk begins to be produced. This is because breast milk is produced in accordance with the needs of the child: the more often and more he sucks, the more milk comes.

If within a few hours there is no “demand” for the breast, then this is perceived by the body as a signal to stop milk production as unnecessary. In this regard, pumping for some time allows you to maintain lactation at the desired level when feeding is on schedule.

Therefore, if the baby has unlimited access to the breast and receives it on demand, if the breastfeeding process is established correctly, the baby has enough milk and he remains full, gains weight normally, then pumping the breast is not only unnecessary, but also unsafe. This can lead to excessive milk production - hyperlactation, which is not very easy to deal with. This is why you shouldn't express breast milk.

Hyperlactation leads to congestive and inflammatory processes in the breast, which can also occur when feeding according to the regimen.

However, there are certain situations when it is necessary to express breast milk. And you should know about them.

Breastfeeding experts say that if the lactation process is established correctly from the first days after childbirth, then the need for decanting the breast is extremely rare. And yet, sometimes even such mothers have to express their breasts:

In the first days after childbirth . Milk does not arrive on the first day. First, the baby feeds on colostrum, and only after 3-4 days milk begins to appear. It happens that a lot of it immediately arrives, and the baby does not have time to empty both breasts. In this case, if mommy feels heaviness, discomfort and a feeling of fullness in the chest, the chest hardens, then you can express it a little - only until you feel relief. Also, the need to express the breast may occur immediately after childbirth, if the child and mother are separate. To maintain lactation, a woman is forced to imitate the process of feeding until the baby begins to fully attach to the breast. Even if the baby is brought to the mother for feeding according to the regimen, he still will not suck out the breast, as expected, because in such cases newborns are fed from a bottle. If the mother feels that the baby does not suck or sucks very sluggishly, then you need to express every time for 10-15 minutes. If, due to long intervals between feedings, a lot of milk accumulates in the breast, then you can also express, but only a little.
If blockages and inflammation form . Sometimes, due to abundant milk secretion or for other reasons, the ducts of the mammary glands are clogged, forming seals. Firstly, it causes pain and discomfort to a woman and can even lead to inflammatory processes. Secondly, blockages make it difficult for the baby to suckle, and he may refuse the breast because of this. In this case, the blockage must be “dissolved”.
If breastfeeding is temporarily not possible . It happens that, for health reasons, an infant is weaned from its mother for appropriate therapy, or it is simply very weakened, and natural breastfeeding cannot be temporarily carried out. This happens in a number of other cases: if the mother is sick, if the birth took place with the use of potent medications, if the woman treats deep cracks in the nipples, if the mother is forced to leave or go to work for a while, etc. In such situations, milk must be expressed either to maintain lactation for the future, or to continue breastfeeding the baby in the absence of the mother, but then it is necessary to adhere to the rules for storing expressed breast milk.
After fluorography, alcohol, anesthesia . Of course, if the mother's body has been exposed to harmful effects, then breastfeeding may not be safe. In particular, it is recommended to express milk after taking certain medications, drinking alcohol, and undergoing x-rays. But it is better, of course, to avoid such cases.
If there is not enough milk . Many young mothers face this problem. Breastfeeding experts assure that it can be solved very simply: consultation with a competent specialist will put everything in its place. In the meantime, while the lactation process is getting better, you can express your breasts after each feeding.
If there is too much milk . Breasts full of milk begin to hurt, and may even become inflamed if the condition remains so for a long time. In this case, you can express the breast a little, but first you should try to put the baby to the breast more often - perhaps he will solve this problem on his own. If the baby is difficult to eat due to the fact that the milk flows out a lot, then you can express it a little before feeding.

If milk is expressed for further feeding to the child, then it is necessary to choose the right container for this, study the conditions for storing milk and other nuances, and observe the conditions of sterility.

Very often, mothers have a question: is it possible to express breast milk into already expressed, several times in one bottle? Opinions on this matter differ. Some experts are categorically against this practice, since the milk in each breast may differ in composition. Moreover, even milk expressed from the same breast has a different taste and composition if some time has passed between pumping procedures. Other consultants admit this possibility, but at the same time they pay attention to the fact that it is impossible to express milk into already expressed milk, but you can only mix different portions of milk with each other, but only after it reaches the same temperature (that is, when freshly expressed milk has cooled down). ).

What happens if you don't express breast milk

So, let's sum up. Breast pumping is a very tiring, burdensome, unpleasant, exhausting and often completely unnecessary procedure for a nursing woman. Ideally, there is no need to express breast milk, but in some cases it may be useful. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

The hormone prolactin responsible for lactation is most actively produced at night. In this regard, in order not to increase the production of breast milk, it is better not to express the breast between 9 pm and 9 am, and if there is an urgent need for this (for example, the breast is very full), then express only a minimum.
Accordingly, if pumping is done in order to increase lactation, then it is best to do it around midnight and, of course, apply crumbs to the chest as often as possible at night.
When developing excess breast milk, it is impossible to express the breast completely!
You can resort to decanting breast milk only in individual, isolated cases, and not on a regular basis. It does not happen that such a need exists all the time. If there are “indications” for this, then, as a rule, with the right approach, the problem is solved within 2-3 days, a maximum of a week.
It is not worth expressing breast milk when weaning a child, since stimulation of lactation (which, in fact, is pumping), is completely inappropriate in this case.

We found out how to know when to pump and when to express breast milk. We hope these tips have been helpful to you.

Especially for - Margarita SOLOVIEVA