Expressing Question...

I would say a 1-off express might do the trick, or maybe once you have finished feeding him a few times express off any leftovers.. lol, you can freeze the smaller amounts in ice cubes and use them later. breast milk keeps for up to 3 days in the fridge fresh, 24hours once defrosted, 3 months in the refridgerator-top freezers and around 5-6 months in the big chest freezers.

I would dare say if you just did that a few times, you possibly wouldn't have to continue expressing as if you did you would be increasing your milk supply with the constant stimulation - which is what would cause probs if you weren't gonna continue cos you'd then have more milk that wasn't being used.

It can be easiest to express after he has fed cos it's already flowing, or if you tend to leak from the other while feeding, you could express that side at the same time (depends how many pairs of hands you have!) pick a time when he's sleepy and won't take both sides, or just has a small feed.. (maybe a dream feed or something), but yeah, expressing a little bit off after each feed means you can freeze the small amounts which will build up and shouldn't affect supply too, also means you won't have him wake early wanting a feed when you've just expressed it all away..

The easiest way is to feed before you go out and hope to heck he doesn't wake, but having 1 feeds worth of milk might just be enough to tide him over if he does.

sorry, i talk too much.

Yep to what Janine said - she is a legend! Must have taken her ages to type out all the stuff she sent me when I was trying to suss expressing!

But like Teresa sayd, you might want to try bub on a bottle/cup before you go to make sre he'll take it.

Oh the other thing we found when expressing for Hannah, was that she would take the bottle ok but only from me. Obviously that defeated the purpose But if this is only once-off maybe a syringe is the way to go.

I'd definantly try the bottle out with him beforehand.  Fingers crossed for you, Becks - hope he takes to it like a duck to water! 

Freezing breastmilk in little icecube trays is GREAT!  That way you can express a little off after a feed every now and then to build up your freezer supplies for a whole bottle feed.  Just be careful about how long you give it to defrost.... takes ages to defrost and warm it when you've got a crying baby!  I used to defrost it that morning so it'd just need to be warmed for Ella in the evening - the down-side being that then it'd have to be used or wasted.  It's our wedding anniversary tomorrow and Ella is still flatly refusing the bottle and has been for 2 weeks now... so no romantic dinner for us , It'll be more like an evening walk with the stroller, to celebrate!  Crikey, I can go walkies any day!   

Andie we celebtrated our first anniversary when Hannah was just 7 weeks old, we put her to bed for the night at her usual time and then had a fondue-type supper for ourselves. It was nice to do it when she was asleep without a restaurant closing or anything, and also we were both still exhausted (and financially tight) then. Be creative and have fun!

Well my mum is going to have the kids (YAY ) and now i'm trying to get some milk out of me after every second feed (its going slow). And the bonus thing we get is that my parents are going to pay for our lunch - now to decide where to go for lunch...

Next queation how much should I try to get in total for 1 feed for him. He will be 3 and 1/2 weeks old then.