9 Top Tips And Tricks For Expressing Milk

Expressing breast milk can play a crucial role in a mother’s breastfeeding journey, offering flexibility and support for various situations. Whether returning to work, alleviating engorgement, or ensuring a consistent milk supply, expressing breast milk provides numerous benefits for both mother and baby.

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Why You May Need To Express Milk

From facilitating bonding between caregivers and the baby to overcoming medical challenges, the ability to express breast milk offers a range of solutions to accommodate diverse breastfeeding needs. Below are some key reasons why expressing breast milk may be necessary or beneficial.

• Returning to work: Expressing breast milk allows working mothers to continue providing breast milk for their baby while they are away.
• Milk supply regulation: Expressing milk helps regulate milk supply, ensuring an adequate amount for the baby’s needs.
• Engorgement relief: Expressing milk can alleviate discomfort from engorgement, especially in the early days of breastfeeding.
• Nursing challenges: Expressing milk can be helpful if the baby has difficulty latching or feeding directly from the breast.
• Milk storage: Expressed breast milk can be stored for later use, providing convenience for feeding when the mother is unavailable.
• Bonding with the baby: Other caregivers, such as partners or family members, can feed the baby with expressed breast milk, promoting bonding and involvement.
• Medical reasons: Some medical conditions may require mothers to express breast milk, such as mastitis or inverted nipples.
• Milk donation: Expressed breast milk can be donated to milk banks to help babies in need, particularly premature infants or those with health issues.

Self Expressing Breast Milk

You may find it easier to express milk by hand than to use a pump, especially in the first few days. It also means you won’t have to buy or borrow a pump.

The following suggestions may help:

1. Before you start, wash your hands thoroughly with soap and warm water, and gently massage your breast;
2. Cup your breast just behind your areola (the darker part of your breast);
3. Squeeze gently, using your thumb and the rest of your fingers in a C shape. This shouldn’t hurt (don’t squeeze the nipple directly as you’ll make it sore and unable to express);
4. Release the pressure then repeat, building up a rhythm. Try not to slide your fingers over the skin. At first, only drops will appear, but keep going as this will help to build up your milk supply. With practice and a little time, milk may flow freely;
5. When no more drops come out, move your fingers round and try a different section of your breast, and repeat;
6. When the flow slows down, swap to the other breast;
7. Keep changing breasts until the milk drips very slowly or stops altogether;
8. If the milk doesn’t flow, try moving your fingers slightly towards the nipple or further away, or give the breast a gentle massage; and
9. Hold a sterilized feeding bottle or container below your breast to catch the milk as it flows.

Expressing With A Pump

Different pumps suit different women, so ask for advice or see if you can try one before you buy it. Always make sure that the container or pump is clean and has been sterilized before you use it.

Click here for information on electric vs manual breast pumps.

Tips For Expressing Milk Effectively

1. Start by massaging breasts before you express – it helps to stimulate let down;
2. Some moms keep photos or videos of baby on their phones to look at while they pump to help a let down. It also helps to smell something that your baby has worn. A warm wet compress on breast may also help;
3. Make sure pump is warm. An ice cold pump will not help;
4. Lubricate the pump with some breast milk;
5. Pump slowly at first till let down comes, then pump stronger faster;
6. Massage breasts while u pump as it helps stimulate the different milk ducts;
7. Move pump around so it also stimulates different ducts to release milk;
8. Take a break midway and massage your breasts to help increase milk yield; and
9. Another good tip is to pump while you feed baby on the other side.

The number of times you pump is up to you depending on your supply and need. If your supply seems to drop add in another session for a day or 2. After each session do hand expressions too. It’s great for increased stimulation. It is more effective to pump 5 min every hour than 40 min twice a day (if you are looking to increase your supply).

If let down is not triggered during pumping, mom will only be able to express the little milk behind the nipples. This is not an indication of low milk supply, but rather inability to stimulate the let down reflex. The letdown usually occurs many times during a feeding or while pumping.

Some Suggestions For Stimulating The Let Down

• Let down can be psychologically conditioned as well as physically stimulated. For example, some mothers let down when they hear baby cry or even just thinking of baby;
• The sensations of pumping and hand expressing are not the same as baby sucking and so especially at first the mother may need to encourage her let down, using some of the following methods of physical and psychological stimulation;
• Express in a familiar and comfortable setting. A place that allows mom to relax her whole body;
• Pumping arm to rest on a pillow;
• Familiar routines and settings help mom relax and act as psychological triggers to aid let down;
• Minimize distractions: Phone off, relaxing music on, glass of water juice ready, snack, something to read. This will allow mom to relax and concentrate on expressing;
• If you are not at home try find a private setting, where you will not worry about interruptions;
• Follow a pre expression ritual;
• Apply heat to breasts (moist or dry);
• Warmth is comforting so a blanket around your shoulders or sit near source of heat;
• Gently massage the breasts, this especially helps if mom is feeling tense;
• Stimulate nipples by gently rolling or rubbing them;
• Relax for 5 minutes, doing childbirth breathing exercises or imagining a beach with lapping waves, or mountain stream etc;
• If mom is away from baby a phone call to see how baby is doing may help put her in a good frame of mind;
• Use a rhythmic motion while expressing to mimic baby’s sucking;
• Try to mimic how your baby feeds – watch him closely when he feeds to see how he stimulates the let down;
• Focus all your senses on the baby; imagine baby is close to you and sucking and cuddling with you;
• Physical reminders may help: a photo to look at, tape recording of baby’s voice, feel and smell a clothing item of baby or a blanket;
• If baby is close by, express while baby feeds on other side; and
• Interrupt milk expression several times to massage breast – this will help stimulate several let downs during one session.

Rather than spending 10 minutes on each breast, the let down is stimulated more effectively by expressing on each breast until the milk flow decreases and then switching to the other breast repeating this several times until 20 or 30 minutes has passed.

A great place to get support, advice and suggestions regarding breastfeeding and expressing is the La Leche League.

Do you have any more suggestions for expressing milk?