Having trouble expressing

[onelasttime]

I'm back at work for one day a week for 7 hrs. And I"m having so much trouble expressing. I can only express up to 100mL - that's if I'm lucky, usually I can make it to 50mL. She usually drinks alot more than this, and I express 4 bottles - even this is difficult to do.
Today I had four bottles of 75mL - 100mL and she drank it all.

I'm getting a bit worried now cause I cant express her demands, so I was wondering if I could start to wean her off by giving her one bottle of formula / day? Maybe continue with this for a few more months and the increase to two. My goal is to stop BF when she turns 1.

Does this sound like a good plan?? How did you wean your child of breastmilk?

Any info would be tops

[bronny-jane]

have you only started expressing recently?
when i first started it could take 45 mins just to get 60mls if that, it would take me a day to get enough for 1 storage cup, but i had a go again the other day, got 120mls... i thought that was good, but yesterday i got 190mls in 15 mins, and just a few mins ago i got 140mls from one breast.. im so happy.... what works for me, is to relax, not think about "how much will i get out"

i really fill up the bottle when "let down" happens, it just streams out so fast now, have you tried expressing while feeding bub, i know ds gets let down faster then the pump does, expressing when your breasts are full, and some people say to look at your baby, or a photo of them to help let down happen... but for me just reading he words "let down" can get me flowing.. even seeing another baby feeding, or just sucking on its thumb... when im relaxed it flows so freely....

if you have only started recently it might take some time to get the hang of expressing as well...

do you use a pump or hand?

i use a manual advent isis, but i take off the petal silicone part, it doesnt seem to help me, when your expressing do you pump hard, or softly?

i get let down by doing small quick pumping action, like ds does when he first latches on...

as for the formula, its really your choice... if you think it'll work better, then maybe it will...

good luck.. and relax... i know its hard when you have a "quota" to fill on a daily basis.. i think that anxiousness itself has an effect on expressing...

[onelasttime]

Thanks for your relpy....I have tried all the suggestions. I have been expressing pretty much the whole 5 months.

I do it when I'm relaxed, I tried when I'm feeding her, and I do it for about 20 mins and still can't do more than 50-60mL. Even sometimes I get 25-30mL. I never get the feeling of being full anymore and I never have any let down, even during the night, so I'm thinking my supply is getting low. I'm going to make those cookies to see if they help before I try formula.