Colostrum Expressing Problems

Hey all! I’m 38 weeks and started expressing colostrum 5 days ago. It was going pretty well, got some drops almost immediately after first attempt, and ended up with half a syringe the day after! But now I’ve got nothing? The last two days it’s like I’ve completely dried up, and can spend an hour trying and failing to get even a single bead. I’m so confused and frustrated. Is it normal for things to flow so freely and then stop??

Show your support

Have you tried doing it in the bath/shower or popping a warm compress on it? That sometimes helps to express x

I agree with Julia, see if you can take a warm bath and get yourself into a relaxed state, your "girls" are more likely to produce colostrum when you're relaxed x

I had this issue too to start with! It will come! Some days I got a fair bit, others I got none at all. Just keep trying but make sure you're relaxed and not stressed. I used to do it in the bath sometimes, that helped. I also did it looking at her 4d scan- sounds mental but I read it triggers hormones which produces, like the body knows its for baby xx

Being relaxed, massaging gently and trying to express in different ways, holding your breast differently, etc… at least that’s what worked for me. Just trying different things until something worked. I ended up getting a few full syringes (like 8?) and used them all on the first day lol and my baby still lost some weight 😭 so yeah keep trying!

@Julia I haven’t tried that, but I absolutely will! Thank you so much!

@Sharna oh dang, seriously?! I’ll definitely give that a try, thank you so much!

Some days I got a lot and others I barely got any, don’t worry just keep trying everyday x

I wouldn't get too upset over this. I did not get even a drop of colostrum when I was pregnant but I ended up having a natural oversupply once I gave birth. How much colostrum you harvest doesn't correlate to your supply once you give birth - my midwife told me this and it was the case for me

Out of interest, do you then freeze the colostrum ? Do you put an expiry date on the syringe ? If so how long can you freeze ?

@Aamira yes freeze it. So like any breastmilk when frozen it's good for up to 6months I'd say, some people say 1yr. Yes it's best to write the date of when you collected the colostrum but remember, once defrosted you can't refreeze it so you need to use it up if it gets defrosted

Thanks @Maha would you just defrost it by placing syringe in boiling water then?

@Aamira since the syringe is small, you can just leave it out and I'll defrost by itself but yh you can do boiling water if you want it quicker ig

Thank you @Maha really helpful

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌