Hospital feeds

[Strawberries4days]

I'm only 28 weeks pregnant but I like to be prepared as much as possible. I've written down a short list of what to pack for going to hospital when the time comes.
I was wondering about the mums who just use formula feeds, what did you bring? Do you bring a sterilised bottle and a small tub of formula or does the hospital provide it for you? This would be the same for pumping, would you need to bring your own breast pump and bottles?
I've not decided to either do combi feed or just formula feed as of yet but I do know that I don't want to BF as I want DH to be involved with the feeding too. I'm just trying to get as much information as possible!
Thank you x

[F1rstt1imer]

I’d made the decision to formula feed my DD and took small bottles of ready made formula and sterilised tears as my hospital wont supply formula if you’ve made the decision to FF. I think I bought a box of six from boots

[Bobbybobbins]

The hospital asked us to take in a kind of 'starter pack' in case we needed it. You can get them from supermarkets - they are basically several little bottles of formula with pre-sterilised teets. Although I did bfeed we ended up using them to top up til my milk came in properly on day 3.

[Rainy88]

I was thinking of getting one of those starter kits with the pre-made bottles - how quickly do you get through them? Is one pack enough?

[RyvitaBrevis]

Hospitals usually have hospital-grade breast pumps and will provide the kit to go with them in the event you need to pump.

Hopefully you won't need to pump; if everything is going well with breastfeeding it's something you would only start trying several weeks in (some would say don't pump before 6 weeks). But if things are very difficult at the beginning and you want to keep trying with breastfeeding, then pumping can be a way of ensuring your milk does come in while you start off on formula.

If you are definitely planning to breastfeed and don't bring formula, the hospital should provide formula if things then go pear-shaped. (Some people say that if you bring formula as a backup, you're more likely to give up on BFing.)

If you are definitely planning to use formula, then you should bring formula and come prepared with bottles, teats and formula. If you do this, start off with the ready mixed bottles for hospital to make life easier. The hospital should provide the Milton sterilising solution you need, a tub etc.

[Strawberries4days]

That's great, I think I'll look into the starter pack thanks everyone!

[Bobbybobbins]

@Rainy88 we only used 1 pack at the hospital then 1 at home then my milk came in. My DS2 was also constantly on the boob.