AIBU to not follow new guidelines?

[LittleSugaPlum]

Im pregnant with first baby and im almost 33 weeks.
I plan to bottle feed and have brought all the equipment already.

When i was a nursery nurse, around 5 years ago, it was common to "bulk make bottles" and store them in the fridge for upto 24hours.

When i mentioned to my midwife that i was bottlefeeding, she mentioned that the new guidelines were to make up a feed when needed and its not recommended to "bulk make feeds"

Have people honestly stopped doing this? Do people actually only make one feed at a time?

Im seriously considering bulk making, if it was fine for years, whats the difference now?

AIBU to not follow the new guidelines?

My mates(multiple) breastfed babies had tummy bugs lots whereas my ff baby never got a tummy bug until she was a year and almost fully weaned. I'm more inclined to believe tummy bugs are probably more viral.

Yes, Belly. But that is anecdotal evidence. The benefits of breastfeeding are supported by actual science.

Why is anyone on this forum unable to ask a simple question about FF without having to justify WHY they FF in the first place?

The OP should not be having to justify her choices BEFORE she can ask for advice!

It's irrelevant and also fucking rude to ignore the original question and just bang on about FF v BF imo.

I'm not saying the benefits of breastfeeding aren't proven but stupid comments about babies having tummy bugs being because of incorrectly prepared bottles need correcting. Yes some babies will have had upset tummies and I'm sure have been hospitalised because someone didn't prepare a bottle properly. But not all tummy bugs are bottle related and aren't confined to babies who are bottle fed either.

LittleSugaPlum

This isn't my experience, it's a friends. She seemed to produce loads of milk so expressed it and froze it. She would breast feed in the house but take bottles of breast milk with her when she went out, and her husband could take the night shift.

Just a thought. And I know it is unconventional, and not everyone can do it that way.

Sorry I can't help, good luck with your daughter.

Rose you need to walk in another persons shoes before your so judgemental.

For example - going out and about. If op or anyone else felt that anxious about going out that they became isolated and stayed at home that's really not detrimental to them or the baby.

Being rude and judgemental helps nobody.

So I don't think your brave, I think your misguided.

Brave? Pah.
Just pushing your own agenda when it was unwanted and none of your business.

"IMO if you don't at least try breast feeding, then you are putting yourself before the needs of your child. You are putting your husband's wish to bond (mine is bonded, they love him, he did everything else while I did the feeding) before your baby's needs. You are putting your desire to go out and about before your baby's needs. You are also putting your squeamishness and body consciousness before your baby's needs."

People put their needs above their babies' needs every day in many ways. Shockingly, this is not illegal.

It's disingenuous to pretend that mothers who BF automatically put their babies' needs above their own; conversely, it is absurd to suggest that FF mothers do the opposite.

One of the reasons I wanted to try bfing was because of the reduced breast cancer risk, so that was putting me before baby, though baby did come first and she was ffed. This time I've had medical advice my milk probably won't be up to scratch so will be FFing again, thereby putting baby's needs above my own reasons for noting to bf.

Not everything is cut and dry in reality.

cakebump the OP justified her decision before she was asked, and if you've read more than the last page you might see that her decision is based on inaccurate assumptions.

You're in the minority of posters who are bangin on about ff v bf and being rude.

I know I've joined late, but I read it all.

I have to say , its impossible to know what you will do until you have at least tried to BB.

As a first time Mother op has made all her decisions through an internet forum that can't be helpful...to anyone

Why should she justify not wanting to

I won't be with a second child either. It's no ones business to try and pressure her is wrong.

You wanted to try it and enjoyed it. Good for you, go and enjoy it and stop going on about it, because it's not for everyone

Are you talking to me?

hahahaha yeah ok :)

I think if the OP has felt she has to justify her decision, then it is because posters on this topic expect others to jump down their throats at the mere mention of how they feed their babies.

I also notice that the op didn't post on the Bf/Ff threads but on AIBU instead.
Probably because she wanted to hide from the Bf zealots.
Ah, you can hide but never escape.
They have a nose for these things.

LittleSuga I used to make up bulk feeds 8 at a time at night with water absolutely boiling then cooled quickly in ice cold water then refrigerate for up to 24 hours. I had a chart with the times feeds were made up and also when the steriliser water tank needed to be changed [ I was obsessed with cleanliness and not exceeding the times specified on my chart].

Who wants the stress of a crying hungry newborn and having to wait for the kettle to boil then cool down before feeding. I'm sure all will be well.

OP never mentioned in her first post why she wasn't bfing just that she was FFing. Also, she's mentioned reasons other than the forum for her choices. Several times. She never should have felt like she had to do this nor should she be told shes wrong for her choice.

OP gave her reasons for not BFing as a response to a chirpy 'why not give BFing a go?' on page one.

She shouldn't have been asked, and she shouldn't have answered.

the op has said she is ff.

natural you say she wasnt asked but within the first few replies on the first page someone rose i think? mentioned bfeeding. which probably made the op feel like she should explain/justify her decision.

whether or not people think her decisions are bad/misinformed is neither here nor there. as she is able to get online and post this question i would hazard a guess she could look up a wealth of bfeeding info if she so wanted.

she asked for ff advice and instead gets people telling her she will feel different when the baby is born and should give it a go. that she is selfish and not doing the best for her baby.

why on threads like this do you get people pushing bfeeding? she is asking fir advice on ff.

oh i have over 9yrs of breastfeeding experience personally btw. i think it can be great and lovely and yes it is healthier for mum and baby. i still respect the fact that people may choose not to bfeed.

give bfeeding info advice to tjose asking for it. or get involved in supporting mums that want to bfeed and need help rather than crusading to change someones mind when they ask for advice on.

its tedious and it is why people talk of the bfeeding bullies and advice being pushed at them.

I was on the thread at the beginning and then missed all the fun. Just want to observe that women are continually reminded on these boards that they should have 100 percent control over their bodies, that no one else should coerce them to do anything with it they don't to.

Yet over and over women are attacked for choosing not to or being unable to breastfeed.

The scientific evidence supporting bf over ff is so slim, and negligible on health outcomes. Other arguments on ease and bonding also fall flat for many women. So why does this have to be such a divisive issue, when it will mean almost nothing in the grand scheme of raising a child?

I don't want to throw a spanner in the works but here in France we make up bottles using Evian water.

Not boiled/cooled/flash cooled etc. etc. Just Evian water + right amount of powder. Some mums then warm the bottle but I only know one who has done that. All the others just give it to the baby at room temperature.

The bottle can be used in the 30 minutes that follow.

On the sides of the milk boxes we are told to use Evian "or another suitable mineral water for babies" (i.e. not all mineral water is suitable for babies. I only know that Evian and Volvic are.)

I can't comment on the safety of this, just that it's what everyone does and I've been doing it for DS since we introduced a bottle a day at 6 months when I went back to work. I don't know what I would have done for a younger baby though - follow UK or French guidelines???!!! (probably French as they're a lot simpler!)

We took dd to France when she was 5 months and I was concerned about the FFing. I remember reading that the reason people made up with Evian was something to do with how water is supplied into homes not being the same standard as uk has so Evian is safer. Not sure how true that is btw. We decided bringing cartons was just easier, but that was a holiday not living there so can't comment in that regard!

Well I've certainly learnt something new today so thanks for starting the thread OP! I planned on BF my DD but she just wouldn't latch on so I ended up expressing what I could and topping up with formula.

At the time (2008) the guidelines were to make the bottles up one at a time, as they were needed but my DD was feeding every 40mins so it just wasn't practical to wait for the bottle to cool down before feeding, so I used to measure the water up in the bottles and put in the fridge and then add the powder when needed. It never really occurred to me that the powder wouldn't be sterile and I thought the risk was when the bottle was actually made. Obviously I was wrong and feel really bad about it now!

I'm preg again and will prob make 2 or 3 bottles up at a time for the day, but could someone clarify for me, when it comes to night feeds, if you take the cold bottle out of the fridge and leave at room temp to use in the night is that a no no? I presume buying the ready made stuff for the night will be the best?

Another thing (and I'm not getting into the BF/FF debate) surely your boobs aren't sterile and pose some sort of risk or am I just being thick!?

the bacteria grow more quickly at room temperature.
but you could use a wine cooler or one of those mini-can fridges in your room

For night feeds we had a big water tank thing that we would fill with boiling water and let cool down. I'd also have some cooled boiled water in case it was still too hot. You could also have a kettle upstairs to mix with cooled water.