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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

Stupid Questions From Mum-to-Be

33 replies

CupcakesHay · 29/07/2010 13:59

Hello

I'm not due til late Jan - so am pondering random things at moment. It's going to be my first time too... which is probably why you'll all look at my question and be.. doh!

Anyhow I'm planning to BF - what do I use the breast pump for/bottles for? How many bottles will I need to get?

Sorry - i just figured - beofre becoming pregnant - that you just breast fed and that was it - but not realise it's all a bit more complicated than i thought.

Thanks, in advance for the advice.
H x

OP posts:

thisisyesterday · 29/07/2010 14:01

if you're planning on breastfeeding there's no need to get any bottles or pump IMO

wait and see how it goes. if you do run into difficulties and need to pump then i would advise hiring one from the NCT because they'll have nice hospital grade ones which are far more efficient

Soapsy · 29/07/2010 14:03

You only need a pump and bottles if you want to be able to express milk and leave the baby with someone else for a little while. It's not compulsory. If it's only for an occasional bottle, you probably won't need more than a couple of them, but you will also need a steriliser etc.

ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 29/07/2010 14:04

I too didn't have bottle or pump before DD was born. I got them after a week or so when the midwife told me too, because she thought I wouldn't be able to keep bfing (nipple"trauma") - she was wrong. Problem with bottles/pumps etc is that you need to sterilise and I BF because I am lazy

Jojay · 29/07/2010 14:05

It can be as complicated or as uncomplicated as you like.

Many people get by with nothing more than a pair of boobs, but even then you will need nursing bras and breast pads.

Even if you are planning to breastfeed, some people like to have the back up a bottle of formula and a steriliser to hand in case bfing doesn't work out.

Some breastfeeders like to express milk and feed it to their babies in a bottle, so that they can leave the baby with someone else once in a while, in which case you'll need a pump, bottles and a steriliser.

My advice, if you are intending to breast feed, ot just buy nursing bras and breast pads to begin with.

In this age of 24 hr supermarkets, bottles and formula are never far away but it's pointless to sepnd money on kit you may not use.

Congrats on your pregnancy and best of luck

RhinestoneCowgirl · 29/07/2010 14:06

It's up to you, some people like to get bottles and pump in 'just in case', but I chose not to - in the first couple of weeks I wanted to concentrate on learning how to do it without stressing about pumping or sterilising.

Remember you can ask your midwife to show you how to hand express (no pump needed), and also that the shops will be open after your baby is born so that you can get someone to go out and get you stuff if you need it.

Congrats on your pregnancy, you'll get lots of good advice here, I've always found it helpful.

Original poster

CupcakesHay · 29/07/2010 14:34

Wow. That's great - i hadn't really thought about leaving it and seeing if i need it!

I've done investiagting, and have decided which one I want, but, yeah would def be cheaper if I can do without. Thanks everyone!

OP posts:

muddleduck · 29/07/2010 14:42

fwiw, I think that is a really good strategy for lots of the baby stuff... look around now so you know what is available and then wait and see if you actually need it.

IME people get stuck in this mindset of needing to buy everything ahead of time but actually apart from a carseat and somewhere for the baby to sleep there is very little that you need from day1.

DilysPrice · 29/07/2010 14:43

I dunno - there are a fair number of "emergency" situations that might require you to express, and you may not be able to drive or walk far, so it might be good to have a hand pump available and a couple of bottles, and to be familiar with its use. It partly depends on your situation - if you have a branch of Mothercare pretty nearby, or a big Boots or mega Tesco and they open 7 days, then you'll probably be fine.

I used my pumps all the time with DD but I don't think I used them once with DS.

LouAnnVanHouten · 29/07/2010 14:51

I would wait and see wrt pump and bottles but I would buy lansinoh nipple cream in advance. I would recommend reading the politics of breastfeeding which really helped me bf my third after struggling with my first two.

Morloth · 29/07/2010 15:00

Yes, get some lansinoh cream and use it even if you don't seem to need to, a pre-emptive moisturise.

I only pump a bottle a week so I can have a couple of hours off on a Saturday afternoon/evening.

Didn't even bother trying with that until they were 6 weeks. I use an Avent Isis manual pump and the bottles that come with that along with a pack of two that I bought. Is plenty.

MumNWLondon · 29/07/2010 19:52

No its not more complicated! No need for pumps and bottles unless you are planning to leave your baby for more than 3 hours with someone else. I have a cheap avent hand pump as its for very occasional use.

My sister successfully BF her three children until 6 months each without ever having a breastpump. You can go out without the baby just fed before you go, as long as you can get back reasonably quickly if need be.

You do need to buy bras (recommend buying sleep ones to start with and then getting measured for proper ones once the baby is a couple of weeks old) also good to have breastpads. Others say lansinoh but I have never needed.

NowWhatIsit · 29/07/2010 19:57

Breasts + bras is all you need! Make sure you get help with latching babe on in beginning until you are confident.

undercovamutha · 29/07/2010 20:11

Defo get breast pads, and a comfy sleep bra, as well as a comfy bfing bra(s).

Bottles are not expensive and will probably come in handy later (I used them when DS was older, with boiled water during v v v hot summer), and a steriliser can be useful to sterilise dummy's IME, even if you don't use it for bottles.

MoonFaceMama · 30/07/2010 09:50

I wouldn't bother. It's best not to introduce a bottle (ditto dummy) for the first few weeks anyway as the way a baby feeds from a bottle teat is very different from how they feed from a human teat(!). Each technique has to be learnt and it's best if at all possible to wait till bf is propely established before introducing a bottle. This is known as nipple confusion and there will be threads on here about it, or you can check out kellymom.com which is a great resource (sorry can't link as on phone).

I haven't bothered with a bottle for ds as it seems an unnecessary expense and faff, though i have just begun expressing to donate. Rather than cluttering up the house with a sterilisor (lets face it, babies bring enough "stuff") i've been boiling the pump in a pan of water for five mins as per the instructions it came with. I imagine you can boil bottles too (check!) and you may want to consider this if you do use an occasional bottle.

Good luck!

Ineedsomesleep · 30/07/2010 14:21

Cupcakeshay, yes you are right, you do just bf and thats it.

You don't have to express, I always found it to be too much of a faff. It was much easire for me just to take the baby with me than express and leave it with someone else.

I did buy an Ameda Lactaline 2nd hand though after DC2 was born and that was brilliant but didn't use it much. And if you are bfing, what do you want bottles for?

Most people live near a Supermarket which will be open 24 hours a day so if you need bottles just get them when you need them.

If you really want to express have a look at expressing by hand

Dilysprice what are the emergency situations that you have to express in? Can't think what you mean.

BertieBotts · 30/07/2010 17:18

If you need to express and it's that much of an emergency though, you'll either still be in hospital (meaning you can use the hospital pumps) or you can hand express.

porcamiseria · 31/07/2010 19:04

dont do what I did and spend 100 quid on the whole avent malerkey!

where expressing can help is:

you want a night out, pump and leave with DH/DP etc
you want to have a drink (or 2, or 3...)
you are going soemwere that you really dont feel comfortable about BF

so dont rule it out

I did fine with the hand avent pump as had OK milk supply

but no rush, it can wait!!

DilysPrice · 31/07/2010 19:19

The main emergency I was thinking about would be if you had to be put on medication that prevented you bf-ing- you'd need to express if you wanted to resume once you were off the drugs. Or you could be called away for family emergency, or (heaven forbid) DC could be taken ill and unable to bf for a while, or one nipple could be so badly chewed that you can't feed on it.

Oh dear, I'm spreading doom and gloom here - each possibility is unlikely in itself, or at least unlikely to happen in a situation when you can't send someone to Mothercare, but they do all happen - I wouldn't say that there's a cast iron case for getting a pump for this reason, but it's worth considering.

Hand expressing is always a possibility, as it is for simple engorgement, but a hand pump is a better way to retain your supply if you're temporarily unable to bf (and better for engorgement if you're not at home as much less messy).

AngelDog · 31/07/2010 20:20

Some good advice here. I would definitely recommend getting a tube of Lansinoh and a sleep bra (I had mine from JoJo Maman Bebe).

I have 2 breast pumps and about million bottles. DS has had a bottle 3 times in his life (now 7 months) and I gave up expressing 4 months ago as I found it much less hassle to keep DS with me and breastfeed him than to faff with expressing. But I have lots of friends who've found pumps really useful.

On the issue of drinking, Kellymom says that 1-2 alcoholic drinks are fine whilst breastfeeding.

Kellymom is a fantastic site and is well worth reading. It is a really good idea to read around issues before your baby arrives (I wish I'd done that more with bf). However, some of it won't seem to make a lot of sense until you're actually doing it! I spent hours on here during feeds in the first couple of months of DS's life.

Ineedsomesleep · 01/08/2010 07:35

Sorry Dilys didn't think of the medication thing and as for chewed nipples, I've never had any problems with mine luckily.

Kathyjelly · 01/08/2010 07:42

Don't worry about buying a steriliser either. If you have a dishwasher, the 70 degree cycle sterlises the bottles and if you haven't, just wash them as normal and then dip them in a saucepan of boiling water.

BaggedandTagged · 01/08/2010 07:52

........or you can buy these microwave bags which you stick the bottles in and then put in the microwave to sterlise. Cheaper and less space-consuming than a steam sterliser if it's just for the occasional expressed bottle.

MmeRedWhiteandBlueberry · 01/08/2010 07:57

OP, you don't need any bottles, pumps, sterilisers.

Certainly, don't buy them until you actually do need them. You don't need to have bottle feeding paraphenalia 'just in case'. If you do need to leave your baby at some point, you can buy bottles from almost anywhere and there are plenty of late night/24 hour shops nowadays.

Sometimes you need a little bit of expressed breast milk when you are starting solids (eg to thin out a puree) and you can do this amount of expressing by hand.

Breastfeeding is not complicated, but the formula companies want you to think it is and knock your confidence even at this early stage.

PaulineCampbellJones · 01/08/2010 08:02

I would get one or two bottles just in case you need them in the first week or so. But would really leave buying an expensive pump until you know how you are getting on. You won't want to express for a bottle straight away anyway.
I did a panic buy of a very expensive pump and then EBayed it as I never used it. Just hand expressed.
Congratulations and hope you enjoy the rest of your pregnancy!

MmeRedWhiteandBlueberry · 01/08/2010 08:03

Why would a breastfeeder need bottles in the first week, pp?

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