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Infant feeding

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

im going to bottle feed - what do i need to know? i bf my other 2 and i dont have a bloody clue!

7 replies

CurlyKiwiControl · 24/03/2013 11:25

:)just that really.

What do I need, how many bottles, ready made formula or not? When to feed, how to feed? What do I take to hospital? How much do newborns drink? How many bottles a day? Can I makev them up in advance?

Totally clueless and any advice apreciated :)

Oh, how did your bottle fed baby sleep?

OP posts:
stargirl1701 · 24/03/2013 11:29

6 bottles.

Ready made formula is sterile so less of a faff but more expensive.

Feed on demand - amount and frequency.

You should not make bottles up in advance.

DD slept better when bf than ff.

MajaBiene · 24/03/2013 11:31

All the instructions should be on the packet. Ready made is safer for a newborn as it is sterile - powdered milk isn't sterile and can harbour very dangerous bacteria, so it is important to make it up with very hot water (70+ degrees) and be scrupulous about hygiene.

As a rough guide, babies drink 2.5oz milk for every lb of body weight per 24 hours - so a 10lb baby will have around 25oz. Probably around 3 hourly, maybe more frequent at first but it is still best to feed on demand and to your baby's hunger.

Overfeeding is a risk with bottle feeding, so don't be tempted to "encourage" your baby to finish bottles or have the "right" amount.

The safest way to make bottles is to do each one fresh, with 70 degree water, cool to drinking temp and feed immediately. If you have to make bottles in advance make up with 70 degree water, flash cool and store at the back of the fridge - use them as soon as possible but never keep for longer than 24 hours.

CurlyKiwiControl · 24/03/2013 11:55

so basically as with bf really then? As and when. Any recomendations for formula? Or bottles?

Avent seems to be main one.

I saw SMa seemed to do a bottle of ready made formula U added teat to? Any good or will it be a waste?

And what do you have to take milk to hospital with you and all the associated paraphernalia

OP posts:
MajaBiene · 24/03/2013 11:59

Formula - go for something affordable and one that you can get at your nearest late-opening shop. Then it's just trial and error to find one that suits your baby. I think there's only one brand that is vegetarian if that is important to you, but I can't remember which.

2kidsintow · 24/03/2013 12:10

We did avent bottles. And cow and gate formula - the midwife actually suggested it. in a "I'm not allowed to suggest a formula, but lots of the Mums I know use the one with the animal and the gate and don't have any problems" lol.

I didn't take anything into hospital, they provided little bottles that were ready and disposable teats that you just screwed on. They gave us a handful and we took a few home too.

One thing is - as soon as you get home from hospital, make up your first batch of bottles (or get someone else to) - we happily went to bed knackered the first night home, to be woken by a hungry baby and the knowledge that we didn't have anything prepared.

When my DD was little the advice was not to make up bottles and refrigerate them and I went everywhere with bottles of cooled boiled water and a dispenser for the powder. All of us Mum's did it - apart from the Mum who made up a bottle hot, then kept it in an insulated container so it stayed warm until the baby wanted it!

Not one of us had any problems with babies getting sick from germs in the milk, but I suppose the risk must be there as they've since changed the advice.

Now they say make up each bottle with hot water, then cool it ready for baby to drink. So for when you are out and about you are going to need a dispenser for the powder, empty sterilised bottles, a flask of hot water (filled when boiling so as sterile as possible) some cold water and a jug to be able to cool the made up hot bottles. Phew.

Pre made formula is expensive, but for one offs (like when we went camping and didn't want to take absolutely everything with us) they can be useful.

2kidsintow · 24/03/2013 12:15

Change4Life Guide to Bottle Feeding 2900017 - NHS Choices

MajaBiene · 24/03/2013 12:25

Some babies did die from enterobacter in formula powder in 2005, which is when they changed the guidance.

Also, illnesses such as salmonella are rare but very serious in babies - I remember a mumsnetter posting about her young baby contracting salmonella from formula.

Also, formula fed babies are at a higher risk of D&V, and being admitted to hospital, mostly due to incorrect formula preparation, so although not fatal still something to be very cautious about.

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