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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

Anyone bottle fed from birth?

70 replies

artyjoe · 02/09/2004 18:34

I can't seem to find any threads of people who have only bottle fed and not breastfed...are there any mums out there who decided not to breastfeed before baby was even born?

If so, have you encountered any problems?
Are there special formulas designed especially for new borns?

Any information would be really appreciated.

Thanks - Joe

OP posts:

MummyToSteven · 04/09/2004 22:44

Julie F - did you purely express and cup feed until feeding was established, or did you bf and then express and cup feed afterwards? If you bfed, expessed and cup fed, then it would have been amazingly exhausting for you. I just couldn't cope with bfing, expressing and cup feeding.

JulieF · 04/09/2004 22:52

I offered the breast at each feed apart from a couple of days when it stressed us both out so much we thought it was best to give it a break.

Ds started off fighting and getting hysterical every time I put him to the breast. It was a long process first to get him to be near the breast happily, then to attempt to latch him on and finally to try and get him to suck. We had lots of skin to skin and doing things like dripping ebm doen my breast into his mouth. For a couple of weeks he would sort of feed, but he wasn't feeding effeectivly so I still had to carry on expressing.

Yes it was bl88dy hard, I almost gave up several times and there is no way on earth I could tell someone else that they should put themselves through that but I am so glad 7 months down the line that I did and the info and support should be available for those that want to.

MummyToSteven · 04/09/2004 22:55

JulieF, i take my hat off to you! that fighting hysterically, kicking and screaming thing sounds so familiar

tex111 · 05/09/2004 08:36

I tried to breastfeed DS but it only lasted about 3 weeks. I was given bottles to 'top him up' in the hospital as he never seemed satisfied with just the breast. Looking back, I guess that probably didn't help me to establish my milk. I had a lot of help with the breastfeeding but it was a real struggle, lots of bloody nipples (DS was actually throwing up my blood because his tummy couldn't digest it which was just awful), mastitis, etc. In the end my Health Visitor suggested I give it up and it was a huuuuuge relief. I was getting so stressed about it all. I did feel guilty for about half a minute but I realised that, for us, giving it up at that point was what was best overall.

I think, as well, it takes a certain temperament to breastfeed successfully. I didn't like being the only person who could feed DS. DH was more than willing to do night feeds but even if he did one with expressed milk I would still wake up engorged and have to pump. I needed more than a couple of hours sleep at a time and I was ready to have my body back.

I'll definitely try it again next time. Maybe it'll be easier and maybe I'll feel differently but I'll feel fine if it doesn't work out again.

We tried using some special nursing bottles with plastic baggies from the States made by Playtex but DS preferred good old Avent with 2-holed teats. He had SMA Gold in the hospital so we just continued that at home.

hercules · 05/09/2004 08:40

Good post JulieF. My cousin in law wanted to bf but after a cs let mw give formula. Lack of staffing etc meant she got no help and ended up only bottlefeeding in the 5 days she was in hospital.
When she came home she started to express milk and gave this in a bottle as well as formula. She did this for a few weeks until just sticking with formula.
She was concerned about people taking baby to feed so she insisted in doing all the bottle feeds herself.

mears · 05/09/2004 21:40

Have you gone artyjoe?

MummyToSteven · 05/09/2004 21:50

artyjoe - sorry for hijacking your thread!

eidsvold · 17/09/2004 04:10

I did although tbf dd was fed by tube first, and then bottles... she did have some breast milk for the first little while but needed topping up and so we used aptamil - first stage... blue carton... For dd I tried expressing but with her in SCBU - not really ideal for getting milk going...

used tommee tippe bottles that indicate whether formula is too hot, used the tommee tippee cold water/microwave steriliser.

Am intending to bottle feed from birth no2 - may try and do it with expressed breast milk to start with .... and so now having to look for other brands of formulas and bottles etc as we have moved to Aus.

And to whomever asked - dh shared the feeds... especially as we had to do four hourly feeds at the start and then after her surgery she had set feeds and dh did more than his fair share....

Find it interesting in our antenatal class info pack there is nothing about bottle feeding - not bothered as been there, done that but thought it was a little lopsided - not presenting all the facts.....

mears · 17/09/2004 15:44

Interested why you are going to bottlefeed from birth Eidsfold?

eidsvold · 19/09/2004 10:00

2yo dd with special needs - will try and express milk for babe to have in a bottle but it just is not workable for babe to be breastfed.. dd needs a lot of help.

eidsvold · 19/09/2004 10:01

oops posted before I had finished - in a number of areas... so it would be difficult tied to breastfeeding babe whilst trying to help dd do her daily therapy etc. Also means dh can help.

eidsvold · 19/09/2004 10:10

would love to breastfeed new babe but just don't see how it can be practical.... but am open to any suggestions.

wordgirl · 19/09/2004 10:39

You could give it a go eidsvold - it may turn out to be easier than you think and I should imagine bottle-feeding can be pretty time consuming too. And your dh could help by doing everything that doesn't involve feeding ie. all the nappy changes, winding etc. Can't be bad If bf doesn't work out you can always switch to bottles but you can't do it the other way round.

hercules · 19/09/2004 11:53

It is possible to feed in a sling. I've gone shopping, washed up etc whilst bf.

mears · 19/09/2004 12:22

You could always try B/F and see how you get on. The beauty about it is you can interrupt feeds without worrying about milk going cold etc. I had 3 children under 5yrs and found that breastfeeding meant I could just pop baby on and off breast as the situation dictated - I know they were not special needs but they were demanding at that age. I had 1 at playgroup in the morning and 1 at nursery in the afternoon. I always seemed to be heading somewhere and poor DS3 got fed when I had the chance. Same with DD1 (baby no.4)
Expressing can be more time consuming that feeding IMO - if you can mange to do both that would be great (I expressed for a SCBU with babe no.4) but if not you could mix feed.
Breastfeeding is not necessarly more time consuming than bottlefeeding. Some babies B/F much faster than a bottlefed baby once milk is established. HTH.

tamum · 19/09/2004 12:26

I can see why you're concerned eidsvold, but mightn't it be worth trying breastfeeding to start with, at least? I would have thought the combination of expressing and then giving it to the baby by bottle would have been far more time-consuming than breastfeeding, especially when you factor in sterilising. The other thing to bear in mind (and then I'll stop with unwanted advice, honest ) is that although newborn babies can take a lot of time to breastfeed, older ones are pretty quick. I can see that if your dh was going to do all the sterilising and feeding that would free your time for dd, but then he could presumably help with your dd instead?

Sorry, I'm turning into a right nag here

tamum · 19/09/2004 12:27

Sorry, took me so long to type that mears popped in and said it better.

eidsvold · 19/09/2004 13:03

thanks for the ideas and support.. just not sure how hard it is going to be - dh working full time and he is brilliant with dd - but still means I am with them from 7am to 5 - 6pm. HE may not be able to get paternity leave as he has just started a new job..... will jsut see how I get on. Just figured it would be easier to make up feeds each night and then use them during the day as I need them....

Oh well time will tell.

JulieF · 19/09/2004 22:38

Eidsvold, having expressed for a baby who just wouldn't latch on I would say that is far harder to do than breastfeeding.

I also bottlefed my 1st child and once ds had learned how to breastfeed it was so much easier.

geekgrrl · 20/09/2004 10:29

eidsvold, also don't want to pester you, but breastfeeding is so easy when you've got other kids. You've got one hand free (once you get the knack of it) to do other stuff, like read a book, it's always there at the right temperature and sterile whenever you need it.
I guess the main problem when you've got an older child is sitting down to feed the baby, but you have to do that anyway whether it's from a breast or a bottle.
I've never bottle fed but when dd was tube fed I got a taste of making up formula, sterilising etc and couldn't believe what a total faff it was compared to just sticking baby on boob and getting on with other stuff, and that didn't even include sitting there waiting for her to finish drinking.

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