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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

Stupid questions on bottle feeding

14 replies

Sallypuss · 21/08/2008 15:23

Afternoon all

I'm expecting my first child in October and, for reasons I won't go into here, I intend to bottle feed from day 1 (please don't judge me on that).

Can someone please tell me what will happen with my mil supply i.e. will it start and stop of its own accord or will I have to take medication to stop the milk?

Also how much milk should I expect a newborn to be taking daily (bearing in mind that all babies differ)?

Thanks in advance

OP posts:
Original poster
Sallypuss · 21/08/2008 15:24

Sorry that should have read milk supply not MIL supply

OP posts:
hercules1 · 21/08/2008 15:25

You cant find out how much milk by reading the side of the tin. Sorry, dont know the answer to the other quesiton.

StealthPolarBear · 21/08/2008 15:26

Congratulations on your pregnancy

I'm don't think you get anything to dry up milk any more (side effects?) I'm afraid, presumably the advice is the same as anyone stopping, express tiny amounts to relieve engorgement.
Cabbage leaves really helped with engorgement I found, although they leave a lovely pattern on your breast and smelt funny

StealthPolarBear · 21/08/2008 15:26

Lol at your mother in law supply!

mumfor1standmaybe2ndtime · 21/08/2008 15:29

Have no idea about your milk as mine never came in (no not at all).
Depends on the size of your baby as to how often and how much they would feed. Probably applies to bf too I should imagine.

Ds would drink 3-4 oz of milk every 3-4 hours to start with. He would wake twice in the night about 11am then 2am. He was 9lb 120z at birth. He quickly went on to 5oz feeds and then took a whole 9oz bottle from a couple of months old.

You will soon learn as you go along how much milk they need to take and how much you need to reduce, it is a learning curve! And when you start weaning it starts all over again!

PuppyMonkey · 21/08/2008 15:32

Your boobs will kill for a few days, but they don't give you any med for it these days. Take paracetomol, that's what I was told.

As for amounts, start off with 2fl oz and see how you go! if s/he wants more, s/he'll soon tell you. I didn't breastfeed, but I still sort of fed on demand for those first few weeks and got some nice bonding in!

Good luck!

mumfor1standmaybe2ndtime · 21/08/2008 15:32

In response to comment about looking at the side of the tin - I didn't look at the tin. It is only a guide line. As I said, it depends on the baby to how much they need, you will learn as you start feeding if they need more. Also the tin states ages if I remember correctly and not size of baby - ds was bigger than 'average newborn'.

mumfor1standmaybe2ndtime · 21/08/2008 15:32

In response to comment about looking at the side of the tin - I didn't look at the tin. It is only a guide line. As I said, it depends on the baby to how much they need, you will learn as you start feeding if they need more. Also the tin states ages if I remember correctly and not size of baby - ds was bigger than 'average newborn'.

EyeballsintheSky · 21/08/2008 15:36

Hi Sally. Congrats firstly

I don't know about per day but DD was bottle fed from the start and they were aiming for her to take 30ml (1oz) at a feed for the first couple of days although she wouldn't take that much at all. We were lucky if we got 10mls down her. When she came out of hospital at 3 days old I was trying for 90mls (3oz) per feed. I only remember because I used Aptamil cartons and used to get two feeds out of each 200ml carton!

She was a very poor feeder at first though so that's only my experience. Yours might be a gannet!

lulumama · 21/08/2008 15:37

i would make sure you have the NHS leaflet on making up bottle feeds safely

go for the milk that is readily available in the all night garage, as you will run out at 2 am !! hipp organic is one of the cheapest despite being organic .

offer 2 - 3 oz to start, and feed responsively/ on demand

you can bottle feed like a breastfeed.. skin to skin, quiet and calm, focus on your baby and make eye contact.

best of luck!

tiktok · 21/08/2008 15:38

Sallypuss, medication can be given to stop milk, but this is so very rarely done these days (risks of unpleasant even dangerous side effects) and nature does the job well enough so no need for anything except comfort measures, normally.

Yes, milk supply starts (body assumes you're gonna breastfeed and puts all the gears in place) and you may be uncomfortable for a few days...not 'using' the milk sends the signal to the body to stop producing, and until that gets through loud and clear, wearing a really supportive bra will help. You may leak a bit, and in extreme cases, gentle hand expression (normally to comfort levels only) might be needed.

Formula feeding babies should be fed according to their cues, just like breastfed ones - so that means little and often, usually, from day one.

No one should judge you on how you feed your baby (as if!!!) - but I do need to say that sometimes, mothers are told they cannot breastfeed, for spurious reasons (such as medication which is supposedly incompatible with bf, and it turns out this is not the case). If you want to explore your options, then just say....but if not, then that's fine, too.

BouncingTurtle · 21/08/2008 17:08

It would usually take a few days for your milk to dry up, take paracetamol for the pain, cabbage leaves straight from the fridge is good.
Be warned - you may continue to leak for weeks afterwards - this happened to my friend, she wasn't able to bf, but still leaked for about 10 weeks! So get plenty of breast pads in
And to be honest - I would get some ready made stuff in, you'll be tired and sleep deprived, it'll be much quicker for you to feed the baby using ready made stuff and as I understand it, the NHS recommend you use ready made cartons for the first 2 months.
I would echo TikTok's sentiments, about exploring options, but if your mind is made up then that's absolutely fine - your baby, your choice.
Good luck and congratulations

lauraloola · 21/08/2008 18:33

I bottle feed my dd and have never breast fed her.

About 2 days after giving birth my boobs were massive and very hard - I felt like Jordan!!! They leaked and were very sore - I was also very emotional! My advice would be to get around 50 breast pads - I had thick ones from Boots that were fab. After about 5 days they were pretty much back to normal.

Dd was having around 2 oz's every 2/3 hours to start with. We had her on SMA Gold and bought some ready made in glass bottles with pre sterilized teats - Tesco sell them. We used them for a few days and then started making up small amounts.

We write down every feed - The time and the amount so that we know where dd is. I always forget otherwise! I have done it from day one and find it really useful if I want to check how much she drank the previous day.

Original poster
Sallypuss · 22/08/2008 16:39

Thanks all. Mumsnet is wonderful!

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