Dimbo bottlefeeding questions

[FrannyandZooey]

Ok go slowly please. Don't really know what I am doing here. If I have a bottle of milk and he drinks some from it, how long before I have to chuck it away? I mean can he have a bit more from the same bottle a bit later on?

How do I warm it - running under the hot tap? The instructions on the pump say heat and shake it, but am I mistaken, or should you not shake breastmilk? I thought it did something funny to it.

When you sterilise the stuff in Milton's, do you rinse it afterwards?

The (mini Medela) pump packet says 'suitable with any bottle' but only actually seems to fit the narrow Medela bottle that comes with it. Can I buy more of these, or some other bottle that will fit? atm I am expressing into the Medela bottle and then transferring to a NUK bottle as I haven't got a teat for the Medela one.

NUK packet says replace teat every 1-2 months! Really? what about if only used occasionally?

How much (roughly) would you expect a 4 month old to have at one feed?

sorry, any and all answers gratefully received

You talking EBM Franny?

I warm EBM by standing in jug of hot water; then you test i on the inside of your wrist, if its too hot for your wrist then too hot for baby.

I rinse in boiling water.

I have the same pump, and do exactly the same as you, transfer to NUK bottle, or in a sterile bag (get from boots)i express the 5 oz the bottle takes, and if i can get more i just empty into sterile bag and then refill

Check the teat for signs of wear and tear, esp splits. I would go by what you see.

Roughly at 4 months dd who was exc bf had about 5 oz.

Not too sure about EBM times, but with formula its an hour.

I would prob chuck it away after about half an hour. but that is based on precisely nothing. just what i'd do.

you can warm it in a thing of hot water. you aren't supposed to microwave breastmilk however, I wouldn'tbe worried about microwaving it if it's a one off. it kills off good bacteria or something, but bearing in mind your baby is getting mainly BM straight from breast then one microwaved one isn't going to hurt.
you aren't supposed to shake because it breaks up the long chain fatty acids or something. a little swirl should do the trick. but as above, bearing in mind it's a one off it is maybe not as important than if you were exclusively pumping and feeding EBM iyswim?

I never sterilised anything, really no need. just clean stuff in really lovely hot water. if you do use miltons or whatever I would rinse with boiling water afterwards. I don't think you NEED to, but it alwayts smells so much,

you can buy narrow necked bottles in sainsburys, boots etc although they are not so popular these days, most are wide necked ones.

are the teats silicone? if so I wouldn't replace every 1-2 months, esp if only using occasionally. latex degrades over time, but I think silicone generally lasts longer.

ooh meant to say, try the freezer bags for the breastpump. the medela ones fit straight onto the pump and you can just chuck them into the freezer.

oh thanks all v useful

next question

how do i get the little bugger darling to drink it?

hang on....

he is making funny faces and looking as if we have gone mad

can someone else try?

cloth that smells of you, dimmed room, EBM, and you should try to stay out of room.

which way up is this NUK teat meant to go anyway? it in no way resembles my nipple

he is trying, he just doesn't get it
he can't understand he is meant to suck i don't think

I think Kellymom says room temperature EBM can be kept for 6-8 hours. Hang on...

hole at top of mouth

Millie took a while too, to get that she could 'latch' to it

Oh, 10 hours apparently

yeah but not sure that applies if baby has already drunk from the bottle??

the nuk teat goes with the flattest bit at the top, the bit with the hole in should be uppermost.

franny, if you find out the answer on how to get your DS to drink it, please share on here! I'm having the same problems as you!

ah but when he has already drunk some? is that not different?

at pump instructions say refrigerate immediately
and [sob] at hospital chucking all my lovely colostrum out after one day when it says on there EIGHT

flat bit at top
aha i was right
dp convinced me flat bit should be against tongue
ds2 got sick of it so we gave up
is asleep on the boob now

does he know it has milk in? squirt a bit in his mouth, so he knows whats in it?

there was an interesting study done a little while ago, can't remember by whom though, anyway they left bottles of EBM out and after a certain amount of time it had less bacteria in than when it started. cos it's all lovely and anti-bacterial.

most people don't realise this and treat it like formula though grr

have i left it too late dyou reckon? will he learn?

hehe took my ds2 ages to figure bottle out. we finally had luck with the tommee tippee closer to nature ones. but he'll take anything now