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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

if you were intending to bf did you buy bottles just in case?

48 replies

KateMess · 03/09/2009 17:20

Hello, I'm very keen to bf when I have my baby. Should I get some bottles/formula in, just in case of a problem?

I wasn't going to, so I wasn't tempted to give up, but I wonder if this is a bit naive.

Of course if this baby goes much more overdue it'll come straight out on solids ..

OP posts:

crokky · 03/09/2009 17:22

No I didn't. It depends on how aviailable the things you might need are. I had a 24 hour tesco round the corner so I didn't get anything in advance and I didn't actually end up needing anything.

ByThePowerOfGreyskull · 03/09/2009 17:22

I have to be honest, I found the first 10 days so hard that if I had had formula in the house we would have switched.. but we didn't, and I felt that encouraged me to keep going. On day 10 it was like a switch had flicked and we fed for another 11 months.

Perhaps get a couple of bottles but not the formula?

the only thing is it will be a waste of money if BF gos well and you never use them

ShowOfHands · 03/09/2009 17:24

No I didn't bother. Never thought of it tbh.

suwoo · 03/09/2009 17:25

I wasn't going to but the tommee tippee bottles were half price so I bought some . I didn't get formula in though as I didn't want it to be tempting.

It didn't tempt me at all and I am now 5 weeks into my bf experience.

theDMplagiarisedLeonie · 03/09/2009 17:27

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Original poster

KateMess · 03/09/2009 17:31

Greyskull that's exactly what I fear, in the darkest hour before dawn, etc. Well, we live very near a Boots, so I think I won't get any formula.

I suppose I'll need bottles for expressed milk though, won't i?

OP posts:

choppychopster · 03/09/2009 17:37

DH's friend is a sales rep for Tommee Tippee so he gave us some of the closer to nature bottles and a load of other stuff for free. Didn't buy any formula though.

belgo · 03/09/2009 17:39

No I didn't. What I did find far more useful was the name and phone number of an expert breastfeeding advisor.

LIZS · 03/09/2009 17:44

no . They are readily enough available if you change your mind.

xandrarama · 03/09/2009 17:46

I had bottles on hand and a couple of small cartons of formula "just in case", but I honestly didn't think I'd need them, and I didn't. What I found was that when things got hard, just knowing I had an easily accessible "out" made me feel reassured and able to keep going with breastfeeding. It didn't tempt me to give up in the slightest.

KittyTN · 03/09/2009 17:55

No, I never owned bottles or steriliser. BF for just over a year - one of the best experiences of my life and looking forward to BFing baby 2. I did have a middle of night freak out in the early days and sent DH to buy a breast pump in case things went wrong over Christmas but never needed it and took it back unopened after Christmas hols - I think it was a sort of insurance policy!

ZippysMum · 03/09/2009 17:57

I'm planning to bf twins and had an appt with the bf consultant today. Both her and my midwife suggested not getting either bottles or formula, so I won't be.

Great to hear all the positive bf stories on this thread!

McDreamy · 03/09/2009 17:58

Yes I did. I had bottles, a sterilizer and some cartons of formula for all 3 of mine. Never needed them until I decided to bottle feed at 6 months. The fact they were there had no bearing on my breastfeeding but everyone is different. As others have said maybe it also depends on how easily you could get it all if you needed it.

LadyStealthPolarBear · 03/09/2009 18:01

yes I did - but I didn't feel they'd be particularly easy to get if I needed them in a hurry. Bought two bottles from Boots and then bought a steriliser which came with two bottles - so shouldn't have bothered with the first lot. Also got a couple of cartons of formula.

LadyStealthPolarBear · 03/09/2009 18:02

Not planning to get formula this time round, but I'm a bit more confident as bf went well last time, and also they do sell formula in our local shop

olivo · 03/09/2009 18:05

i did; where we live, we dont have 24/7 shops so i got bottles, steriliser and a few cartons of formula, just in case. bottles and steriliser will get used though anyway as i intend to express later on. 2 weeks in and i havent used them yet but i find it comforting to know they are there!

ProfYaffle · 03/09/2009 18:06

I bought some because I thought I'd be expressing milk, didn't have any formula though.

Blu · 03/09/2009 18:14

I didn't, no.

But I asked the same question as you at one of our ante-natal sessions and the mw said 'if you have any difficulties, just call me, and we will help'. The hospital (King's) ran a one-day breastfeeding 'workshop' for pg Mums and we got so much help and advice that I never thought about paying for bottles again.

Are there any support sessions advertised near you? It might be worth finding the number for your local NCT bf supporter etc.

GoldenSnitch · 03/09/2009 18:15

I bought a steriliser (for the breast pump) and it came with a couple of free bottles and teats.

Wouldn't have had formula only someone we knew had just fiished using formula and had a whole unopened tin that they gave us for 'just in case'.

I did not plan to have bottles in the house and won't be doing it this time. We have a 24 hour Tesco nearby if the worst happens - although DD is due at Christmas so maybe I should be a little more prepared

I had to supplement with DS....

PeasPlease · 03/09/2009 18:18

No. You will be tempted to use them!

Babymakes4 · 03/09/2009 18:20

I didn't want to but my Mum went and bought some just in case and I was very grateful at 3am one long night. (I bf DD1 for 51/2 month and DD2 for 3 months so not long by MN standards but it wasn't the bottles that made me stop!)

dinkystinky · 03/09/2009 18:22

No I didnt - I did though buy a hand expressing machine (Avent I think) - to relieve engorgement and use when moving baby onto bottles at 6 months - and a bottle came with that I think. Never planned to buy formula either - just ensured I was armed with the bf support group details and numbers of help lines before the baby came.

Bleatblurt · 03/09/2009 18:23

I did. I bought a couple of Dr Browns bottles but didn't buy any formula. I ended up using the bottles as I expressed.

TwoJobsOneManOneBump · 03/09/2009 18:25

No midwife or bf consultant is going to actually advise you to get a 'just in case' bit of formula in - they cannot by law (? or govt policy, same thing?!) undermine the promotion of bf-ing.

Bottles and a pump v useful if you might want to express so that you can have nights out / nights off etc. in due course.

Stop here if you might cave to the 'temptation' of the formula if you have it in the house...

However, having gone home from hosp on a Sunday a month ago when my baby was 1 day old, sleepy and placid, yet was still up at 4am after 9 hours solid screaming which was not remotely satisfied by a few mls of colostrum, I was going mental. We looked at every bf website under the sun, looked up advice for "the first few days" in all our books, and tried all the NHS bf consultant phone numbers ("thank you for calling. our office hours are...")

I was sobbing in a corner. We called the lovely lovely midwife on the birthing centre where I'd delivered (Northwick Park, brilliant brilliant brilliant) and she virtually whispered down the phone "do you have any formula?" No, but there's a 24hr garage nearby.

Yes we agonised for another 15 mins or so about how much of an abject failure that would make me (precisely the opposite of the exclusive bf-er and totally sorted yummy mummy I planned to be) but my dp couldn't face the sight of me shaking with distress and the sheer decibels that can be produced by such a little person

It is all going to be about what you know about how strong your resolve is. We used some formula again in the first week on particularly painful occasions - I had cracked and bleeding nipples, and on one side I even got a blister which lasted a few days and was agony! - but I expressed for as long / as much as we ff-ed so that the 'demand' mmessages were going in even if the supply was not yet coming out.

I don't think I've used FF at all since my strapping boy was a week old. He lost 4oz off his 9lb5oz birth weight in that first week but was 9.12 at just under 3 weeks, so I'm convinced that a little bit of nasty anti-earth-mother powder did him no harm and my sanity a massive favour.

vinblanc · 03/09/2009 18:26

The only bottle I ever had was the one that came with the pump.

Never bought formula.

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