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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:

TwoJobsOneManOneBump · 03/09/2009 18:29

ps back in the day when we all lived in mud huts, your sister/aunt/friend would be feeding a toddler when yours came along so would relieve you of your screamer and get it some good nosh until your milk came in so I believe there is nothing whatsoever wrong with co-opting an artificial sister out of a tin/carton/bottle.

and I love love love bf-ing now, and I love that I'm ultimately the only one in the house who can satisfy/pacify him.

PinkTulips · 03/09/2009 18:40

No i didn't.

And was glad i didn't with dd as when i was crying in pain feeding her at 3am on nights 2 and 3 and i hadn't slept for longer than 15 mins at a time since 2 days before she was born and dp was wringing his hands saying 'Is this really worth it, surely a bottle would be better than this' i'm pretty sure i would have given in and given her one... whereas in the cold light of day when things were calm i was much better equipped to make that decision and decided not to buy the formula and bottles.

I fed her for 12 months in the end.

A baby won't starve in the space of a few hours from the midnight panic until a chemist or supermarket opens in the morning (ds2 had no milk for 36 hours after his first feed and only fed about 4 times a day for a few days after that until he was taken out of the incubator and off the IV drip) and you can let them sip water if you're worried about dehydration.... generally though things calm down in the early hours of the morning and they feed well and sleep for a while and if they don't then even without sleep it's easier to make the decision in daylight for some reason... things seem less frantic somehow.

Original poster

KateMess · 03/09/2009 19:16

Wow, what a brilliant crop of posts I've returned to.

I can imagine it's difficult to listen to screaming and think maybe formula will work.

I do have a breastfeeding support network, with several numbers and a drop-in clinic nearby.

If I do give in and give a bottle, I'm getting straight back to trying to bf when the skies are brighter.

Thanks to everyone.

OP posts:

shonaspurtle · 03/09/2009 19:21

I didn't buy anything in advance but things were hard in the early weeks so dh was sent out to buy a breast pump (Avent Isis) which came with 2 bottles. Also bought a packet of Milton sterilising tablets so we never bought a steriliser.

Gave dh something to do and made him feel useful!

shonaspurtle · 03/09/2009 19:22

Ditto the trip to Morrison's at the behest of the community midwife to buy a savoy cabbage. Dh to the rescue! She had him running all over the place in the first week.

PrincessToadstool · 03/09/2009 19:25

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

CantThinkofFunnyName · 03/09/2009 19:32

Yes I did. Because it's actually not as easy as you think. I had bottles and an expresser and then had to get my mum to run out to get some formula on about the 4th day as DS was screaming because he just couldn't get milk from me. Also (this was nearly 11 years ago), I just didn't have any decent BF support. I ended up expressing for weeks and he would take from the bottle.

DC2 I had all the stuff in just in case, but it all went swimmingly. However, still needed the bottles for expressed milk later down the line!

Hobnobfanatic · 03/09/2009 19:33

I hoped to BF when I was pg, but got a tin of milk and a bottle just in case. I think it helps to go into it with a 'I'll try BF, but if it doesn't work out, it's not the end of the world' mentality. As a result, I was really relaxed about BF and ended up BFing exclusively for the first six months. I carried on BF-ing until my LO was over 2.5years!

rubyslippers · 03/09/2009 19:36

i have got bottles and a pump but no formula

will see how i get on this time around ...

nickytwotimes · 03/09/2009 19:39

I bought them.
I used them for expressed milk, which was a godsend for my sore nipples, though not great long term. Later I used them for formula too, but that is another story. Dh was sent out for that under rotten circumstances.

The main thing to have is top notch support for the bfing and an iron will. It might go really well for you, fingers crossed, but if not, then someone on hand who really knows what they are doing is the best solution.

Good luck. I hope it goes well for you.

Squitten · 03/09/2009 19:40

I planned to BF my son but I had a horrendous time in the hospital as my milk didn't come in for days and he was screaming the place down. Eventually, the nurses put him on SMA because he was starving and that constipated him for ages!

We did end up FF in the end and, whilst I plan to try BF again next time around, I will have a bottle and some better formula to hand!

FourArms · 03/09/2009 19:41

I had bottles, as I hoped to use them for expressing, but no formula. Glad I didn't actually, as I think it might have made me give in to ff more easily. BF was hard, but we got there in the end!

carikube8 · 03/09/2009 19:42

I got a second hand steriliser and bottles from my sister in law so had them in the house; I did buy a couple of cartons of ready-made formula however as my DH and I had the "What happens if I get run over by a bus" conversation and we wanted to know that DD would still get fed even if I was unable to do it for whatever reason.

We ended up switching completely to formula at 7 weeks but it wasn't for lack of trying on the BF front - ie having the equipment didn't make me give up any sooner.

TwoJobsOneManOneBump · 03/09/2009 19:45

Princess I absolutely agree which was why simultaneously to my dp ff-ing the baby (using a cup to avoid nipple/teat confusion) I expressed milk using an electric pump to simulate the baby's action, to ensure the 'demand signals' were getting to my norks, even though in days 1-3 next to bog-all actually came out.

And as with everyone's advice I only tell the story on the basis of a sample size of one - it just worked for me. I also continued attempting to latch baby on every time he demanded, no matter how painful it was (and I really think we must not hide how painful it may be, and what a positive achievement it is to get through that first week and what a wonderful thing you have done for your child to establish breastfeeding, no matter what crutches you have used to get yourself over difficulties). I confess that until the end of week 2 I also slept with nipple cups on, and bf-d with nipple shields, even though the latter affect the way baby learns to latch on, the alternative was prolonging the agony for me.

I should clarify that at most we used one 90ml ff at night, for about 3-6 days. I was feeding all day anyway [zombie face], with the best will in the world there was genuinely nothing left come late at night!!

Katemess I wish you the best of luck with birth, recovery and feeding, and I am really glad you have such good support around you. Come back and let us know how you got on.

NellyTheElephant · 03/09/2009 19:58

With my first, I got a couple of bottles and a breast pump, but no formula. I was v glad of them actually as I got really engorged and DD1 found it hard to latch on, so one breast got v sore and bleeding. I expressed from that side for a couple of days and gave the milk in a bottle rather than bf which gave it a chance to heal up, by which time the engorgement had subsided and I never looked back with bf (and also carried on regularly expressing and letting someone else give a bottle on occasion). With DD2 and DS I also bought a couple of cartons of formula - mainly with the 'run over by a bus' scenario in mind. DD2 never had any until I decided to wean her at 6 months. DS (now 5 months) has had a carton when I was out and got unavoidably delayed and had only left enough expressed milk for one feed but not for the next feed that I also missed, so I was v pleased the emergency carton was in the cupboard or he would have been beside himself waiting another 2 hours until I got back.

That said, I think with the first it is maybe best not to have formula to hand (after all it is easy enough to go out and get some if you really need it), you don't want to find yourself reaching for the formula out of desperation in the early days just because it's there. With DD2 and DS I was pretty confident that bf would be fine (which it was) hence the emergency formula cartons not being an issue. With DD1 it didn't cross my mind to buy any formula and I'm glad I didn't or I might have gone on to it in those couple of days of bleeding nipples in the first week.

Builde · 04/09/2009 06:59

Because my mum bf me and my two sisters it didn't occur to me that it was difficult to BF. I only discovered post the birth of my first daughter that some people could have problems.

So no, I didn't buy any bottles.

However, bf does hurt a bit to start with but please don't let the first three days put you off...it gets easy and in the end just becomes automatic. And then it's difficult to give up!

Oh, and at the four month stage you feel much less full...you won't be running out of milk; you will just be more efficient at producing it.

I believe that the old advice on weaning at four months was to with this feeling of not being full of milk.

missmama · 04/09/2009 07:59

I bought Bottles and 3 boxes of Hipp Organic when pregnant, This is DS3 he is 8 months old and still breastfeeding - never had a bottle in his life.
Towards the end of my pregnancy I was reading on here about all the new mums who were having problems with breastfeeding and started worrying in-case I turned out to be one of them. Which was irrational as I had already fed DS1 for 8wks and DS2 for 7 months, but many years ago, they are 11 and 8 now.
I have 2 and a half boxes of 'formula' still in the cupboard and used part of the other for weaning (the only reason I choose Hipp was that if I didn't use enough of it each box came with 2 sealed packs inside and I would only be throwing out 1/2 a box at a time)

Ok sorry long winded,
Yes I bought them.
No I didn't use them and still haven't now.
I bought them intending not to use them.
Waste of money but made me feel better at the time, one less thing to worry about.

suwoo · 04/09/2009 08:28

I echo what another poster said earlier, one of the most important things you need is an iron will. IME.

Longtalljosie · 04/09/2009 10:36

You might need an iron will. Or... you could find it easy. I was really worried that breastfeeding would be a huge, uphill battle that I might fail and then was blessed with a baby that is really, really good at it. I'm a total passenger, it's all down to her.

I mention this only because while many people have a battle - and win - others get off easily and you're just as likely to be one of those!

Oh, and I did get a breast pump, and a steriliser for said breast pump, and both came with bottles, so I own two bottles. Both of which are still in their packaging. I didn't get formula though - my NCT teacher advised me I was more likely to give in if it was in the house. And, as others say, there are 24 supermarkets and petrol station shops etc.

Longtalljosie · 04/09/2009 10:39

24 hour supermarkets even. Clearly, there are more than 24 supermarkets...

RGPargy · 04/09/2009 11:01

No i didn't. I didn't want the temptation there in the house as it might have been very easy to just give up BF if i knew there was a bottle and formula in the cupboard......

usernametaken · 04/09/2009 12:01

The intention is to BF like it was with DD. DD could not BF so I expressed solidly until we weaned her at nearly 6months of age. I have bottles, pump and formula just incase.

kathryn2804 · 04/09/2009 18:25

I was expecting twins, and did get some bottles and formula 'just in case'. However, I wish I hadn't becvause I did use it, and looking back on it, it really was because it was there. If it hadn't been I would have just got on with it. But still, we managed to breastfeed for 13 mths after the first couple of weeks when we gave the odd bottle of formula.

This time, I won't have any of it in the house.

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