Breastfeeding/breast pump help please

[Pea2019]

Hello
I’d like to try breastfeeding but the thought of a baby sucking on my boob makes me feel funny! I’ve always had really sensitive nipples. Anyway... i thought expressing may be a good middle ground if i do struggle but i have a few questions that I hope you could help me with. Sorry if they sound silly:

• is it harder to breastfeed with small boobs?

• can you express into a bottle? If so has it got to be the same brand bottle as the breast pump?

• if yes, can i then just store the bottle in the fridge and then switch boobs and so another bottle? Things i have read online suggest that it needs to be washed after each use?

• a little unrelated, but once i have sterilised bottles, will they only remain sterilised if i keep them in the steriliser? Again, online says they only remain sterilised for 24hrs but does that mean I can’t put the bottle together and store it in the cupboard until i use it?

Thank you for looking at my stupid questions

Hello OP. No such thing as silly questions!

It’s not harder to breastfeed with smaller boobs. Breast size has no effect on quantity of milk produced.

Some pumps are designed to work with their own branded bottles. Others are more universal and you fill the little pump bottle and then tip it into a baby’s bottle. The info about different pumps online should tell you.

You wouldn’t need to wash the pump between boobs if you were expressing at the same time.

Bottles are not sterile if assembled and left in a cupboard.

Hopefully someone else with more experience will come along, but in general I would’ve thought that most of your feeding would need to involve putting the baby directly to the breast. (Although some people mainly focus on expressing - eg, if their baby is in special care - and that works.) I know you say you have sensitive nipples, but ALL nipples need to get used to breastfeeding - babies suck quite hard! After a couple of days, nipples usually adapt... I think a lot of people find it hard to get their heads round the practicalities of breastfeeding beforehand - so you’re not alone in that - but it all makes a lot more sense when you’ve actually got your newborn in your arms.

Maybe have a discussion with your midwife about expressing at your next appointment?

Thank you :-)

My midwife has been pretty crap to be honest. I thought it might be nice for my partner to do some feeds too so expressing could be good for that.

Re: the sterile bottles. So they literally need to stay in the steriliser until used? Could I put breast milk in them, put the teat/lid on and then store in fridge? Would that then be sterile enough? It’s so confusing!