if you plan to bottle feed when you give birth, do you have to take all the stuff in with you?

[yousaidit]

ie bttles, cartons / formula, steriliser etc, or will the hospital let you use the little bottles with teh screw on teats?

I don't want this to be a debate about what is best form of feeding, its just that this is a very real practicality and i want to be prepared..

thanks for any advice

Thanks everyone! Got a hosital ap today as am now 41wk so desperate for dc to arrive, but think just t be on safe side will stacsh a couple of steribolttles and cartons in bag in case hospital are one of the places that won't support or promote bottle!

I owuldn't mind, but 've fgot some corkers of bargains for nusring bras from debenhams and m&s in teh sales and some tops from tescos tha t look like wrap tops so i can hoik a boob out just to be prepared!!!!!!

Good luck, hope all goes well and the b/f works out much better for you this time. Take care.

Hiya,

sure you've had lots of advice here already, so just to say, although I breastfed, there was one time during my hospital stay when my LO was given formula by the midwife, which they provided.

It was SMA, which he threw up, along with some colostrum he'd got from me, which upset me. So after trial and error I'd recommend Aptamil, it's closest to breastmilk, and tastes most like it too. Found amongst mine and friend's experiences it's the most popular with our babes (along with Tommee Tippee's breastlike "Closer to nature" bottles), so you could have a good chance of success in using it/supporting b'feding with it, whatever you decide.

Forgot, Aptamil do cartons which don't need refridgerating, plus they have a new easier to digest one out.

When I had DTs although I tried to bf I was also cup feeding with formula and everything was provided. After 3 days of trying to bf I gave up and moved onto the bottles of formula at hospital and you just had to go down to the reception or ring your bell (if unable to get to reception) to get more.

Hi hanaflower,

my breastfeeding councellor recommended it. I did my own taste test against my breastmilk and other formulas and found it to taste the most similar also. It also has pre and pro-biotics. The packaging makes it easy to dispense and store the scoop which I liked.

I also used Hipp Organic when I could, it was the next best tasting, which my son liked.

It did feel a bit perverse...

Hi, just a thought, I wondered if you could maybe have a chat to a breast-feeding counsellor before you go in and see if someone might be able to come and see you in hospital asap after you've given birth? Might be nice to have someone who actually knows what they're doing there to give you a hand? If they see you are getting support it might be that much easier to get out and get on with it yourself, however you end up feeding.

yousaidit your story could be mine. My hospital provided the little bottles of ready made formula and screw on teats. Good luck - hope you manage to bf number 2 if that's what you want. I was devastated that I had to bottle feed DS. Long story.

I couldn't have managed without the BfN breastfeeding support network (google). Wish I could have found them sooner for Ds1 but we got the hang eventually, as least I know where they are (I think!) for Dc2.

Ring them for groups or support lady to help or even homevisit...

Where I had my ds, Dorset you have to provide all your own bottles and formula