For those that chose not to breastfeed before having the baby

[babywalker56]

If you knew you wasn’t going to be breastfeeding before you had the baby, what did you pack with you in your hospital bag?

Did you just pack ready made formula and that’s it? Did you have access to disposable bottles at the hospital so didn’t need to bring your own? Interested in hearing what other people did:)

It was years ago but I used the cow and Gate ready made bottles with the teats that attached to the bottle. No faffing

I brought my own with me - I got the starter kits and then the teat is already attached and they're pre sterilized so you can just crack on and don't need to ask the nurses for it.

I used hipp premade bottles. They had teats with them but the midwives put the milk in their own sterile bottles with teats. Only 9 weeks ago :)

I would also pack nipples pads because your breasts will still leak- even if not breastfeeding.

Oh yeah of course, I completely forgot about the pre made formula bottles you can buy that comes with the teats. Thank you!

How many packs did you bring with you to the hospital? Were you able to slightly heat it up or would you give it to baby at room temperature? For those that bought the ready made bottles and used the bottles from the hospital. Were you able to use some of the milk and then put the remaining milk in a fridge as baby won’t drink the whole thing in one sitting?
So many questions sorry lol

My baby like them at room temp, we didn't reheat them

U can get the ready made ones but they are pricy. When i was in I used my own bottles) 2nd baby) and was given a steriliser bag that worked in the microwave so I just washed and put in bag after use and then its a quick sterilise to make another. Think the bag was medula or something like that.

I had some small bottles I used for newborn and then moved on to larger ones when older

We took in the some ready to use bottles for newborns but also our hospital provided cow and gate ones.

We were Not allowed to heat them up )I’m guessing H&s issues)

Check with the hospital, you could ask your community midwife, they should know what the hospital do. At my hospital we couldn't use our own, we had to use their bottles of ready made formula and packaged teats (they had the various brands). We used formula out of necessity not choice but I was in for a week and when I asked if they wanted me to buy my own after a couple of days they said no.

@WishIwasElsa

U can get the ready made ones but they are pricy. When i was in I used my own bottles) 2nd baby) and was given a steriliser bag that worked in the microwave so I just washed and put in bag after use and then its a quick sterilise to make another. Think the bag was medula or something like that.

@wish

@WishIwasElsa

U can get the ready made ones but they are pricy. When i was in I used my own bottles) 2nd baby) and was given a steriliser bag that worked in the microwave so I just washed and put in bag after use and then its a quick sterilise to make another. Think the bag was medula or something like that.

Whoops last post was an accident sorry

@WishIwasElsa I did just think that. I think I may just buy the ready made bottles and buy the microwave steriliser bag as you can use it up to 30 times or something. I’m gonna double check with my midwife if the hospital I’ll be in provides disposable bottles as that’ll probably be easier anyway

I bought the premade bottles, but the hospital gave me them so didn't use any of mine. I took a box in with me and left a box, sterilised bottles and a tub of formula in the car just in case.

I decided very early on in my pregnancy that I wasnt going to breastfeed and my partner backed me so planned to bottle feed.

We brought the start packs which is 70ml bottles with teats that you can use however when they are born, they take so little that you would end up chucking over half the bottle away. We decided to take 5 bottles that we were going to use at home (we have Tommie Tippiee ones) and poured the milk into those bottles and then put the 70ml bottles in the fridge so we could get two feeds out of the 70ml bottles to save wasting so much. The hospital had a milk fridge & steralising station that my partner used to steralise the bottles.

We found that better as little man got use to the teats we planned to use at home from birth, i did try him with the standard teat that came with the starter pack but he wouldnt take it.

@Tulip1985

It was years ago but I used the cow and Gate ready made bottles with the teats that attached to the bottle. No faffing

Same here

Same as @Tulip1985 we had cow&gate pre made. However the hospital gave us all we needed. They just asked what formula and gave us pre made bottles.

We brought one pack of six to the hospital this time
We went home five hours after birth this time though so we used the rest at home.
With dd1 the hospital actually supplied them for people . That was in 2016. We was in for a week with her so saved us money then

Thanks for all the comments, all very helpful.

We brought the start packs which is 70ml bottles with teats that you can use however when they are born, they take so little that you would end up chucking over half the bottle away. We decided to take 5 bottles that we were going to use at home (we have Tommie Tippiee ones) and poured the milk into those bottles and then put the 70ml bottles in the fridge so we could get two feeds out of the 70ml bottles to save wasting so much. The hospital had a milk fridge & steralising station that my partner used to steralise the bottles.

@mrscotton this makes a lot of sense as I know bubba will be so small they won’t finish a whole bottle in one sitting. I may take 4 MAM bottles with me (we have the self sterilising one) so it’ll save me taking a sterilising bag. I think I’ll buy the 200ml ready made ones which you can use within 24hrs so I should be able to get a few uses out of them

@babywalker56

Thanks for all the comments, all very helpful.

We brought the start packs which is 70ml bottles with teats that you can use however when they are born, they take so little that you would end up chucking over half the bottle away. We decided to take 5 bottles that we were going to use at home (we have Tommie Tippiee ones) and poured the milk into those bottles and then put the 70ml bottles in the fridge so we could get two feeds out of the 70ml bottles to save wasting so much. The hospital had a milk fridge & steralising station that my partner used to steralise the bottles.

@mrscotton this makes a lot of sense as I know bubba will be so small they won’t finish a whole bottle in one sitting. I may take 4 MAM bottles with me (we have the self sterilising one) so it’ll save me taking a sterilising bag. I think I’ll buy the 200ml ready made ones which you can use within 24hrs so I should be able to get a few uses out of them

The starter packs are so expensive compared to the pre made 200ml ones that are practically the same. If i knew i could put them in the fridge, i would have got them instead but was only told at 38 weeks and already had the pre made ones. I only gave birth 3 and half weeks ago and was told that the hospital doesnt supply them anymore but this could be different depending on the trust.

The only thing i would suggest to getting some small labels and writing your name on them & take a pen with you to put the date on it to stick to the bottle before putting it in the fridge. We didnt do this and had to ask for labels to know which milk was ours as it was a communal fridge in the milk room.

I wish i knew you could get self steralising bottles, i spend so much time washing & steralising bottles before being able to make them.

I briefly had a look at prices of the starter packs and saw they were only 70ml so I thought let me just get the ready made ones (I have a 10 month old and we buy them for her).

Thanks for the advice. I’ll definitely have labels and pen at the ready as I remember expressing and storing breast milk in the fridge for my DD when I had her.

I only discovered the self sterilising bottles recently! This whole time I’ve had Tommee tippee bottles and it’s so long breaking everything apart to put into the steriliser so I’m hoping I can save a bit of time with these MAM ones. Congratulations on the new baby btw💐

Speak to the hospital.

I made a conscious choice not to BF but our hospital didn't allow you to take your own formula milk in. It had to be their own milk. Don't know why though but worth checking.

Thank you @Sleepeatrepeat
I have my last midwife appointment on Monday so I’ll definitely ask her so I know what’s allowed/what’s now allowed

*what’s not allowed

Might be worth checking if your hospital or maternity ward has 'baby friendly' status which is the UNICEF accreditation for promoting and educating about breastfeeding. If they do it's unlikely they'll be providing empty bottles etc but will probably have the ready made ones with the teats for emergencies. But definitely bring your own. I'd work on the assumption that you won't be able to sterilise or wash your own bottles just in case (hopefully if all goes well with the birth and no complications you could be out of hospital in hours rather than days so might not need loads. And if you do need to stay in as I said, they will probably have some available to ride you over in a pinch if you run out and shops will still be open for someone to run out and get some more for you)

I combi fed my first child and always gave him room temperature milk from the get go. I figured if he got used to that temperature it would save me a job of having to worry about heating up milk going forward.

Oh and don't worry about mixing brands in the early days if the hospital has one that you need to use and you've been using another. Cow & Gate and Aptimel are made by the same people and formula is so heavily regulated that they're all pretty much the same. Everything else is just marketing!

We used aptimel pre made. Once opened you need to use within an hour or two. I had no access to sterilising equipment. I took 2 packs with me but my hospital asked what brand I wanted to feed him and game me a bundle to sit on my table so I ended up only using a few of my own when still on the labour ward. I was in for 24 hours. I used the rest when I came home just to use it up.