Intending to breastfeed, but do I buy bottles just in case?

[Snowgirl1]

I'm 39+4 and intending/hoping to be able to breastfeed. But should I buy bottles etc. in advance in case it doesn't work out?? If I buy them before it almost seems like I'm expecting to fail at breastfeeding, but if I don't buy them before and I can't breastfeed, how will my baby feed until I get them?? What have others done?

I wouldn't bother, you can always pick one up from somewhere or other at very short notice if you want to.

If it's going to make you fret though, just get a cheap one and one of those little cartons of milk as "emergency back-up".

I have 2 friends who each told me the opposite. One friend said, don't get them in, you'll be tempted if it gets tough. The second said, get them in just in case, because if you do need them it will be 3am.

The first friend successfully bf her four DCs. The second friend ended up bottle feeding her first, then BF her second.

So having bf my 3, I say don't get them in. You will succeed! MN will make sure of that.

Just make sure you know where to get them locally. Have you got a 24 hr supermarket nearby?

I wouldn't. We did with DD and I ended up sending DH out to Tesco one morning at 2am to get a carton of formula. If we'd not had bottles and a steriliser already I'd have been more inclined to battle on that night - what I really needed was sleep which I got no more of by sitting around with a crying DD waiting for DH to get back than I would have done anyway!

no definietely not. anyone I knew who had them "just in case" cracked and gave "just one bottle" of formula way earliert than they wished they had done with hindsight. bottles and formula are really easily available from a 24hr supermarket in desperation and far far better in my opinion not to have any temptation in the early days if you want to suceed with breastfeeding. Clearly some poor women struggle with BFing and it's not the end of the world if you don't suceeed etc etc etc but the vast majority of women can breastfeed just fine with absolutely no need for formula

Don't get them. I did get some, but no formula, because I wanted to express. Waste of tme - i never expressed, never gave a bottle - mine went straight to sippy cups when old enough - and if you are really determined to breastfeed, it would be more useful to am yourself with good info and details of local support.

I had a bottle and formula in for DCs 1 and 2 "just in case" and I never ff either of them.

Just to redress the balance

My feeling is that if it will be easy for you/your partner to go out and buy some at 2am if everything has gone wrong and you just desperately want the baby to stop crying - then don't bother.

If it wouldn't be, then having 1 newborn suitable bottle and a carton of a few different types of formula (will cost about £5 max if you go for the cheapie versions) stuffed at the back of a cupboard just in case is not going to make any difference to your ability to breastfeed.

I had 2 bottles and a carton of ready made milk -didn't use them but found that having them just incase took the pressure off

I wanted to Bf but I also didn't want to beat myself up about it the same way so many of my friends had done

It wasn't all plain sailing but I never went to the cupboard to get the bottle

I was wondering this myself, am 40+1 with my first, in the end decided not to bother, as people have said there is always the 24 hour supermarket. We've tried to be quite frugal with what we have bought and only got stuff we thought we will definitely need, and will see how we get on. Same applies to bottles (although I do want to express after a few weeks)

We got a bunch of bottles with a magazine subscription at the baby show. I wouldn't have spent money on them. I never intended to use them, and I didn't use them until about 3 months in when I started expressing, even then I didn't feed DD from them, just used them to collect the milk before freezing it.

They just got shoved in the back of the cupboard and all but forgotten about. I knew that even at my most tiredest, endest of my patience, it still wouldn't be a quick fix, as the breastfeeding was as much about the comfort as the actual milk.

My mum still wanted me to have a carton of formula, Just In Case, but I just told her it would be a waste of money (and I was right).

It didn't take any 'pressure' off me bfing, but saved me having to buy bottles when I eventually started to express.

I did with mine and never used them. got them for peace of mind because i had no idea what the hell i was doing, happily struggled to get the hang of BF for 2 weeks and then easy peasy for 10 months. she never had a bottle and self weaned straight from bf to solids and a cup at 10 months. never had a bottle so i guess it was a waste of money but it eased my mind having them there so no harm done so far as i can see it. i was pretty determined to bf i guess.

i did buy a dummy for the same panic'd reason and never used the damn thing, am really hard core anti dummy brigade i guess. there was a couple nights in the first few weeks when dh was like, give her a dummy, where's the dummy? at 2 am and I wouldn't tell him, and that worked out fine too in the end.

no harm done either way, just go with whatever's least stressful for you.

i breastfed my first until 16 months but still had bottles/steriliser etc. What about if you express your milk? my husband would give the occasional feed. I will admit i didn't express until baby was a few months old so no rush.

Another who had it all in 'just in case' and never used it with dd and now ds is here I've got a supply in the freezer.

To me yes if course you can send someone out to the shop, but that half an hour/ hour that you'll be waiting would feel a he'll of a lot longer with a screaming baby at 3am!

I had the ones that came with my breast pump (Medela) and I bought a couple of cartons of formula in case. Didn't use the bottles until 4 weeks when I started expressing the odd feed, BUT I always knew I was going to express 1 feed per day so they were never going to be wasted IYSWIM.

I'm fully intending to BF but I have obtained a steriliser, bottles, teats and breast pump.

We don't have any formula as I don't intend to FF but as others have said there will always be a shop open somewhere to get formula.

My logic is that depending on how the birth goes and feeding establishes I may find myself in a position where expressing is needed temporarily and once baby is a few weeks old I know DP is keen to do a feed every now and then so we won't have to worry about buying these things after the baby is born.

I see nothing wrong with being open to all possibilities, if we had a crystal ball things may be simpler.

A single Tommee Tippee and a carton of aptamil would be good planning
in my opinion. I did. I bf both of mine six and ten months.
The fact that you mumsnet probably puts your likelihood to bf way high.
But it might not work for you.
And I agree with the 3am feeling mentioned above

I had bottles and formula ready, but went on to breastfeed DS for 9 months. Having them around doesn't automatically make you crack!

I found it good to have a saftey net, which in the end I didn't need. But it was nice knowing they were there.

Anyhow, I'm having DD in two weeks and intend to bottle feed this time around, so they've come in very handy!

Difficult one....

Your milk doesn't 'come in' properly til day 4/5 but you can give them the boob for colustrum pretty much as soon as they're born.

Invest in nipple cream - lansinoh is expensive but excellent. I'd prioritise that before bottles etc

I don't give a stuff what people say about it not hurting if the latch is right...
I breastfed DD1 til she was two and am still feeding DD2 (now a year old) and the first week can hurt like hell until your nipples have 'toughened up'/desensitised. Get the cream as a priority so you don't get chapped.

Make sure you have a comfy pillow/magazines/FLUIDS on tap/any breastfeeding tea containing fenugreek (tastes yuk but helps with flow).

I was in tears with DD2 Day 5 - thought milk was drying up. I was utterly disconsolate because I had no access to milk/bottles (live away so no 24 hr shops). I would have given a 'one-off' bottle at that point as I was panicking despite having been through it all before.

But I had no choice and with a cup of tea/shouldersbackandbreathe we were okay. Quite possibly a one-off bottle would have affected milk flow (you just need to keep putting baby to the breast essentially so if you miss a feed early on that could exacerbate the situation).

Nipple shields similar issue - I had some sent over out of panic but was okay by the time they arrived. Early on they can cause nipple confusion apparently.

Getting the equipment in NOW depends on whether you are planning to express/mixed feed/get mum MIL DH etc to give a bottle/returning to work early
If that is the case you need the equipment anyway. (neither of mine would take a bottle as i hadn't introduced one by seven weeks).

Breast pumping - even regularly - in the first couple of weeks can also end up causing flow problems for some.

Best idea - as long as you've got 'babymoon' i.e. in bed with baby letting him/her latch on as/when while family feed you and keep your fluids up.
Lashings of nipple cream and lots of skin-on-skin contact.

Short answer

1. Get the equipment if you are planning to use it/express after a few weeks anyway
2. Use the one freebie bottle/have one carton if you are going to freak out at not having a back-up (but be aware it is a catch-22)
3. Know at worst case you have access to supermarket presumably and/or DH could take baby for a car-ride at 2am? which might mean the formula ends up not being needed anyway as movement rocks baby to sleep
4. Prioritise your nipple cream/bed environment/babymoon (hate that word)

Oh, and don't give yourself a harder time if the birth/feeding etc doesn't go to plan or meet expectations (lower them now!!) The first few weeks are tough on everybody whether it looks like it or not.

Best idea - as long as you've got - I mean by that as much time as you have got/can allow to spend in bed with baby once you're home/or baby in moses basket next to your bed if that makes sense.

Good luck and congrats x

I have. I've done that 2am run to Tesco and it was hellish. Not doing it again, especially with Christmas in the way. I'd rather spend the money for no reason than be in that position again.

I joined the scent baby club and got a free one I also got a couple with my breast pump but haven't bought any others!

That should be avent, not scent!!!

I am assuming that (in best case scenario) I'll be expressing as well as BFing - how else is OH going to do his share of night-time feeds? ;) so I'm aiming to get whatever comes with the breast pump kit or what else I can get on eBay/gumtree etc.

At the hospital I'm going to I know they supply top-up formula to mums who are struggling with BFing but if you are intending to bottle feed from the word go you have to bring your own into hospital with you.

A friend of mine is having terrible trouble with pain when the baby doesn't latch on properly - she's been told she has particularly sensitive nipples and that the baby's mouth isn't quite big enough to latch on properly, so it should get better when he gets bigger. (same goes for nipple guards - she has tried them but baby's mouth is too small to suck through them so he's getting fed up).

But in the mean time she's expressing like mad and using lots of bottles - so I am going to have to be prepared for that based on her experience. Plus stock up on nipple cream...