Breast pumps, bottles and sterilisers

[DreamingOfTheMaldives]

I am planning to breast feed if all goes to plan, but due to being self employed I will still be going to occasional meetings etc when baby is only a few weeks old so need to be sure that baby will not refuse a bottle, otherwise I will be in a pickle!

Therefore I am intending to try and get baby to take a bottle when he/she is only a couple of weeks old and to make at least one feed a day a bottle. Also means that DH can have the chance to feed baby too which will be nice.

I'm a bit confused as to which breast pump, bottles and steriliser to buy though. I assume that the bottles and steriliser need to be the same brand otherwise the bottles won't fit? If baby refuses a particular type of bottle/teat am I then going to have to buy new bottles and steriliser? (could get rather expensive!)

Can breast milk be frozen in the actual bottles?

Which breast pump is best? Once expressed, how is the milk stored?

Sorry if I'm being a bit dim but it's really confusing me and I'd really appreciate some guidance. Thanks in advance.

You can buy breast milk storage bags - express then pour the milk into these so you don't a)run out of bottles, b)completely fill your fridge within 2 days c)can put the date on them so you can use them in date order and not find an old bag of breast milk a year down the line voice of experience

I used tommee tippee breast pump - it gets mixed reviews but I had no problems with it. If you are only planning on one bottle feed per day you really only need one bottle, and can sterilise in the microwave or with Milton tablets just in cold water so personally I wouldn't bother buying an electric steriliser unless you end up fully bottle feeding. Buy a bottle that will hold 8-9 oz of milk, the smaller ones don't get used for very long.

You don't really need a branded steriliser, you can use a large Tupperware in the microwave with a bit of water in, leave the lid off a bit and it'll be just as good. Or you can cold sterilise with some Milton tablets.
(I used to do this for hand reared animals!)
I think most bottles have a range of teats to suit baby's needs, so you should be able to find something.
You can buy bags for storing breast milk in, suitable for fridge or freezer.
HTH for now, hopefully someone with more experience will be along shortly.

Argos do a set of tommee tippee with everything you need, apart from the pump. It's good if you use them and the pump as bottles fit directly onto pump etc. you get milk storage pots as well as caps for bottle instead of teat bit. We got the set very early on in preg as it had a whopping 3rd off.
defiantly worth it if you going to be away a bit. I just bought the hand pump as it was cheap and my milk flows quite freely so didn't take long to express xx

I used the tommee tippee one too, it was fine and actually came with a microwave sterilising box and a couple of milk storage pots. The Medela Swing pump is meant to be the best but it's pricey. You can also put bottles in your dishwasher to sterilise, just needs to be on the hottest wash.

My DD is 4 weeks tomorrow and had her first bottle if expressed a few days ago, which she guzzled down no problem with a Medela Calma bottle and teat, which is supposed to closely resemble the suckling action at the breast. I bought a Medela Swing pump and the Calma bottle system came with it so I haven't tried any others yet. I have an Avent microwave steriliser which was £12 off Amazon and am using Lanisoh storage bags to build up a stock pile in the freezer so you can easily mix brands up, although most brand owners will try to convince you that you need to get everything in their brand.

The bottles do not have to fit in the steriliser racks perfectly, they just have to be inside it. Maybe more important if you are efficiently sterilising six at a time for ff, but for the odd thing you'll be fine to change bottles after you've bought a steriliser.

I use the mam bottles you don't need a steriliser for them they sort of for into themselves and you put them in the microwave or I have a Milton cold water steriliser. I like the tommee tippee breast pump and just poured it into a storage bottle.

I used the Philips Avent pump and bottles which have been good. A plus for me was that you can express directly into storage cups like this which can be put in the freezer, used for feeding and then washed and reused. I didn't buy an electric steriliser until I started introducing more bottles but don't forget that you'll need to sterilise your pump between uses as well.

The last ante natal class I had last week have me a great excel sheet with all the times you can leave milk out of the fridge/in the fridge/in the freezer depending on the air temperature.

You can keep breast milk in the fridge (0-4°) for up to 5-8 days. At room temperature (15°) it is OK for up to 24 hrs.

Once it's been frozen (can stay up to 6 months in a freezer below -19°) then defrosted, you can keep it in the fridge for up to 24 hrs or at room temp for up to an hour. I was told to never heat up breast milk in the microwave and remember to mark the date of expressing on the bag/bottle before freezing.

Omg, I sound like an expert and haven't even had my first baby yet!!!! Just reading off sheet MW gave us.

Oh, last thing, once it's defrosted and heated, if DC doesn't finish it you must throw away.

Hope this helps.

You can hire really good pumps via the NCT fir about £45 a month, so that might be worth looking into. Its what I'm intending to do (didn't get on with hand pumps last time)
I wouldn't bother with an electric steriluser either - just get a cold water one and use Milton tablets. Much easier when you're just doing the odd bottle as well as the pump.

hi dreaming when are you due? i'm at 35wks and plan to do the same as you... i won't absolutely 'need' to bottle feed for freelance work reasons till 12 weeks (although i'd like to so dh can take him out without me) but plan to start the bottle around 4wks depending on how easy or difficult we find establishing bf first. then planning on one a day so that ds doesn't go off the bottle (as i've heard many bf babies can). would be good to share experiences if we'll be doing this about the same time.

i have a steriliser and unopened pack of bottles and a manual pump we've been given which i'm going to start with (no idea which brand, sorry) and i'll probably move to an electric pump once i have an idea of how things work.... at a week short of 6mo ds is going to have two days a week away from me (dh and mil) so i'd like ideally to leave bm for that too but won't worry too much if he has to have some formula at that stage.

Haven't read your replies properly yet as I'm a bit of a zombie this evening and heading to bed now but didn't want to leave it until tomorrow to say thanks when you've all taken the time to reply.

So thank you ladies