Do I still need bottles and sterilisers, etc?

[VJONES1985]

I'm pg with dc1 and planning to breastfeed. However, people have told me I still need sterilisers in case I want to pump (?) And bottles in case breastfeeding doesn't work? Sorry if that makes no sense, I don't really understand and am wondering what your thoughts are?

[Pollaidh]

toddle sadly the mother and baby don't always get time to spend together after the birth -in my first case I was having emergency surgery and when I woke up blood loss was such that I was too ill to move. I didn't see or hold my baby until the next afternoon. In the second birth baby collapsed shortly after birth and went to NICU, and I was too ill to go to him so didn't see or hold him for about 48 hours.

[Birdtable]

I would buy a steriliser and a couple of bottles and ready prepared milk - I wanted to breast feed so much but unfortunately in the middle of the night on my second night with my baby it all fell apart and we had nothing in the house, very stressful. Also, they won't go to wast because if you never use them you can eBay the unopened box!
You may want the steriliser for dummies etc.

[Toadsrevisited]

DS is EBF, but I can honestly say that if I had had 'just in case' formula in the house, I would have used if, so I'm glad I didn't. The first weeks of bf are hard but better to persevere with it, or make a rational decision in the daytime to mix or switch to ff, IYSWIM. Having it in the house might have let me make a tired decision that could have been wrong. As PPs have said, you can buy everything you need quickly if that's the decision you make.

That said, I dutifully waited to 8 weeks to try expressing so DH could do a feed and by then DS refused a bottle, still does at 5months. Next time I would try this after 2 weeks I think; friends who have have been more successful with using bottles and I wish we had been, just to be able to be away from DS for a couple if hours away or asleep.

If you are planning to bf, lansinoh is crucial, and I really liked washable bamboo breast pads- they were much silkier and gentle on sore nipples.

[hubbahubster]

ch1a I had a compete nightmare with DC1 - mix fed from day 1, he was given formula in hospital for low blood sugar, midwives were constantly ramming him on the boob where he would promptly fall asleep, I spent time on the pump to try and pull my nipples out as they are v flat (made no difference)... stopped BF altogether at 7 weeks but he was mostly FF by that point anyway.

One week in with DC2 and she's EBF. Competely different experience - I was left to it in hospital, no pressure to feed at all, she's doing her job by feeding properly, I'm making sure that she gets both boobs at least every 3 hours (more if she wants). I can hardly believe it given my previous experience. It can be done!

[ch1a]

Hubba that's great to read. I'm feeling positive this time and also prepared for what I will do if it does turn out like last time, I still know that I can make it work somehow. It really is good to read about someone who knows how it is in that situation...fingers crossed for an easier time this time like you!

[Tranquilitybaby]

I wouldn't bother buying anything yet. You're kill won't be in enough to effectively pump whilst in hospital.

[Tranquilitybaby]

Kill?! Sorry that should say milk!

[TooExtraImmatureCheddar]

The MW in hospital asked if we had a steriliser at home. I said no, but we have a pan and boiling water, and she looked at me like I was from Mars. I'm not sure why she thought we needed a steriliser anyway given that I was adamant that I would be ebf.

We were bought a steriliser and never used it once because it said you had to wash the components before use and we were too sleep-deprived to bother. So I just sloshed hot water from the kettle over my manual pump.

[hubbahubster]

Good luck ch1a, message me if you feel the need! :)