Best bottles/pump/steriliser?

[Kescilly]

We are expecting our first in May and I'm a bit overwhelmed with all the choices. Ideally I'd like to exclusively breastfeed, then move on to pumping for the occasional bottle so that I'm not the only one capable of feeding baby.

I'm not sure what all I'd need. Do I get one of those bottle sets? Do I need to make sure they will work with my pump? Does anyone have any recommendations on specific pumps or bottles?

Also we were considering a microwave sterilizer. I've seen ones where they are plugged in, but is there any advantage to this? It seems like the microwave one would be easier.

We've decided to go with MAM self sterilising anti colic bottles as you can put them in the microwave on their own with out any sort of container. Was also considering the Tommee Tippee bottles as they are very highly rated.
The microwave sterilisers are fine but make sure it will fit in your microwave. Apparently an advantage to having the seperate system is it doubles up as storage for your bottles rather than finding cupboard space but then will obviously take up more counter space.
I haven't looked into pumps myself so sorry can't really help with that. But I have been told that if you are planning on breast feeding and using bottles as and when is necessary get the baby used to the bottle fairly early because if they get too old and then you try and introduce a bottle you may struggle. Like I say I have just been told that, other people may say differently.
Hope this helps some what and good luck!
And congratulations

I also use the MAM self sterilising anti colic ones and really recommend them! We originally bought the Tommie tippee steriliser with their bottles but found DD had awful trapped wind with those. Switched to the MAM ones and she’s been fine ever since. Love the fact they sterilise just in the microwave so no need for separate steriliser taking up space either.

I can’t help with the breast pump as I’ve never used but I’ve heard good things about the madala ones.

If you only using breast milk then you don’t need to sterilise. I would only get one bottle for now, try MAM or NUK because breast feed babies can be very picky about bottles. I would not recommend Tommy tippee ones at all.

The plug in sterilers are easier if you are doing a lot of bottles in one ago, so are useful if you move to formula. You have to be careful that the microwave sterilisers fit in your microwave.

We used a Mandela pump because the midwives had a special deal with them but I could never express milk. Some people can’t express milk but for me I had supply issues as I had been very poorly.

I highly recommend joining a local Facebook breast feeding group for advice.

I second MAM anti colic bottles.

I've been using the Medela swing pump and it's worked really well for me. We got the set that came with 3 bottles and teats and DS has taken to them well (started at 4 days old after the midwife recommended doing one EBM feed every 24 hours due to weight loss and at 9 weeks still going ok).
With the electric sterilisers I was getting confused with sizes and whether other brand bottles and pump parts etc would fit so we bought the Milton cold water steriliser, it has a 5L capacity and you can just chuck everything in including pump parts and they only need 15 minutes in the water. I wanted a microwave steriliser and I thought we had a normal size microwave but all they were all too big!

We also used the Medela swing pump which i definitely recommend. Initially we used the medela bottles with the calma teats which worked a treat. We had to combi feed at the start due to weight gain issues and the calma teats are supposed to help prevent babies preferring bottle over breast as they have to actively work for the milk. Once we got going with BF I stopped giving bottles for a few weeks to establish my supply however after the break my DD wouldn’t take a bottle anymore and it took a lot of work and trying different brands before she would take a bottle again. I also used the Milton cold water steriliser system as i don’t have a microwave and didn’t want to spend a lot of money on an electric one when I only planned to give the occasional bottle. Also a previous poster said you don’t need to sterilise bottles if using breast milk. This is not true. It’s fine not to if you are giving the milk straight after expressing but if you are storing in a bottle any bacteria in the bottle will grow in breast milk.

I mix feed & baby uses Tommee Tippee anti colic bottles & Tommee Tippee closer to nature bottles. First time for us so nothing to compare it to but he seems fine on them. I got the set from John Lewis but it’s this one

www.mothercare.com/sets/tommee-tippee-advanced-anti-colic-complete-feeding-kit/211828.html?wgu=11983_187205_15547925564361_fcd3c732dc&wgexpiry=1562568556&utm_source=webgains&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_content=71875&utm_campaign=Staircase%2051%20Ltd_187205

He’s been fine both on breast & bottle.

Currently using this breast pump but it’s my first time using one so I don’t have anything to compare it to but it’s been good so far

Breast Pump,Bellababy Dual... www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07CWKTBJQ?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share&tag=mumsnetforu03-21

Thanks everyone! I’m wondering now if it would be better to forget the pump and do an occasional formula bottle instead. I really like the idea of breast feeding, but don’t know how it will go and want others to be able to feed her if necessary.

Most mothers I know had every intention of breastfeeding and all switched to formula sooner than they expected, so I don’t want to be naive either.

Make sure you have access to a breastfeeding support group. There should be one at your hospital or local NCT group. This will really help your chances of getting breastfeeding going. Also recommend you have at least two bottles in case there are any initial difficulties so you aren’t trying to find one at a Tesco late at night! MAM worked for us. Speak to your midwife about breastfeeding and pumping as a lot of babies won’t take formula if breastfeeding so don’t assume it’s an easy fix. We have the elvie pump. It’s very expensive but amazing and compatible with any bottle. Medela has always been highly recommended too for years.

@Maddis136 that’s a good idea, maybe we will just get a few in for now. The midwife basically told me it’s best to exclusively breastfeed. Which I understand, but would really like the option of a bottle of some sort if possible. We are doing NCT classes but haven’t gotten to the breastfeeding section yet so I was hoping to have more information then.

Pleased to hear good things about Medela, I grew up near one of their headquarters!

@Kescilly Yes NCT will cover some helpful bits but I did find I needed to chat to a specialist when the time came as it looked like my baby was always hungry BUT this was in fact totally normal and she was feeding fine. I would have given up if I hadn't been supported. It is best to exclusively breastfeed to make sure all your milk production "turns on" so to speak, the more you feed the more your body makes milk. BUT I was advised to introduce a bottle a day of expressed breastmilk from 6 weeks onwards so my baby got used to that and I could have a break. Best of luck with it all! xx

I breast fed my DD and expressed as well so she was having a bottle of expressed milk a day and it was very tough for the first 6 weeks or so because I was basically either feeding or expressing or trying to then find time to wash up the bottles and pump etc. My DD did a lot of cluster feeding in the early days though so it might not always be the case.
At around 3 months I stopped expressing and she has a small bottle of formula if we are out and about and it's not convenient to breast feed etc I just use the little ready made bottles. Giving up the expressing was a big relief for me as although I could easily express enough for a bottle in one sitting it took a long time and DD was normally crying at the same time!

As for bottles we started on tommee tippee and got the set with the electric steriliser which is very good but I wouldn't recommend their bottles they gave DD awful wind and as soon as we switched to MAM she was loads better.