Planning to breastfeed - do I still need bottles + steriliser

[PuffsMummie]

Exactly that really, due in 2 weeks and planning to BF, but DH thinks we still ought to buy a pack of bottles + a steriliser.

Do we??

Great question! I am in the same situation as you - want to be prepared as possibly could express milk and so would prob need bottles, teats, steriliser etc.
Am looking forward to seeing what the MNers recommend. X

Everyone will have their own opinions on this, but I personally wouldn't say so. It's down to preference really, but they're readily available from supermarkets etc if you needed them at short notice, so why spend the money if you don't have to? That said, I did invest in one pack of the small pre-made formula bottles with teats at the recommendation of my midwife, as the hospital I delivered at don't provide formula and I wanted them as a back up incase we had any issues with breastfeeding. As it happened they weren't needed

Some people will say it makes it easier to "give up" but I think there is no harm in having a couple of bottles and perhaps some milton/microwave sterilizer and some bottles of ready made formula. I've successfully bf both of mine past a year so it didn't impact

Same here. I've bought bottles and a basic cheap ish steriliser. So we have it if required. Plus a lot of people I've spoken to have given expressed milk via bottle when baby cluster feeds to give them a wee break. So thought having the option there would be good.

I brought a milton cold water steriliser from boots as I did express milk and needed it for my pump and bottles. I used it alot to begin with but my DS did refuse a bottle completely by about 5 months I think. It wasn't very expensive and I'll use it again for my baby due in october.

I bf my son for a year and bought an electric pump and bottles before he was born. My son never ever took a bottle or drank expressed milk, so looking back it was a complete waste of money. I would say hold off and see how you get on. If you change your mind DP can nip out and pick up supplies. Good luck.

I didn't with my first and I doubt I would will this time (currently 39 weeks with my second).
If you do decide you want to express (I didn't bother, feeding from the source was easier for me) you want to wait 4-6 weeks until your supply is established anyway. In that time you might decide against breastfeeding or expressing. I spent £100 on a fancy pump last time I was pregnant and it was a massive waste of money as I've only used it once.
Similarly for bottles and formula - if for some reason you need it, the supermarket will be open and you can get it. If it's not then the hospital will sign you some formula out of NICU (they did this for my friend when she was rushed back to theatre so her husband could do the first feed) even if they say it's not available they have to prescribe it if needed.

Depends where you live. I never did however we live in the suburbs of a small city and could buy a simple bottle and formula with an hour any time (within 10 minutes provided not a Sunday night ) If you're more rural then perhaps it is different.

I've breastfed for about 6 years in total now (4 babies) and never expressed or given a bottle; you can offer hand expressed milk from a teaspoon or syringe instead if you were caught short.

I'd say have the National Breastfeeding helpline number available, find out the details of local support groups (some offer antenatal feeding information sessions) and do a bit of reading of Kellymom / La Leche League websites (especially re hand expressing and cluster feeding) and perhaps one of Amy Brown's books.

Congratulations on your pregnancy

Don’t bother. If you want to have something in then get the pre-mixed bottles which come with sterile teats. You can always get a steriliser later if you find that you express a lot or want to begin combination feeding.

Remember too that you don’t need a steriliser to sterilise - you can boil equipment in a large pan, use Milton for cold water sterilisation, or buy microwave bags if you only need to sterilise the odd thing. I ebf two babies and the steriliser was a bulky, barely-used PITA.

Yeah u may still need just incase,im going to breast feed and still be getting those things.ive breast fed before and still used those things.
I know women who have struggled to breast feed so have had to top up with the bottle.

Nope! I breastfed our lo until she was 2 and she never had a bottle. We did buy a few bottles when she was ~4 months old and just washed them in hot soapy water, as they were only intended to be used for expressed breastmilk (which means they dont need to be sterilised). However she never actually drank from them, she wanted her milk straight from the source

PS - if you dont end up needing them its so easy to nip out and buy them from the local supermarket etc that its better to save your money

I didn't have any at the start, tried to express around 8 weeks, I hated it, she hated it, spent the guts of a £100 mothercare voucher we were given on different bottles, a microwave steriliser, etc etc none of which was used. I don't know why I bothered.

Now she's older, (10 months) I've started expressing a bit and it means I can go out in the evenings, by the time I'm back at work she should be ok on water and solids in the day.

Everyone is different, but if you want to breastfeed id genuinely suggest you put aside the money you'd spend on just in case bottles and put it towards an appointment with an ibclc lactation consultant when things start to feel a bit tough.

My baby is sick at the moment and I was thinking last night how grateful I am that it worked out I could breastfeed her as it is a comfort to her, I feel relaxed she's not getting dehydrated, and genuinely it's been really great, but at the start it was v hard, it just passed quite quickly.

If you have to or want to stop there's no issue with that but I feel people tend to say 'it might be hard, make plans to formula feed' instead of 'it might be hard, make plans to get support' - it will be v easy to switch to formula if that's what you decide but it's good to have plans in place for when it gets rough if you want to breastfeed.

With DS1 I was determined to breastfeed so didn’t buy any bottles etc.

It turned out I just couldn’t breastfeed him adequately - at 3 days old he was admitted to hospital because he was dehydrated and had low blood sugar, he just wasn’t getting enough from me :(

It was all quite scary and upsetting, plus it meant that while I was in the special care unit with him I was also desperately googling working out what I needed to formula feed and ordering stuff online, then I had to work out how to use everything when we were extremely sleep deprived and hormonal.

It was just all much more traumatic than it needed to be.

With DS2 I planned to breastfeed (it went well this time!) but I also had some sterilised bottles ready, formula ready etc which I feel took the pressure off.

You don’t need to buy anything before the birth if you are planning on breastfeeding. If it doesn’t work out you can just send DH to the shop to buy what you need.
I was the same as you, planned on breastfeeding primarily because I couldn’t be bothered with all the extra equipment and sterilising process. Nothing todo with breastfeeding is best and all that.
I had no idea if I could do it or not especially as my mother couldn’t but it worked out all right.

I'm not bothering. I'll just amazon prime stuff if I need to as its an expense that I might not need, but I think what's important is that you feel happy. If you'd rather have a back up and can afford to have wasted it then go for it.

As an ebf mum I completely recommend researching all the equipment you might need and where to buy it. Buy one single pre-made formula bottle. Anything could go wrong and it’s better to be prepared but not necessary to buy if you are within distance to shops/can order online.

Just buy two emergency bottles, those Milton cold steriliser tablets and formula just incase. My DS is 3 months, I breastfeed, but, I found the first 3 days really stressful and if I hadn't have given him one tiny bottle so that I could rest (as was having difficulty breastfeeding at first) he would be exclusively on formula by now.

If you want to express please don't use electric pump - you might end up with engorged breasts. The best pump is the hand held one from medulla (my mum is a midwife & they all recommend this one!). Breastfeeding is hard and sore in the first 6 weeks but it gets easier ! I'm so happy now I stuck with it as it's so easy now !!

And the single, pre made bottles go straight through them. Just get a bpx of the aptimal still. Mine is breast fed but has a bottle once a week or so if he is with my hubby as I don't like expressing. Good luck, it really does get better after the first weeks !!

Sorry, typing with one hand !

I didn't buy anything, just a pre made bottle in case I needed it. I advise the same with a breast pump too, just wait till they're here and see how it goes. You can get everything so easily now there's no need to stockpile

@SteamedPotatoes loved that pump! I have both and the manual one used to get me more milk quicker!

If you find some on offer maybe, I planned to BF but couldn't but we just bought the bottles when we knew, a lot of places sell them and things like Amazon prime are fab.

Don't bother; I have a Tommee Tippee steraliser that's never been used in 8 months as DS never took to bottles. I'm planning on selling it on FB marketplace. If I need to leave milk, I'll express into a bag which can be put in a cup for him.

Save your money!