Should you buy some bottles before baby is born?

[Alyssum34456]

Plan to bf but have been told by midwife this might be difficult and don't want to stress out with nothing else at home. Even with bf it would be nice to let dp help out with feeding. Which bottles would you recommend especially to stop nipple confusion?

Ideally I would wait 10 weeks or so before expressing to get the supply sorted but wasn't sure.

I expressed from three weeks. I used the medela bottles that came with my pump with a medela calma teat. I didn’t buy any before he was born - I was afraid I’d be tempted to give up and give formula if I had them ready.

All three of mine have got on well with the Tommee Tippee bottles, I combination fed for the first few weeks. If you're worried it will stress you out then it won't hurt to have some
In the cupboard just in case, but you might be fine.

Mam bottles, you use the bottles themselves to sterilise in a microwave (with the right amount of water added).

I would also have a couple to ready made cartons to hand.

At least you will have a back up for whatever reason for whatever time of day or night and the bottles are sterilised in 3 mins.

I'd get some of those premade disposable bottles in, just incase.
BF didn't work for me, and ended up with a frantic 4am trip for DH to the big Asda to buy bottles, formula etc, all very stressful.
Just get some in, they are about £6, if you don't need them you can pass them on to someone who does.

I got mam bottles before my baby was born but planned to ebf. I struggled in the first few days and ended up giving baby formula in hospital. It gave him the energy boost he needed to try latching again. I was going to avoid expressing but midwives encouraged me to start so I could give him a top up as his weight dropped below 10%. I would recommend having bottles but also would say if you need to give baby some formula on the odd occasion to get you through until your milk changes don’t kick yourself for it. There are cultures who don’t breastfeed the first few days until their milk changes and then switch from formula to ebf with no issues

We bought bottles and ready made formula cartons, in the end he was breastfed till about 6/7 months with no problem but it helped knowing that if there was any problem we had a bottle just in case.

I expressed from 4 weeks. Started with Tommee Tippee bottles but couldn't get her to take those so switched to Philips Avent Classic + and she is great with those now.

I had premade disposable bottles just in case. I actually bf for 2 weeks then mixed fed. (I had a possibility that I would need to go back on mediation.) Though until she was about 4 months old it was one or no bottles a day.

If you are going down the mix feeding route make sure until your LO is 3/4 months it is your OH or someone else giving them the bottles. Then they will associate you with bf and other people with bottles.

I was given random makes of expensive bottles and got others free at a baby show. In the end she only like Boots or Asda own brand.

I planned to breastfeed but I still had some bottles just in case.

I used tommee tippee at first but my son didn’t like them so swapped to Avent natural bottles and he guzzled the milk with happiness.

I got some pre made milk cartons too although they were for emergencies and when we were out and about and didn’t have the resources to make a fresh bottle

I'm doing some research into infant feeding information in pregnancy and how prepared new mums feel for feeding experiences after birth. If any pregnant first-time UK mums would be happy to complete an online survey in pregnancy and after birth you can find the link here:

livpsych.eu.qualtrics.com/j…/form/SV_9Sr3ehCjQh5Ggtv