Tips and advice on breastfeeding/bottle feeding for a first time mum

[Asianchick6693]

Hi, this might sound silly as I'm only 4 months but with coronavirus and everything going on I do feel like I'm in the dark about what to expect from being a new mum. I pretty much feel like I should know more at this point but I don't.. I want to think about options for feeding and what is best. I know I have a long way to go but I just want to have good info before I make a choice. I don't really know if mums breast feed exclusively and is this recommended? Or is combining breastfeeding on some occasions and using baby formula on others an option? Also what is the difference between breast feeding your baby and using a breast pump? I would have thought since both methods mean milk coming from your breasts it's the same but apparently it's not. Sorry if my questions seem silly. Hoping someone can help me! I want to start baby shopping after my 20 week scan too because of the excitement I feel already!

AS Humans on the whole the bet milk for our human baby is mums Breast milk. However bf can be tricky it can take a few weeks to master and their is constant worry about are they getting enough, partly as people are so used to formula they are comparing it to a formula method. I would suggest if you want to express can an electric pump as so much more efficient than a hand pump, but hand pumps do work. Also worth getting a mw to show you how to hand express. Expressing milk is hard work at first you get the tiny amount it hardly seems worth it but keep it up. If only expressing you need to do it at night as well and very regularly. It is useful if you have a child in scbu/nicu or are separate from them. All first milk formulas are pretty much the same. You can combine feed but danger is child could reject you. (I had this issue but was able to overcome.) Do join a local breast feeding group. Do seek out peer supporters, check out Kellymom and The association of breast feeding mothers. Also many hv do not recommend perfect prep machines as there are concerns regarding hygiene and also the heat being sustained for long enough to kill bacteria.

@june2007 thank you for your reply, will definitely look some of these things up x

I wanted to breastfeed, it didn't work out. DS has reflux and we think that's why we struggled. I tried to express but it was bloody hard work. Basically double the work so I was expressing and then feeding and cleaning everything then starting again. We switched to formula and that was the right choice for us. Yes breast milk is better but it's not that much better that you should do yourself in to breastfeed. If I ever have another I'll try again but if it doesn't work I'll spend a hell of a lot less time beating myself up about it. If you want to try breastfeeding then do. If it works, fantastic. If it doesn't, no biggie.

There are some free online antenatal/breastfeeding classes. I’ve joined one tomorrow night from a company called Blossom Antenatal. Don’t know whether it’ll be any use but nothing to lose

I wouldn't buy anything related to baby feeding until your baby is born. I found breastfeeding easy with both babies I have had. Never pumped, never used a bottle.
You may be the same as me (in which case you'll just need a few reusable or disposable breastpads, nursing bra and a modesty apron thing), or you may find expressing easier (in which case you would need a pump) or find breast feeding a nightmare and go for the bottle route.

You won't really know until your baby is born so my advice is to wait to avoid getting stuff you don't need.

I hope everything goes well for you.

@mylittlesandwich @kayakingmum thank you for your replies, I guess it's one of those things you won't really know what will work until baby is here.

@Anaesthetist83 that's useful thank you, let me know how you find it. I'll try give it a go as well.