Formula Feeding

[Lou98]

I'm currently 31 weeks pregnant with my first baby and have been weighing up BF or FF. I am still undecided but for my own personal reasons I think it will most likely be FF. However, I'm really confused about it all and was wondering if anybody could help with answering some questions for me?

1. How do you know how much formula to give your baby and will I know when they're hungry/showing signs?

1. Is it best to stick to one brand of formula? So for example, if I give them aptamil but one day they don't have any in the shops, could I give them a different brand? Or would that upset their tummy?

1. What is your preferred brand of formula? And roughly, how much do you spend per week?

1. How many bottles roughly do you need for FF? And what bottles do you prefer?

1. If FF straight away after birth, does your milk still come in and if so how long does it take to "dry up" ?

Sorry for so many questions but I'm just so confused with it all! Any help would be much appreciated!

1. you'll pick up the signs they are hungry, and it's trial and error at first with how much to make. Ignore the reccomended amounts and timings on the box.

2. I only ever used one brand, as there was no reason to change.

3. I used Cow and gate. At its maximum I'd get through about 1.5 boxes a week (the old ones were slightly bigger though) but early on and later on, it was less. On average, a box a week. So about £11 for an old size box.

4. we used tommee tippee, and had about 15. We planned to formula feed though. We also made up the bottles once a day, flash cooled them and kept them in the fridge. The NHS doesn't reccomend it, but the WHO says it's fine, and I've had no issue with it. And no crying baby waiting for food or boiling water in the middle of the night.

5. with my first (95% formula by choice) it didn't come in. My second it did, but I tried to combi feed*

• By tried, I mean I strictly alternated from birth, had my formula station set up, baby had first bottle within hours if birth. Unfortunately baby refused bottles, and despite a lot of effort refused anything that wasn't boob (even dummies) so I was forced to ebf, even though I was back to work (from home, or) at 3m, and my husband was on SPL.

I started FF at 4 months.

As others said formula packs have a guide, always best to make a bit too much and they leave it, they will let you know when they've had enough.

I used a perfect prep machine and used boiled, cooled water in it and cleaned it about twice a week, no problems and so handy for night feeds. Now he's down to 4 bottles I just use slightly cooled boiled water and run under the cold tap.

All formulas are pretty much the same, I've just always used aptamil. You can also get pre sterilised made up bottles to take to the hospital if you need them.

I use man bottles, I have 7 so I don't have to wash up/sterlaise as often. They do small ones for early days if you want.

Now he is drinking more I probably buy a box a week which is about £11.

1. How do you know how much formula to give your baby and will I know when they're hungry/showing signs?

Formula tins have a guide amount on them by age of baby. Babies show hunger, you just need to watch out for it - licking their lips, opening their mouth and sticking their tongue out, moving their head from side to side. These are known as 'feeding cues'. Once baby is crying with hunger, it means they they should have been fed a while ago!

2. Is it best to stick to one brand of formula? So for example, if I give them aptamil but one day they don't have any in the shops, could I give them a different brand? Or would that upset their tummy?

Definitely stick to one brand. Swapping brands can give them stomach ache, which will make then upset and unsettled.

3. What is your preferred brand of formula? And roughly, how much do you spend per week?
the best brand is the one you can access easily at your local shop. Nutritionally they are much of a muchness and no particular brand is "better" or more like breast milk than any other. I can't advise on cost, I've never used any.

4. How many bottles roughly do you need for FF? And what bottles do you prefer?
2 times the amount your steriliser can hold. Then you have a clean set and a dirty set and you aren't trying to sterilise when baby is hungry.

5. If FF straight away after birth, does your milk still come in and if so how long does it take to "dry up" ?

yes milk comes in between day 3 and 5, sometimes up to day 7, Regardless of bf or ff. It'll take 2- 3 weeks to dry up but the discomfort should ease before that.

I've only ever breastfed, but can see the appeal of FF and have FF my niece and nephew when they've stayed. I researched both heavily before having mine and was totally set of FF!

@dotdashdashdash I had no idea 2-3 weeks was the norm, mine was 3/4 days didn't realise how ill i was stopped it more quickly.

@welshladywhois40 brilliant, thank you! I'll definitely stick to one brand at a time then, I think my local shop only has aptamil but the supermarkets are only 15mins away so can always stock up to make sure I don't run out.

When your baby only drinks half of the bottle, with the other half is it safe to keep for them to finish later or do you throw it away and make a fresh one for the next bottle?

@Babyboomtastic thank you!
I wasn't sure if it was okay to make up bottles in advance or not, I've read a lot of conflicting advice. How long do you keep them for when you make them? And do you give them straight out the fridge or warm them up first?

Thank you everyone for the advice! Definitely feeling a bit more confident about it all now, I'm sure there will still be stuff I'll be unsure about it once he's here but I like to be as prepared as I can be with it all! 😁

@Lou98 if they ve had some you have to chuck it after an hour but you won't often make the wrong amount unless they re ill/teething/having a growth spurt

The NHS say ‘make each bottle up as you need it’... but then say ‘but if that’s not possible here’s how you can make bottles up in advance:’

www.nhs.uk/conditions/baby/breastfeeding-and-bottle-feeding/bottle-feeding/formula-milk-questions/

In reality, once we started using powder, we did end up making the bottles up in advance each day. We couldn’t see a way of doing it where we could cook it down quickly in a hurry, especially at night. Obviously not ideal but our baby suffered no ill effects.

We did rely on Pre made for the first couple of months. More expensive but so much easier especially during the night.

@Lou98 you should get rid of any unused formula if they don't have it within an hour. That's a big hazard of pre-making bottles, if baby is feeling off and their appetite reduces you can end up throwing a fair bit out. Our eldest was terrible for this as she picked up pretty much every bug floating around as a baby/toddler, rarely ill as a teen though.

How long do you keep them for when you make them? And do you give them straight out the fridge or warm them up first?

I made sure I cooled them quickly (water bath with cold running water) and then at the back of the fridge. Obviously make sure you have a working fridge thermometer. We made up batches to last 24 hours

At home, we heated them up in s microwave. It's officially a big no-no, because of some horrific stories of babies being burned, but as long as you heat it gently and give it a good shake or stir, it's fine, as that will disperse any hot spots, and always test on your wrist before use. The problem is people that a few people heated it up to literally boiling and then fed it straight to their baby, so obviously don't do that.

For going out, we had an insulated bottle Carrier, and a tommee tippeee portable bottle heater, which is basically a flask and beaker.

@1990shopefulftm @Chelyanne thank you! I'll be sure to throw any away that's unused.

There's just so much conflicting advice when it comes to pre making bottles etc it's helpful to hear from other women who have done it and how they found it

@Horizons83 thank you! When you pre made your bottles do you use them within 24 hours and throw away what's left? Or less time than that?

@Babyboomtastic thank you! We do have a bottle warmer there that a friend gave us so that should come in handy for warming them. I've had a look at the tommee tippee flask for out and about, think I'll definitely pick one of those up!

[quote Lou98]@Horizons83 thank you! When you pre made your bottles do you use them within 24 hours and throw away what's left? Or less time than that? [/quote]
We did use all the bottles within 24 hours. I seem to recall (we only stopped in December but feels like a lifetime ago!) we made them up at about 3pm and then used them up until the lunchtime feed the next day. Definitely didn’t go over 24 hours.

@Horizons83 brilliant, thank you!

Obviously you need to make the decision that’s right for you: I would say that formula feeding was definitely right for us. It was taken out of my hands anyway: I didn’t want to breast feed but had so many people telling me breast is best that I decided I would try, attended all the workshops etc. When it came to it, not a single drop of colostrum or milk came out of me. I was so relieved to have the option of using formula and making sure my baby was fed.

It also meant that DH was involved right from the outset, in fact he gave the first feed. Whilst the first 8 weeks of night feeds were tough, they were made easier by the fact that we could tag team it.

Actually that has reminded me, make sure you take some Pre made formula to the hospital even if you don’t use it. We didn’t take any the hospital had some we could take but weren’t overall impressed, DH had to do a late night supermarket trip!

Wow so many spelling mistakes.. hopefully you get my point!

@Horizons83 yeah I have had a few people irl tell me I should be at least trying BF before deciding but I've talked it through with my DP and will with my midwife but personally I think for us FF will be the best option. The main reason with my DP working away, it means, as you say when he's home he can help with the nights so I'm still getting some sleep and I can have support when he's away. It just feels right for us to FF but I have been feeling the pressure with BF advice.

I have a few bottles of ready made that I've bought to take to the hospital and will take some sterile bottles as I ideally want to decide before going in if I'll FF or BF as would rather start from the offset if FF. As this is my first though I have no idea how it will be in hospital, if this is supported or if I will try be encouraged to BF

@Lou98 the hospital was very accepting of formula feeding and they had absolutely no time to really help anyone with BF anyway as they were short on staff.

Don't let the pressure get to you, "I have made the right decision for my family" just keep repeating that and people will give up eventually

I've read through this, just out of interest. My three were ebf and I know I had it easy, they still love their food now lol. If BF turns out to be straightforward, then it's brilliant. You never have to worry about making up a bottle, you don't have to wash and sterilise bottles, you never run out of milk and night feeds are a doddle. My DH was great with changing nappies, bedtime routines, bath times and playtimes, so I didn't miss out on having a break. During feed time I put my feet up and was waited on with drinks and snacks.

I honestly think you should do what's best for you @Lou98 but I thought a different way of looking at BF might be of interest.

These are great to have for the hospital:

www.boots.com/aptamil-1-first-milk-starter-pack-ready-to-feed-6x70ml-10175040?cm_mmc=bmm-buk-google-ppc--baby--Aptamil-_-UK_Generic_DSA+Baby&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIwsyQ-N7J7wIVkJftCh0lJAGuEAAYASAAEgKzxPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Hope that link works. Comes with Pre sterilised bottles.. maybe that’s what you have already? I found out about them on the day I left!

Oh, and aptamil and cow and gate are the same company: we mixed between those two brands out of necessity and our baby never had any problems.

One other thing I remember the midwife telling me: if you switch from Pre made to powder formula it can sometimes cause constipation, so best to do the change gradually.

@1990shopefulftm thank you, it's good to know they were supportive! I have a few friends with babies/children but they BF so wasn't sure what to expect. Yeah, I do just try and end the conversations and just say I've weighed up pros and cons of both but it's what's best for us