First Feed then bottle?

[julzx]

Hi all,

I am due with 2nd baby, planned c section on the 20th December, my sons birth previously was really traumatic as a result i didnt get to hold him or do the first feed with him or really look after him until a few days later.
I would like to breastfeed the first feed or first few so that she gets the colostrum then switch on to bottles is this possible? Or am i best just sticking to bottles from the get go?
Sorry this all seems like my first time as everything was so messed up last time around

I did this

I was desperate to BF so I tried but failed. However I did manage to give them the colostrum for 24 hours before giving them a bottle

Of course you can try breast then switch.

I did that with our 1st 3. Our twins I had the little bottles of pre-made formula with me too and combination fed them for a few weeks. Current baby I took the pre-made bottles too, I wanted to bf 1st but I lost a lot of blood and was passing out when they tried to move me to feed her so dh gave her bottles. At 2 days old I started offering the breast and she combination fed for a week before going on to formula alone.

Thanks for posting. I'd like to do the same, so this is really helpful :)

I would advise you do a free breastfeeding workshop with blossom antetnatsl on zoom

I did this too.

I breastfed immediately after giving birth and DS latched on well. At the next feed he wouldn’t latch properly so they manually expressed into a syringe and fed him from that.

This continued for another day until I was getting distressed by it all and just wanted to go home. I had to be quite firm with the staff about wanting to switch to bottles so maybe let your birth partner know what you want so they can support you. You could even write it in your notes so they are aware of your intentions and don’t push for continued breastfeeding if that’s not what you want.

@batmanladybird

I would advise you do a free breastfeeding workshop with blossom antetnatsl on zoom

And I am the biggest supporter of breastfeeding and I think it’s a shame when women don’t want to … but this poster doesn’t want to breastfeed, so why would she do this?

She wants to feed the colostrum but then formula feed.

Of course it's fine,it's your baby

However, my 2st labour was awful really traumatic with loads of complications - nearly a year to recover. My 2nd and 3rd where very easy! Don't put pressure on yourself one way or the other, just go with the flow maybe you and baby will take to breastfeeding really well (my no 3 was a little champ from day one) and if you try and it's not for you that's fine too

Echo what PP said if you want to switch to bottles it should be fine. I did as I just was in no state to BF after trying initially. You might have to be quite firm with the midwifes when you want to switch though as they must have targets or something as they are quite pushy with the BF.

Why don't you try some colostrum harvesting from 36 weeks. Get some 1ml or 2.5 ml syringes off Amazon. You could give him the colostrum in the hospital and let him breast feed for the first few days/weeks and then swap.

Yes, I did this. I just fed as and when for the first couple of days then moved over to those ready made bottles with the teat included before my milk came in. When my milk came in I just wore two firm bras at all times and the milk quickly went away. Feeding colostrum only then formula worked really well for us and I’d do it again.

Yup I did the exact same thing with dd2 breast fed in hospital then simply switched to bottles at home. I'd had a hard time trying and failing to breast feed dd1 so had fully intended to switch to bottles. 😄

thanks everyone this has been really helpful, i'm hoping for a calmer better experience in all ways this time, we were both very poorly last time. I don't really have a time limit first few feeds or first few days just so that they get a good start, i just dont think breastfeeding fully is for me but i'm open minded ( im aware is not just for me but for baby just i have a lot of things to consider), i just think with having a toddler already too it will be more practical for bottle's as my partner and my mum can help if i need a rest or have any complications which there is a good chance that i may have due to my first delivery, delving a bit into the unknown camp as its kind of wait and see what my body decide's to do!

@srh96

Why don't you try some colostrum harvesting from 36 weeks. Get some 1ml or 2.5 ml syringes off Amazon. You could give him the colostrum in the hospital and let him breast feed for the first few days/weeks and then swap.

Colostrum that is fresh is sooo much better for the baby than frozen stuff that's a few weeks old. Harvested colostrum is useful for sick babies or mums that can't feed at birth as it's better than nothing but colostrum produced at birth is the most 'up to date' formulation with antibodies for viruses that the mother may have been exposed to in the days or hours before birth.

OP - of course you can do this. Every drop of colostrum your baby gets is amazing for them. If you decide not to continue with the BF journey thereafter, that is of course your choice

@careerchangeperhaps

I know, I'm a midwife.

Op wants to BF for the first few days to give baby some colostrum. I was letting her know she could hand express at home antenatally and freeze as well. She can then feed baby on the breast for the first few days as she's already planned to do, and she would also have whatever she's harvested antenatally to give. Baby then gets more colostrum without her having to continue to BF, which is great and presumably what she wants.

It was a good suggestion, no need to knock it.

Hi I had a c-section last month and wanted to do this. I tried to express colostrum before he was born which ended up amounting to the tiniest smidge of a syringe so really didn’t work out. I then decided I’d use the extra syringes to express into in hospital rather than put the baby to the breast. This also didn’t work out and I got very very little out. I let my milk dry up but after 6 days I started leaking when he was crying and this wave of guilt came over me that I hadn’t just put him to the breast when he was born then switch to bottles. I didnt spend enough time thinking about it when I was pregnant because I just presumed the syringes would work out and he’d have the best of both worlds 🙄 With a future baby I’d do as you are saying for 2 days or something then bottle feed

I had a c section nearly 2 weeks ago and did exactly this.

It was baby number 4 for me and I knew in advance that this is what I wanted to do. I didn’t ever enjoy breastfeeding my other babies and the longest I did was around 3 weeks.

This time I breastfed the colostrum up until day 3. Then on day 4 I woke up and my milk had come in and my boobs were rock hard so I switched to the formula.
Baby took to it perfectly and my milk dried up with no issues. I was taking paracetamol anyway for the c section pain, so this also covered any uncomfortable feeling from my breasts too.

I did this with both my DC. I breastfed for the first couple of feeds then switched to bottle. No issues at all.

@Moominmiss this is really helpful as I'm planning to do the same after my section, first evening and next day BF and then switch to formula when home. Did you find your milk went without much trouble? How long did it take roughly. I've no idea what to expect. X x

@jessicakxx my milk dried up with no problems whatsoever. It came in on day 3 and my breast were rock hard, sore and huge for 3 to 4 days and then the pain eased. I’m now 2 weeks since delivery and their completely back to normal and have been for a few days now.

If you find the pain too much, then just make sure you’re on top of your section pain and that’ll cover it. They weren’t sore for me day to day, just when trying to get comfy in bed at night. I couldn’t lay on my sides because they were so sore and big, but aside from that it was fine.