Exclusively Bottle Feeding

[Hjudge56]

Hi All,

I’m 27 weeks pregnant with my first baby, a little girl! I will be exclusively bottle feeding my baby and wanted to hear from any fellow mumma’s who have done the same previously/planning to do the same. Do you have any recommendations/tips/experience/reassurance haha? Thanks!

Tommee Tippee 100% Younwill need both small and large sizes though. Big bottle + Newborn baby = too hard to hold and balance

Their resale value is pretty good, too!

Just want to send bottle feeding support. I loved it as it allowed my husband and I to share both joy and responsibility for our daughter in a really nice way. We each had times of the day we were responsible for her so we equally rested and spent time taking care of her. We still manage care this way. I hope you enjoy bottle feeeding, too!

Milton cold water steriliser is great as the water is sterile for 24 hours no matter how many times you take things in and out of it.

Tommee tippee perfect prep machine for making bottles when at home and the pre-made bottles of formula for if you are out for the day.

Bottles are very individual down to the baby but we liked the tommee tippee bottles, luckily my children weren't too colicky

Thanks ladies this is all wonderful!

I have got the Tommee Tippee steriliser but I’m wondering if I should get the Milton tablets too for sterilising? If anyone has tried both- which did they find easier/ more convenient?

Ah this is great to hear! Definitely going to start with the pre-made bottles for the first few days and then formula

Sorry that message above was meant to be a reply to @Janedoelondon !

We had the tommee tippee electric steriliser first and I hated it. So we went to Milton. Cheaper too

I tried both but preferred the TT steriliser. My son had bad reflux and the Milton tablets seemed to make it worse 🤷🏻‍♀️ Could be a coincidence of course.

I bottle fed both of mine simply because I had to go back to work when they were both 3 months old. Worked well for us, both slept well and are now perfect adults with no illnesses or allergies. We had a plug in steam steriliser and used to make the bottles up the night before and store in the fridge, I don't think this is recommended now but there are so many options available. You do what's right for you and your circumstances. Good luck.

Same! And my DH got to do so many of the feeds too. Such a lovely thing to share.

@Hjudge56 the milton steriliser is so easy. It’s 5ltrs of water a day and as a pp said you can reuse it within 24hrs and it takes 15mins. I have the tommee tippee steriliser in the box still for now.

In an emergency I bought the mam bottles. Which are great, but I forgot to wipe excess water away.

I was exactly the same
TT then went to cold water. TT only stays sterile for so long so id be waiting for it and burn my hands with baby screaming for milk.

I used both. TT all the way! Milton is smelly and takes up too much extra room. I switched a couple of months ago and haven’t looked back.

OP, my tip for bottle feeding would be to get your baby used to taking cold / lukewarm milk as soon as possible. Means you won’t still be farting around with saucepans and kettles as they get older. I wish we had done this - by the time I was given this tip and tried it, my son had decided he absolutely wasn’t interested!

Dont worry about trying a few different formulas. Your baby may like some more than others and some may have better effects eg on wind than others. It’s quite individual too - Cow and Gate gave my son horrendous wind, whereas friends who have colicky babies have said it’s great.

Ditto bottles. You may need to try a few. It’s better value to buy in bulk but that’s no good if your baby can’t stand one type of bottle. We liked MAM and still use them 18 months on.

No it really doesn't. Honestly it's a great way to sterilise. I started doing it that way when my Avent steriliser broke and I just used a large mixing bowl and it worked great.

@Hjudge56 I use the tommee tippe microwave steriliser. It's great. Well stopped using at 6 months. Stopped sterilising then. Just washed bottles with hot soapy water from that point onwards

I formula fed my first and breastfed my second so I'm pro breastfeeding but firmly believe that it's got to be the woman's choice. Be out and proud about your reasons for formula feeding in real life. Too many women feel they have to make up an excuse for not breastfeeding which isn't fair on them and it creates a really negative image of breastfeeding for women that do want to feed. More women need to be like you and just say 'because I don't want to!', your body your choice. I loved breastfeeding but the early days were hard, I can't imagine going through the early days of it if I didn't really want to.

I know you said you want to try kendalmil but don't stockpile too much of one formula. The formula I was advised to buy gave my son a funny tummy, so I had to buy a different one. Every baby is different. Definately use premade bottles in the early days just to make life easier for yourself.

@DangerNoodles How do you know people are making up reasons for not breastfeeding? 🤔

Give it a rest Emma, I know more about your boobs by now than I do my own. This is not the thread for you.

I mix fed my first Yep, Mam bottles were fab, you can sterilise them quickly in the microwave. I preferred a steam steriliser to cold water just because I was always a bit paranoid that the bottles and parts were never completely submerged and therefore not 100% clean? I would also advise buying cartons for days out, and initially night feeds as you will be exhausted.

There is no difference. Here is a study. Who is bandying around misinformation now?

https://bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12884-019-2264-0

You give it a rest you didn't need to quote me 🙄

It's just my opinion and experience and this is a free forum to say what you want. If you don't like it keep on scrolling 👍

Yes, and I did say what I want - that people are getting irritated with you inserting yourself into every single feeding thread on here so you can pontificate about your ‘breastfeeding journey’ even when it’s totally irrelevant.

This is a thread for bottle feeding mums, so it’s you that should have kept scrolling.

I can see I’m far from the only person who thinks this as well, hopefully you will take the hint this time.

Emma, nobody gives a shit about your breastfeeding opinions on this thread about bottle feeding. Please stop.

@TheBirdintheCave Just through conversations I have had with mums in real life. Plus the human race would have never survived if so many women couldn't breastfeed. Yes I know there is an appalling lack of support for mums who do want to breastfeed and various other factors, but given that the majority of mums formula feed, some must be making the choice but you rarely hear mums say it.

I was so poorly after my first that I was relieved when pumping didn't work out (DS1 was tube fed at first), I wish I had just said my body has been though enough, I want to bottle feed rather than messing about. My DS said she felt some relief when she was told my DN had a tongue tie, as she felt like she had a 'good enough' reason to not try breastfeeding.