newbie question!

[muscari]

Hi! Just posted this question over at the Ask a Grad thead at PAIF but realized I could also post it here!

So I plan on BFing once the baby gets here (which hopefully won't be too long now, 12 days till my due date!). Should I have a set of bottles + formula ready before baby comes already just in case as well? MH is thinking he will just pop to the store in case BFing/pumping isn't working as planned at first to get stuff, and I guess he could, except of tis the weekend (I'm not in the US and we don't have the 24/7 store openings here heh)... so I'm not sure how far ahead I should plan.

Also, for those who pump, do you exclusively pump or combine both BF as pumping? If you do both, do you use special bottle nipples (is that what they're called in English?)? And how many bottles do you have?

Thanks in advance and I look forward getting to know y'all better over the next few weeks/months!

[sammysam]

For me I ended up with an emergency c-section at 40+2 and because of it my milk didn't come in right away. The hospital sent us home with enough formula to last a couple of days (I'm in Canada). It certainly never hurts to have formula in the house just in case. We were on formula until my milk finally came in and then we used it to suplement until DD was exclusively breast feeding. I liked knowing we had some just in case we ever needed it. We used a tube to feed her so didn't use a bottle for quite some time. I know different babies like different brands so you may not want to buy more than a couple until you see if you're going to be using them and which ones your LO likes.

I can't help with the pumping question...I only pumped while trying to stimulate my milk to come in but stopped once it did. I think there are people who pump and BF and people who do exclusively one or the other. You'll figure out what works best for you. It's all a learning process and there's no one right answer.

Good luck with everything!

[gimmesugar]

muscari We had a couple of different bottle brands handy, but I didn't have any formula. We did receive some samples in the mail shortly before my due date...I'm sure I ended up on a mailing list somehow. We never ended up using it.

I combine pumping and BFing, but I didn't start pumping until sometime between 6-8 weeks. This is partly because I didn't have the mental energy to figure out how to pump initially and partly because I didn't want to introduce a bottle too soon. Because BFing was going well, I started out just pumping once per week (generally on Saturday morning during nap time while H was home), and H gives him a bottle maybe once per week at this point just to get DS used to it before I go back to work. If you wait too long to introduce a bottle, baby might reject it. I'm just now going to start pumping more to build up a small "just in case" freezer stash before my leave ends.

[muscari]

Aug 6, 2017 15:52:34 GMT -6 gimmesugar said:

muscari We had a couple of different bottle brands handy, but I didn't have any formula. We did receive some samples in the mail shortly before my due date...I'm sure I ended up on a mailing list somehow. We never ended up using it.

I combine pumping and BFing, but I didn't start pumping until sometime between 6-8 weeks. This is partly because I didn't have the mental energy to figure out how to pump initially and partly because I didn't want to introduce a bottle too soon. Because BFing was going well, I started out just pumping once per week (generally on Saturday morning during nap time while H was home), and H gives him a bottle maybe once per week at this point just to get DS used to it before I go back to work. If you wait too long to introduce a bottle, baby might reject it. I'm just now going to start pumping more to build up a small "just in case" freezer stash before my leave ends.

There were a couple of bottles&nipples in the baby boxes we recieved, but I don't think Nutrilon mails out any samples of formula around here! Shame, would have come in handy haha.

I plan on mainly BFing but also want to start pumping early-ish on if I can to build up a small freezer stash  (originally I was going back to work 10wks PP but I lost my job while 28wks pregnant so will be a SAHM for now heh, but I still think it'll come in handy - plus I think it'd be nice for MH to be able to feed her a bottle occasionally as well). But yeah like you say, don't want to introduce a bottle too soon as to not mess up the BFing. I didn't realize baby could also refuse the bottle if you BF for a long time... Guess that's just something you don't know beforehand and something to just play by ear.

[LED]

Aug 7, 2017 3:10:28 GMT -6 muscari said:

Aug 6, 2017 15:52:34 GMT -6 gimmesugar said:

muscari We had a couple of different bottle brands handy, but I didn't have any formula. We did receive some samples in the mail shortly before my due date...I'm sure I ended up on a mailing list somehow. We never ended up using it.

I combine pumping and BFing, but I didn't start pumping until sometime between 6-8 weeks. This is partly because I didn't have the mental energy to figure out how to pump initially and partly because I didn't want to introduce a bottle too soon. Because BFing was going well, I started out just pumping once per week (generally on Saturday morning during nap time while H was home), and H gives him a bottle maybe once per week at this point just to get DS used to it before I go back to work. If you wait too long to introduce a bottle, baby might reject it. I'm just now going to start pumping more to build up a small "just in case" freezer stash before my leave ends.

There were a couple of bottles&nipples in the baby boxes we recieved, but I don't think Nutrilon mails out any samples of formula around here! Shame, would have come in handy haha.

I plan on mainly BFing but also want to start pumping early-ish on if I can to build up a small freezer stash  (originally I was going back to work 10wks PP but I lost my job while 28wks pregnant so will be a SAHM for now heh, but I still think it'll come in handy - plus I think it'd be nice for MH to be able to feed her a bottle occasionally as well). But yeah like you say, don't want to introduce a bottle too soon as to not mess up the BFing. I didn't realize baby could also refuse the bottle if you BF for a long time... Guess that's just something you don't know beforehand and something to just play by ear.

We had to supplement for a while because she lost so much weight at the beginning (my milk didn't come in until day 7) and she took a bottle right away, but then at somewhere around 3-4 weeks she stopped. Absolutely refused to even put it in her mouth even though she had had a bottle almost every day previously. Never took another bottle after that. Babies are picky.

[gimmesugar]

LED Omg how strange! Babies are so quirky sometimes...and of course they can't tell you WHY they don't want it anymore lol. I have a friend whose daughter never took a bottle and would go hours without eating until she could nurse. She never took a pacifier either.

muscari Yeah, you'll definitely have to be flexible. The important thing with the bottle nipple is for it to be slow flow...as slow as possible. Then, it's important for the caregiver to pace feed in order to mimic the milk flow from breastfeeding.

I couldn't fathom trying to pump early on, so don't beat yourself up if you just can't find the energy while you're in survival mode. It's not just figuring out how to use the pump but also proper storage and cleaning...which gave me major tired head. If I recall correctly, I believe whitney pumped from the beginning for reasons similar to yours. I'm sure other ladies have done the same and could provide some pointers about logistics. For example, if baby is cluster feeding, I imagine it would be difficult to find an opportunity to pump.

[mikaela20]

We had lots is struggles with breastfeeding and we've been doing both bfing and pumping . Mostly exclusive pumping and suplimenting with formula. Wide mouth bottles are recommended when bottle feeding and bfing. Using a slow flow.

My H had to go back home to bring the pump to the hospital. So I would recommend bringing it -at least in the car. If your baby doesn't latch at the hospital, pumping helps to stimulate the milk to come in. The hospital will most likely send you home with formula if you need it. But doesn't hurt to buy a small pack to have at home and keep the reciept to return if you don't need it.

I have 5 bottles. It just depends on how often you want to wash and sanitize. I am doing it constantly lol.

[piratecat]

We started supplementing early on due to low supply and too much weight loss. We fed through a tube in the beginning and switched to bottles at 3 weeks, which I believe is when they recommend you introduce a bottle even if you are exclusively breastfeeding so that the baby doesn't reject it later. The hospital sent us home with a couple packs of ready-mixed newborn formula.

We use Avent Natural glass bottles. They have newborn and an even slower flow nipples, which I like. We also have Evenflo glass bottles which I don't like as much. We have a total of 12 bottles, which let us throw them in the dishwasher to be washed. Without having to supplement or needing daycare, I would think 3 bottles would be plenty for the occasional babysitters or whatever.

[whitney]

Aug 7, 2017 14:50:14 GMT -6 gimmesugar said:

LED Omg how strange! Babies are so quirky sometimes...and of course they can't tell you WHY they don't want it anymore lol. I have a friend whose daughter never took a bottle and would go hours without eating until she could nurse. She never took a pacifier either.

muscari Yeah, you'll definitely have to be flexible. The important thing with the bottle nipple is for it to be slow flow...as slow as possible. Then, it's important for the caregiver to pace feed in order to mimic the milk flow from breastfeeding.

I couldn't fathom trying to pump early on, so don't beat yourself up if you just can't find the energy while you're in survival mode. It's not just figuring out how to use the pump but also proper storage and cleaning...which gave me major tired head. If I recall correctly, I believe whitney pumped from the beginning for reasons similar to yours. I'm sure other ladies have done the same and could provide some pointers about logistics. For example, if baby is cluster feeding, I imagine it would be difficult to find an opportunity to pump.

Yep! I started pumping Day 2 home, he was 4 days old. He cried for the first two days home because he was so hungry. I have never felt so guilty. We supplemented about 10%, I pumped the rest and bottle fed/fed from breast. He had a tongue tie (that I was told he didn't have) so I couldn't feed him from the breast without crying each time (literally clinching my fists, grinding my teeth, and curling my toes while I fed). After 13 long and excruciatingly painful weeks, his tie was clipped and two weeks later BFing became painless for the first time.

[whitney]

I did end up with an oversupply, which was PAINFUL at times. I was pumping 8-10 times a day plus feeding from the breast as much as I could.