Advice

[Sophie_P]

Hi ladies,
8 weeks pregnant and already been asked by my midwife in which way I have chosen to feed when I give birth. I've always thought formula feeding, and I just don't like the thought of putting my breast into my babies mouth. I told my midwife this and she looked abit disappointed, but since I have been seriously thinking about breast feeding to give my baby the best.
Is there a way to do this apart from baby to chest? I always get the impression expressing milk is really time consuming(?)
I want to give my baby breast milk for first feed a different way, is this possible?
Also, I want other people to feed baby when looking after him or her or when i'm at work.
I know it's a long way off but i'd really appreciate some advice. X

 

[BevG]

id say just try it hun, you never know how you will feel about it until you actually do it, saying you wont like it or it will feel weird is like saying you dont like chicken if you have never eaten any of it. when you first have baby your very hormonal and its so natural to just put your baby to the breast and let it nurse that i think its a feeling that you cant describe or predict. no harm in giving it a go. if you dont really try and breastfeed then expressing is very hard work, especially if baby isnt feeding as the babys saliva and latching on/suckling are what really encourage the milk to be produced and without thoise its doubly hard to express so id deffo not choose to do that unless there was no other way, my hat is off to the ladies that have had to feed that way but im sure that they would rather have baby latch and feed at the breast most of the time.

give it a go, it cant do any harm and you might like it

 

[Sophie_P]

Expressing seems very hard work to me I agree. Midwife said even first feed with breast milk is better than nothing?
I'd still want other people to be involved with feeding though. Xx

 

[Sophie_P]

Expressing seems very hard work to me I agree. Midwife said even first feed with breast milk is better than nothing?
I'd still want other people to be involved with feeding though. Xx

 

[BevG]

yeah even just 1 feed has some antibodies in it and so every single feed is that little bit more of a boost to baby. once breastfeedign is established theres no reason you cant express and have others help but tbh feeding isnt the only thing ppl can do to help and bf is a wonderful excuse to sit on the sofa feeding while other ppl fetch drinks and food for you and do cleaning etc to make themselves useful hun, id take advantage of that for sure lol

 

[Karate Kid]

id say just try it hun, you never know how you will feel about it until you actually do it, saying you wont like it or it will feel weird is like saying you dont like chicken if you have never eaten any of it. when you first have baby your very hormonal and its so natural to just put your baby to the breast and let it nurse that i think its a feeling that you cant describe or predict. no harm in giving it a go. if you dont really try and breastfeed then expressing is very hard work, especially if baby isnt feeding as the babys saliva and latching on/suckling are what really encourage the milk to be produced and without thoise its doubly hard to express so id deffo not choose to do that unless there was no other way, my hat is off to the ladies that have had to feed that way but im sure that they would rather have baby latch and feed at the breast most of the time.

give it a go, it cant do any harm and you might like it

Wss Hun, you just do not know how BFing will actually make you feel until you have tried it xx

 

[Sophie_P]

I would at least want my oh to get up in the night to give baby a bottle that is expressed from freezer? That way it's not just me whilst she is in bed asleep as I would have a job to get up for too. All this seems to confusing! Haha x

 

[Cynderella]

I bf my 3rd for 7 months and tbh although she had an occasional bottle when I was unable to feed her it was so much easier than bottle feeding like I did with my first 2,

Maybe get a week or so in and the. Express that's personally what I'd do xxx

 

[Sophie_P]

So many benefits to breast feeding think i'll go through my options

 

[Cynderella]

good luck, think there's lots of ladies that can support you through here xx

 

[tiggy85]

Ah see I breastfeed and I used to get my OH to fetch baby when he needed a feed at night, i would stay drowsy in bed. Then I would feed him and hand him back to OH who would change his nappy and put him back down to sleep. Then (you can get very sleepy when you breastfeed) I could literally fall straight back to sleep.

It worked for us and gave OH a job to do. I did sometimes express and let him do a feed but then I found I was spending my evening expressing which was a bit of a bore!

 

[BevG]

if you bf at night the hormones help you to go back to sleep and the amount baby feeds helps to keep your supply up, it takes minutes usually and its so simple, i used to feed at 11pm, then id go to bed and leave hubby with baby til next feed then he would bring her to me, id feed then go back to sleep and it was his job to change and settle her lol

 

[stargirl]

I agree with everything the ladies have said. But will add that bf is hard, after child birth, it's the hardest thing I've ever done!!! But so so worth it! However I do think if you've not 100% committed to giving it a try you may find it even harder.

And although its hard i find it so much more convenient then formula feeding because there is no preparing bottles, heating them up or sterilising (unless expressing) you just pop out your boob and you are good to go!

I do express and since my lo was 5 weeks old ( he's now 8 weeks) my OH gives him a bottle of ebm before bed. I then do the night feeds to keep my supply up. Also I left lo with his nan the other day for 3 hrs, longest 3hrs of my life! I'd left bottles of ebm with him so knew he would be fine. Things like that make it easier, so there are benefits to expressing but I know I wouldn't be able to do it full time (express and just bottle feed) my hat off to the ladies on here who do so, so their lo's have the best start - they deserve super mum medals!

If there is breastfeeding support groups or workshops in your area go along to them to gather as much info you can, then you can decide what to do. Just don't feel any pressure to breastfeed - it's your choice. Congratulations on your pregnancy too


.

 

[Sophie_P]

I've been thinking about this for the last couple of weeks and I think I will definately be trying breastfeeding and expressing so my oh can feed to. I know it's still early but can anybody give me advice or tell me abit more about expressing. I just want to be prepared x

 

[giz]

When are you planning on going back to work?

It's easy to say you might express for your husband to do night feeds, I wanted to do this as I was exhausted but my daughter simply would not take a bottle.

You've just got to play things by ear. Start by trying breastfeeding, if you hate it, then there's no need to worry about expressing.

Expressing for me was easy and quick, I used a cheap manual pump and stored the milk in freezer bags in the freezer. Or left in the bottle (with a lid) for attempting later that day.

Other people really struggle with expressing and can take a good half hour to express a bottles worth.

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baby giz born 6th Feb 2011
next one due 12th Aug 2013

 

[Sophie_P]

My civil partner will want to feed I know that she won't just want to deal with nappies lol.
Will be going back to work when baby is six months x

 

[Sophie_P]

My civil partner will want to feed I know that she won't just want to deal with nappies lol.
Will be going back to work when baby is six months x

 

[giz]

My civil partner will want to feed I know that she won't just want to deal with nappies lol.
Will be going back to work when baby is six months x

I had a feeling you were going to say you were returning much earlier than that, but by that time you may choose to formula feed and wean or you'll be a pro at expressing anyway that it won't take long to do in your lunch break. I won't deny that simply breastfeeding is just easier all round (for lazy people like me!), but I would say you could probably work something out where you express enough to keep your partner happy.

The advice is to not introduce a bottle until 6 weeks old. Due to nipple confusion. However it's supposedly rare. And by leaving it that late I had a hell of a time getting my daughter to take a bottle (she down right refused...even went 6 hours with no food once...stubborn little thing she is).

I know people who have pretty much introduced the bottle when their milk came in (day 4ish) and have successfully breastfed/bottle fed.

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baby giz born 6th Feb 2011
next one due 12th Aug 2013

 

[Sophie_P]

Hopefully I will be in to the swing of things yes, and expressing whilst baby is being weaned. I want it to start being weaned when i've gone back anyway. My work is only ten minutes up the road so I still come home for lunch where I could express some milk for partner to feed when I go back to work until five? X

 

[giz]

Hopefully I will be in to the swing of things yes, and expressing whilst baby is being weaned. I want it to start being weaned when i've gone back anyway. My work is only ten minutes up the road so I still come home for lunch where I could express some milk for partner to feed when I go back to work until five? X

In reality you'll probably have a backlog of supply in the freezer. Depending on the routine at the time you'll need to express at the very least to keep up supply and to stop feeling engorged.

It'll work out fine

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baby giz born 6th Feb 2011
next one due 12th Aug 2013