Calling breastfeeding Mummy's...

Jade89

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I want to breastfeed this time and have a few q's...


Roughly how many breast pads do you go through a day?

Manual or Electric breast pump and how long to pump for lets say if you needed to be out without baby for a few hours?

Is nipple cream an essential?

Do you express or breastfeed when you go out in public?

What bottles would you buy for when you do express?

Breastfed babies don't need dummies, is this true and does your baby have a dummy?


I'll probably be back with more... :D Thanx Ladies.
 
Roughly how many breast pads do you go through a day?
In the beginning i changed a few times as i had a strong let down and whilst feeding from one side the other side would leak really bad. I still have to wear them now as i still leak but not as much so i only need to wear 1 pair a day

Manual or Electric breast pump and how long to pump for lets say if you needed to be out without baby for a few hours?
I had a manual pump which worked fine for me, however Calleigh has never taken to a bottle so have no idea how much milk she would take. When i did pump i got at least 4oz of the boob but it varies from woman to woman, some woman are successful with expressing some cant get off any milk at all.

Is nipple cream an essential?
For me YES :lol: Defo get yourself some hun just incase because sore nips are not nice

Do you express or breastfeed when you go out in public?
Breastfeed :D

What bottles would you buy for when you do express?
Tried many various ones none worked for me, but the tomme tippee ones or NUK ones are what i see recommended the most

Breastfed babies don't need dummies, is this true and does your baby have a dummy?
No not true, it all depends on the baby not the method of feeding. Some babies love to comfort suck and this can be relieved a little with a dummy. Its all about making the right choice for your LO. Calleigh was a comfort sucker however she wouldnt take a dummy so i had to put up with it
 
I am no longer breastfeeding but did for 13 months and thought id answer your questions :D

Roughly how many breast pads do you go through a day?

In the begining I went through about 4, especialy around engorement time, but I never really leaked that much I was quite lucky, I know some women go through loads.
I found tommie tippie breastpads the best (tried loads) as they didnt stick to your nipples, not nice when they are sore if that happens!


Manual or Electric breast pump and how long to pump for lets say if you needed to be out without baby for a few hours?

I have tried both, I found the electric to brutal on my nips, and preferd a manual as I could replicate her feeding motion, but some women get on fine with them

Is nipple cream an essential?

Absolutly if you want your nips to feel slightly better! :lol: especialy in those first few weeks I dont know what I would of done, I found lanisinoh the best and you can leave it on, also breastmilk is good to rub on your nips too!

Do you express or breastfeed when you go out in public?

I never expressed for public feeding, couldnt be arsed! :rotfl:
The first time was scary, I am a youngish mum and thought everyone was looking down on me, but when I did it once, there was no stopping me! very liberating!


What bottles would you buy for when you do express?

Well I bought a tommie tippies manual and had a couple of bottles with it, I also bought one sterilising kit with about 4 bottles in, but I barely used it to much hassle!

Saying that from what I have ready is just washing them with soapy water is enough and breastmilk is sterile and its fine using bottle unsterilised, formula isnt which is why its unsafe to not sterilise bottles with young babies especialy.


If you're collecting milk to be given to your own baby within 48 hours, you don't need to sterilize your bottles, rubber nipples, and pumping equipment. Wash everything thoroughly with a bottle brush and nipple brush to remove any milk scum, and then wash in a dishwasher or a basin of hot soapy water. Be sure to rinse out all the soap.

So another great reason to bf!!!


Breastfed babies don't need dummies, is this true and does your baby have a dummy?

Well Olivia hated a dummy, and used my nips as one instead, which was fine and eventualy decide she didnt need them at around 5/6 months.

Some babies like them, but I believe lots fo breastfed babies don't as they get nipple comfort :D
 
Hi ya,

I cant remember how many pads I went through day when I was breastfeeding, I think i just changed them when Kaitlin had finished a feed, but I do remember not always having to use them, I think it was only for the first couple of months until my breasts became adjusted to the amount of milk Kaitlin needed.

I tried both manual and electric pumps and never really got on well with either, but I did express for when I went out one night for a meal, I think I expressed 14oz in total and she drank it all the little pig. I expressed some each time I fed her for a couple of days before I went out and froze it till I needed it.

The only time I needed nipple cream was when Kaitlin had thrush and I had it on my nipples so used the cream to help with it, but the best thing I brought to help with sore nipples were nipple shields, they were fabulous, messy but fabulous.

I brought some boots wide neck bottles for when I had expressed and she was fine with these, I think they recommend trying them with bottles before 8 weeks old if you are going to express, this is what I was told but it may have changed.

I found that Kaitlin needed a dummy sometimes as she was sometimes just feeding for comfort, so when she did this I gave her a dummy and she was much better, but they are all different, she still has it occasionally now but prefers her thumb.

Hope this helps. x
 
Thank you for answering :hug:

Thats really good news about not sterilising, I diddn't know that! :cheer:

Oh it's all so new to me!
 
Jade89 said:
Roughly how many breast pads do you go through a day?

Manual or Electric breast pump and how long to pump for lets say if you needed to be out without baby for a few hours?

Is nipple cream an essential?

Do you express or breastfeed when you go out in public?

What bottles would you buy for when you do express?

Breastfed babies don't need dummies, is this true and does your baby have a dummy?

I used a few a day till about 8 weeks then hardly needed them since. Just the odd day when out for a while.
Depends how often you plan to express. If rarely then manual, if you plan to express a lot once BF'ing is established then prolly an electric.

Nipple cream - no. Not always. I got a tube of Lansinoh and used it twice in the first week and that was it. Ended up using it for sons cradle cap instead :lol: Worth having a tube of it in case thought. Its amazing stuff.

I breastfeed. I don't go out to find the most public seat in a restaurant or wherever but will feed LO somewhere quieter otherwise he gets too distracted :roll: I find it more hassle than its worth to express to feed when out. Having to sterilse bottles etc and then warm them up. Its never been a problem for us anywhere. Plus I never gave LO expressed feeds as it confused him, so was always OH's thing.

I got NUK ones. Nipple shaped teats the same as the dummy we used when he had colic. Bottles have hardly seen any use tbh.

They can need a dummy. Depends if your baby has colic and will need to suck to relieve it. Breast will only make colic worse usually. Or a comfort sucker as mine was also. We used a dummy for our LO till he was about 14 weeks old. Had a blip a while back when his skin was bad and caused him to wake about 15 times a night for about 2 weeks and now only use it very rarely. He never misses it and tbh we just keep them 'in case'. If his skin flares up very little soothes him poor thing.
 
midna said:
Jade89 said:
I want to breastfeed this time and have a few q's...


Roughly how many breast pads do you go through a day?

I hated breastpads but a box full lasted me ages as Id use a muslim at night. After about 5 months they didnt leak at all.

:think: did you now :rotfl:
 
omygosh i cant remember how many breastpads. maybe 3 or 4 pairs a day at first. then i tried washable ones, then after about 4 months my supply had settled and i wasnt leaking unless for some reason we'd missed a feed, so i stopped bothering altogether.

i didnt bother with breast pumps.

nipple cream wasnt essential for me.

i only ever expressed with my hand to relieve pressure when too full. i never expressed for feeds. just breastfed on demand, if that meant in public then so be it :)

didnt express but at 6 months when introduced formula got avent ones.

yep millie still had a dummy. sometimes she would use ME as a dummy but i think thats how nipples can get sore, i tried to only use mine for feeding. x
 
Jade89 said:
Roughly how many breast pads do you go through a day?
A few for the first few weeks now I use one pair a day, I found disposables terribly itchy and move around/scrunch up even when they have sticky pads, love washables :D

Jade89 said:
Manual or Electric breast pump and how long to pump for lets say if you needed to be out without baby for a few hours?
With my first I found that self expressing was easy so did nt bother with a pump, I have a manual this time as cant hand express.

Jade89 said:
Is nipple cream an essential?
Nope never used it, Ive been V lucky and had no probs with cracked/sore nips

Jade89 said:
Do you express or breastfeed when you go out in public?
Boobs all the way! I hike my top up as its much more descrete and sit in a cafe or bench and feed but I will also walk around feeding if needed, if yu have a long top on no one notices :wink:

Jade89 said:
What bottles would you buy for when you do express?
Any really, I like to give a variety so they dont become fussy to one type.

Jade89 said:
Breastfed babies don't need dummies, is this true and does your baby have a dummy?
My first didnt take a dummy but my DD has one, I really like her having one as it gives me a rest and if I cant immediatley feed her e.g. driving I can pacify her it also helps with colic too. She isnt dependent on the dummy and TBH she doesnt suckle well on it but it pacifys her.

Good luck with BF!!
 
I use one lot of breast pads a day as in the morning when my boobs are full I tend to leak but for the rest of the day I don't really leak at all.

I used a manual breast pump but I don't bother anymore as Tamzin refuses bottles so it's pointless.

I can honestly say I have never used breast cream. I must have hardened nipples because I never had any pain feeding from the start.

To be honest I've never really had to feed in public. Tamzin is a really good feeder and will go 4 hours between feeds so I know exactly when she's due to feed so I time my outings around her feed times.

I have tommee tippee bottles for when she used to take a bottle but she won't now so I don't use them.

Tamzin has had a dummy from about a week old. She's never had nipple confusion with it and it's really helped especially from when she's had colic. She loves her dummy and it settles her really well!

Good luck with breastfeeding hun :D
 
In the first few weeks I would say I went through about 5/6 pairs of breastpads in 24 hours until my supply settled down. Now I use one pair and change them each evening after a shower, although tbh they would probably do another day if needed. I dont leak so much now, but do have the odd day where we miss a feed or after a growth spurt and have excess milk, so wouldnt dare go without them yet. :shakehead:

As regards the breastpump, it depends really on its use. If you intend to express a lot, then I would say get an electric pump as the manual ones can be hard work on your hands/wrists. If it is just for the occassional feed then a manual will work fine or you might even be able to hand express enough for the odd feed. I used a manual pump with my first baby, which worked just fine but hardly ever used it tbh. This time I havent needed to express yet, but I know I could hand express a good feed if I needed to so havent bothered with a pump.

Nipple cream...hmmm, if this is your first attempt at fully breastfeeding then I would say defo get some. The first few days especially can be really tough on your nips, even if you crack the latch straight away your nips will be tender until they toughen up and lansinoh will work wonders to ease them. However if you have fed before and are confident in it, then you will prob manage without it. I went through 2 tubes of lansinoh when feeding my son, but this time bought a tube in preparation and havent even touched it. Your nipples are definitely tougher second time around! :oops:

When out in public I usually breastfeed. Havent expressed a drop this time, although with my first I was a little more bashful about it and sometimes took a bottle of EBM. Once you have fed in public the first few times you lose your inhibitions and find it quite liberating almost!
Doesnt bother me at all now, although I do always try to be discreet about it. Most people dont even notice, or if they do they dont make it known, but you do get the odd one who feels a bit awkward or embarrased by it, as if they have seen something extremely intimate. I can understand this so always try to minimise the view iykwim! :lol:

For bottles I would suggest getting some that are supposed to mimic the breast, so probably the tommee tippee ctn or NUK ones. I have bought a couple of the CTN bottles this time in case we ever need them, but at the moment are still in the boxes. With my first baby though, we used the Avent bottles which were one of the better ones at the time. There is much more choice now though.

As for the dummies, I dont think you can generalise all babies into one category. Both of my babies have been breastfed to start with, my son never had a dummy and never showed any signs of wanting one, but my daughter has had one from about 6 weeks or so. We only use it occassionally though, sometimes at night as a soother or otherwise to pacify her for ten minutes whilst I am cooking dinner or something until I am free to feed her. I hate them tbh, but she is a very suckly baby and always wants something in her mouth. She uses it less and less now she can find her own hands though, thankfully. We hope to bin it completely within the next few weeks before she gets too old and will miss it! :wink:

Hope this helps. Good luck with the BF! x :hug:
 
I want to breastfeed this time and have a few q's...


Roughly how many breast pads do you go through a day?

Sydnee's 9 weeks and we go through about 6 pairs a day, though it would probably be more if I didn't tuck a bib in my bra on the other side when feeding! (I'm a tightwad and have crazy boobs, though they are settling a bit now, I could drench a breast pad in minutes!)

Manual or Electric breast pump and how long to pump for lets say if you needed to be out without baby for a few hours?

I've used a manual pump since she was born, and get on really well, Sydnee only has one or two boob feeds per day, the rest are bottle feeds and have been since birth. A couple of days ago I invested in an electric pump but find it harder than the manual one, and I had to go back to the manual pump to finish as I couldn't empty myself properly. Though I daresay it's probably what you get used to, maybe if I'd had an electric one from the beginning it'd be easier. I've heard nothing but good things about them so it's probably just me. I couldn't answer the other part, as I just have my pumping scedule I stick to and am normally a couple of bottles ahead of her with a stock in the freezer for emergencies, such as when I accidentally took some tablets I wasn't meant to the other week and had to pump and dump for 24 hours!

Is nipple cream an essential?

I've never used it. I had a couple of days when I was sore, but I just rubbed a bit of milk on them and left them to air dry and they were fine.

Do you express or breastfeed when you go out in public?

Either/or. If I'm planning a day out or whatever then I'll take what milk I think I'll need, but as i said, generally she's bottle fed EBM most of the time. If I'm out for a long period of time but not somewhere convenient I could express I'll feed her from myself to keep my milk up. If I can't find a place to heat it up/don't have my thermos with me then I'll not think twice about feeding her myself either. It's daunting to begin with but I don't think twice about it now.

What bottles would you buy for when you do express?

I have both Dr Brown and Avent. Both have a similar shaped teat, which sydnee likes. The Dr Brown ones have the anti-colic tubes which seem to make a difference to Syd.

Breastfed babies don't need dummies, is this true and does your baby have a dummy?

Sydnee won't take a dummy, she's never been interested, whatever the shape/size.
 
Roughly how many breast pads do you go through a day?

None anymore, not for about 2 months now, before that i used to go through 1 pair in the day and 1 pair at night, maybe a few more on odd occassions, i also used re-usable pads as i found they felt nicer in my bra

Manual or Electric breast pump and how long to pump for lets say if you needed to be out without baby for a few hours?

Manual pump, i just empty my boobs if it's going to be less then 3 hours, any more i give an extra frozen bottle just in case, though i found that Tally has hardly ever needed both bottles i provide even when left for 6/7 hours

Is nipple cream an essential?

Never used it, never needed it

Do you express or breastfeed when you go out in public?

Breastfeed 100% of the time, i tried expressing for things like a wedding etc but she wont take it when i'm there, i'm comfortable BFing her in public and have had no comments on it as yet either

What bottles would you buy for when you do express?

we were given some called breast flow, we use them and avent ones, she's still on newborn teats though

Breastfed babies don't need dummies, is this true and does your baby have a dummy?

dont know if it's true but she wont take one, like to suck her fingers though
 
Roughly how many breast pads do you go through a day?

In the beginning i went through about 3 pairs a day. As i settled it was just one. So i bough re-usables. Now i don't wear any.

Manual or Electric breast pump and how long to pump for lets say if you needed to be out without baby for a few hours?

I bought a manual. But i gave up coz i was rubbish at it.

Is nipple cream an essential?

I only used the free samples, but i was lucky i didn't really need it.

Do you express or breastfeed when you go out in public?

Breastfeed.

What bottles would you buy for when you do express?

I only had Tommee Tippees, as that was my steriliser and breastpump.

Breastfed babies don't need dummies, is this true and does your baby have a dummy?

Nope. I've tried and she's never taken to it.
 
Roughly how many breast pads do you go through a day?
In my entire breastfeeding life I have only ever used 4 boxes of 28 breast pads and I think I've still got half a packet in a draw somewhere... I very rarely leaked... probably because lil miss does nothing but feed and my boobies don't have time to get full :lol:

Manual or Electric breast pump and how long to pump for lets say if you needed to be out without baby for a few hours?
I had a manual at first. When lil miss was in the SCBU I used the manual to keep my supply up so that I could feed her when she left. But now I'm working... the manual just isn't sufficent enough. But we are talking almost daily well.. twice daily except on my days off, expressing and well with the hand one my hand gets tired. I'm not a very good expresser. My boobs prefer baby expression, I don't get a proper let down with a pump, so it can take me over an hour just to get an ounce... It depends really on your situation. As for the amount they take.... I dunno... it really depends on the baby and its more trial and error. What I suggest is freezing your boob milk in ice cube trays and defrost only an oz at a time and if they need more, defrost more.

Is nipple cream an essential?
yes. :lol:

Do you express or breastfeed when you go out in public?
I breast feed in public. Well I did.... I don't now because a) lil miss is a big baby and people are less accepting of it now b)She fusses and doesn't like her head covered so shows the world full boobage c)I always felt that people would think I was bottle feeding and I want to show the world that my achievements with boobying.

What bottles would you buy for when you do express?
We tried everything and in the end just threw all the bottles in the bin and resorted to cups... it was a pain in the bum but she just wouldn't take bottles. :roll:

Breastfed babies don't need dummies, is this true and does your baby have a dummy?
Tia was a booby baby and loved her dummy but lil miss wouldn't entertain it... even now she just doesn't seem to understand that she needs to suck a dummy. not chomp on it... :lol:
 
Roughly how many breast pads do you go through a day?
None anymore, for the first 2 or 3 weeks, iv gone through 2 boxes but thats more from being overly prepared than leakage !

Manual or Electric breast pump and how long to pump for lets say if you needed to be out without baby for a few hours?
Manual i have and about an hour ?

Is nipple cream an essential?
I have some that again i used in week 1 and 2 but now theyre fineee :)

Do you express or breastfeed when you go out in public?
Bit of both depending on where were going

What bottles would you buy for when you do express?
Tommy tiippee closer to nature ones

Breastfed babies don't need dummies, is this true and does your baby have a dummy?
Flo's got one for when shes tired and grumpy, saves me having to lay down with her knawing me boob til she nods off..... andf then wakes up and realises its gone lol

xxx
 
Jade89 said:
Thank you for answering :hug:

Thats really good news about not sterilising, I diddn't know that! :cheer:

Oh it's all so new to me!


:cheer: I wish id known at the time, it wasn't until much later did I realise :lol:

But yeah you dont need too
 
Jade89 said:
I want to breastfeed this time and have a few q's...


Roughly how many breast pads do you go through a day?
Not sure exactly how many I went through a day but I bought a big pack from Mothercare think it had 100 in the box and I also had a box of about 40 my sis gave me. I used the lot and bought another small box which I still have some left. I used about 2-3 pairs in the early days then when my supply was established probably 1 a day till Maia was about 4 months old then I stopped leaking.

Jade89 said:
Manual or Electric breast pump and how long to pump for lets say if you needed to be out without baby for a few hours?
I bought an electric pump and I started expressing when Maia was 5 weeks old so hubby could feed her. I have been expressing ever since and I express 1 feed a day. It takes me about 45 minutes to an hour to get off 7oz and I express every night at 10pm when supply is at its lowest. If you are only going to be expressing enough for a few hours then you will only need a few ounces in the early days depending on how often your baby feeds. If you plan to be away for longer periods then you will need to pump more off and also the older your baby gets the more your baby will drink. I dont think you can give a definitive answer to this cause all babies are different this one you will just have to play by ear and just make sure you have left more than enough milk if you are away from baby.

Jade89 said:
Is nipple cream an essential?
I would say so. I think I was one of the lucky ones and only had sore nips for a few days (one was bleeding though) but the tingling sensation lasted a couple of weeks.

Jade89 said:
Do you express or breastfeed when you go out in public?
Breastfeed

Jade89 said:
What bottles would you buy for when you do express?
I bought Tommee Tippee closer to nature but my LO got nipple confusion at around 9 weeks old so I changed all my bottles and the dummy to NUK which are nipple shaped and she latched back onto me no problem ever since. You can buy NUK from Boots.

Jade89 said:
Breastfed babies don't need dummies, is this true and does your baby have a dummy?
Maia wouldn't settle to sleep unless she was on the boob so after only 6 hours sleep in 3 days I gave her one and it was a god send. From the beginning she had a love/hate relationship with it and she self weaned at about 3 months old but she had found her thumb before then. If you want to use a dummy then do so you can always wean your baby at 4 months as this is when they start remembering.

Good luck with everything
 

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