Do I or don't I?

[Jade89]

Hiya,

At the beginning of my pregnancy I was up for the idea of pumping out my breast milk and feeding it to my baby through a bottle, but then I got thinking...

What happens just after your baby is born? Do you have to let them suck on your boob at first? Coz I really don't like the idea of normal breast feeding, not my cup of tea lol...

 

[violet-glow]

You cant express your breast milk for up to 3 weeks after birth.

Have you had a go with a breast pump? My OH bought me one, it feels really strange lol Im a bit worried about breast feeding baby after labour aswell. But give it a try, if you dont like it the labour ward will have bottles

 

[Daggers]

Jade I spoke to my MW about this as I do want to breast feed but also be able to express milk so my OH can do some of the feeds. She suggested that I wait 2 weeks before expressing milk as it allows your body to get used to producing the right amounts of milk and generally gives your body time to settle back down. I'm hoping that if the birth goes well I can do the immediate skin to skin thing and try breast feeding straight away - in theory it sounds quite romantic to me but I can also imagine it to be quite chaotic and messy- hmmmmmm

 

[Jade89]

oh, i wish we could expess straight away lol...although i do feel silly now.

Daggers when are you due?

 

[Daggers]

September the 2nd!!!! So minus 1 week now.

 

[Jade89]

Oh gosh!

Are they inducing you soon or are you waiting to go into labour naturally?

It seems like your ticker has said the same thing for ages now, hope your baby decides to come soon! Can't imagine how fed up you are, i'm fed up at this stage!

 

[Daggers]

MW is coming round tomorrow to do a sweep so fingers crossed that will trigger something. Otherwise I think the next step is to go to the hopsital on Wednesday where there was discussion of inducing me but I'm having second thoughts about that now. Guess the back ache and my growing size doesn't help but the really annoying thing is not knowing when baby will actually decide to make an apperance.
Hopefully you won't have to go through all of this - is this your first (it is my first)?

 

You cant express your breast milk for up to 3 weeks after birth.

You can, it's just not recommended if you want to breast feed aswell. I expressed straight away for 3 or 4 weeks before I gave up for other reasons.
The hospital said it was better I expressed the first weeks milk at least to make sure he got the colostrum and goodness. I expressed from the other breast when he fed from the bottle, that got my supply regulated.

 

[violet-glow]

thats my midwife for you. Not going to ask her anything in future.

Will ask my mum for help breastfeeding

 

I know it isn't recommended if you want to BF aswell, but if you don't want to BF then you can express stright away, there's no harm in it aslong as you do it regularly (i.e everytime baby feeds)

 

[Jade89]

MW is coming round tomorrow to do a sweep so fingers crossed that will trigger something. Otherwise I think the next step is to go to the hopsital on Wednesday where there was discussion of inducing me but I'm having second thoughts about that now. Guess the back ache and my growing size doesn't help but the really annoying thing is not knowing when baby will actually decide to make an apperance.
Hopefully you won't have to go through all of this - is this your first (it is my first)?

yes this is my 1st n im dredding going overdue, i'm fed up as it is!

Sami - Thanx, it's good to know there's hope lol.

 

[hananhmiller]

I expressed straight away as didnt take to breast feeding easily due to c section. Didnt find it a problem and my midwife was happy for me to do it. She even brought round an electric pump to make it easier.

Hannah X

 

[Urchin]

I would just try BFing normally, but not necessarily for the reasons you might think.....

BF is easier for so many reasons.

For example, in the day and overnight at first the baby might want feeding every 2 hours. Thats such a lot of expressing, and so many bottles to sterilise.
Also, it may be that you express 3 oz into a bottle, heat it, offer it to your LO, only to have them only have half an oz of it. The rest will have to be thrown away if its not used within an hour. You will feel like that's such a waste....with formula I don't mind throwing it away, but your breastmilk seems so precious as it might not be that quick and easy to get that 3oz that you throw away. At least if a baby is BF normally they take exactly what they need and not one drop is wasted.

In the night especially, its so easy to just latch them on, without all the faffing about warming up a bottle while listening to them cry.

I think its great you want to use breastmilk, but to me your missing out on one HUGE advantage of breastfeeding...its so bloody convenient!!!!

 

[budge]

Hiya,

At the beginning of my pregnancy I was up for the idea of pumping out my breast milk and feeding it to my baby through a bottle, but then I got thinking...

What happens just after your baby is born? Do you have to let them suck on your boob at first? Coz I really don't like the idea of normal breast feeding, not my cup of tea lol...

you can express milk straight away as some people have to if their baby is in special needs area or something. BUT why don't you want to let your baby breast feed from you Its the most natural thing in the world. Im sure when you've had him/her you willl fell differently. Its a lovely feeling feeding your baby.


But if you really do not like the idea i think you have to choose between breast or bottle(formula). Pumping off milk from the start could prove very hard and its impossible to know how much milk the baby will want/need each feed.

 

[Daggers]

re budges comment - from what I've heard from my sisters in law and other people you don't necessarily need to make a choice of one or the other as several poeple have suggested I do both BF and formula feed just to take some of the pressure of me as it can be very demanding (especially if BFing is not something you're really wanting to do (for whatever reason). A lot of people seem to swear by mixing the two, really if your not sure you may want to ask around - friends, family, MW I'm sure everyone will have their own opinion as to what worked for them. However I won't worry about it, just do what you feel is right for you.

 

[budge]

yeah i agree daggers but i think soley pumping off milk is not going to work long term. Its time consuming and as its not natural milk will not be produced as it would be ifthe baby was being fed on demand.

Im not saying Jade shouldn't try it. She may find it works even if she does it for a few weeks and she may get support in this sort of thing i don;t know. Its something ive never thought about. My belief is if you can breastfeed its better to do that even if its for a few weeks. Then maybe introduce a bottle and start pumping.

 

[Jade89]

I'm in two totally different minds on the matter. I wanna use bottles so that OH can feed the baby too, and I liked the idea of pumping it out because OH can feed her and she will get all the good stuff from the breast milk too.

But the idea of pumping everytime she will want a bottle has rather put me off too, i think i'm gonna speak to my MW about it all.

Natural breastfeeding - I was breastfed til i was 3 and a half years old my mum tried EVERYTHING to get me off her breasts...she ended up putting mustard on her nipples to put me off them...it worked but I don't want a 3 and a half year old hanging off my boobs lol.

Thanx everyone for your replies.

 

[Urchin]

I'm in two totally different minds on the matter. I wanna use bottles so that OH can feed the baby too, and I liked the idea of pumping it out because OH can feed her and she will get all the good stuff from the breast milk too.

But the idea of pumping everytime she will want a bottle has rather put me off too, i think i'm gonna speak to my MW about it all.

Natural breastfeeding - I was breastfed til i was 3 and a half years old my mum tried EVERYTHING to get me off her breasts...she ended up putting mustard on her nipples to put me off them...it worked but I don't want a 3 and a half year old hanging off my boobs lol.

Thanx everyone for your replies.

Don't let the thought of that put you off...we're all here to help you when you feel it's the time to switch onto formula!

When I was pregnant with my first, I thought there was no way I'd want to breastfeed at all. My OH was mortified, he really helped me see that it was best for the baby, and I found I really enjoyed it and got a lot of satisfaction from it.
I know the thought of it is a bit weird if you've never done it, but trust us, it feels like the most natural thing in the world when you actually do it.

We're all here to help you if you do decide to go for it

 

[Jade89]

It seems weird to me that I wouldnt know how many oz she was drinking if i were to breastfeed normally althouh i'm starting to considder it...what would you reply if someone were to ask you how many oz she is drinking at a time?

 

[Urchin]

It seems weird to me that I wouldnt know how many oz she was drinking if i were to breastfeed normally althouh i'm starting to considder it...what would you reply if someone were to ask you how many oz she is drinking at a time?

The simple answer is it doesn't matter how many oz your baby is taking...they are taking what they need be it 6 oz or 2 oz at a time. If you demand feed your baby will be getting enough milk and that's it!