first time mum preparing to breast feed

[bongopants]

Hi everyone, I'm looking for some advice about feeding a new born. I'm hoping to breast feed but I know this doesn't always go to plan and a number of my friends haven't been able to for one reason or another. I'm torn as to whether I should be prepared for this and go and buy bottles, steraliser etc now or whether its OK to wait and see. I don't want to spend loads of money unnecessarily but equally don't like being unprepared!

I'm also confused about breast pumps and storing the milk afterwards. What do I actually need?

Help!

 

[Maud]

Personally I wouldn't recommend buying any formula etc. Breastfeeding can be very very hard in the early days/weeks and you may find it harder to stick it out if there is an alternative in the house.

For expressing you can store milk for roughly 5-6 hours at room temperature, 5-6 days in the fridge and (up to) 5-6 months in the freezer.

 

[mellie_88]

Whatever you do don't buy formula! If I'd have had formula in my house I'm pretty sure I'd have given in and given my LO some in the middle of the night before!

I brought bottles as I express milk so I can still occasionally go out and then my OH or my mom can feed the baby.

Generally most people can feed, however a lot of people think they're not producing enough milk due to the baby fussing and wanting to feed often. Both of these are normal newborn behaviours and do not mean you're not producing enough milk. The baby is simply triggering your body to produce. The more baby feeds the more you produce.

Fot expressing I store in bottles if I keep it in the fridge and milk bags if I store in the freezer as they take up less space and you can freeze them flat.

 

[Rose83]

I'd second the above. Be prepared for it to be tough. It's extremely hard work and you need to be prepared to have a baby attached to your boob for most of the first week because that's how they get enough and how they tell your body to start producing. Both my family members who gave birth a few months before me have up because they weren't prepared for that part of it and thought it was inconvenient to them to sit around feeding for that long. Use all the support you can get from the NHS support workers and make sure your OH and family know you are going to do this and that it is going to be hard but you need them to support you rather than telling you to just give up.

I was totally obstinate and determined not to formula feed and I think my stubbornness is what got me through those first weeks. I bought an electric steriliser, bottles and an electric pump beforehand as I knew further down the line I would want to express. I started expressing about 2 weeks after birth because my little girl won't feed from one side so I always needed to express that one and I just freeze the milk (so bought freezer milk bags) and now I have thrush so am expressing as she won't feed from me with that. So I think it's worth having the equipment at the start if you know you will use it at some point.

The other essential is Lansinoh nipple cream for keeping everything comfortable! I also used multi mam balm which I found in superdrug and it suggested putting on every day from 36 weeks to keep nipples soft and well conditioned before birth. I don't know if there is any truth to this but I did it and didn't get any cracking
Of my nipples or bleeding etc x