Formula milk

Juicy_Tube

Hi All,

Do hope you can help me?

I am due to give birth in 3 weeks(yikes-how did that come around so quickly!!).

I am intending to breastfeed but thought I had better have some formula at the ready just in case. I have no idea what type/make and would appreciate your help..and any other tips.

TIA

JT x

jcr16

i have always used sma gold for the first few months.

what i found really helpful after having a hell time of breast feeding my daugther and horrible midwifes. when i had my son i went to hospital prepared and wasn't gonna feel bullied if i couldn't feed. so what i did was take some 250ml cartons of ready made sma gold and some disposile one use bottles. so i could make then up if i needed without having to worry about sterilising.( u can buy these bottles in boots 4 for £1.99) anyway i breast fed my son no problems. i think because i felt mentally stronger it really helped. but also i fed him at night with a bottle while in hospital and he slept all night so i could get over my c-section easier. it went so well that even after a c-sec i was out of hospital after 1 full day in.
whatever happens, dont let anyone make u feel guilty if u can't breats feed. there is nothing wrong with you and u haven't failed ur child. rememeber u have to do what is best for u.
i was made to feel i was a terrible mum for not breast feeding. it was horrible, but like i said second time round i was really strong and it came more naturally.

HTH

Gingham_Ribbon

I would advise that if you really want to breast feed, the best thing would be to NOT buy any formula. That way if you're tempted to give in because you're tired or frustrated, you won't have it there to fall back on. There won't be an emergency point where if you don't have any formula it will cause the baby any problems.

The things you DO need are support from family, friends and a good midwife, health visitor or local breast feeding service.

Good luck. If there's something unavoidable that does stop you feeding your baby, you can always get formula then.

Karnam

yes i would say dont buy any. i had a terrible time to start with but i kept saying no to myself and telling myself that it was better to hurt for 1 or 2 mins then it was to walk 20mins in the freezing cold to tescos.

plus go with what the hospital say. mine recommended actimel as my babys first feed was formula (a traumatic birth..) and its apparently very watery like breast milk.

beaker141

I used aptimil from milupa for my two- i breastfed for seven months with each but introduced some formula after 8 weeks with both so found it was a good brand to mix and babies took it no problem.I know some freinds who tried all brands to get one they could do both with
Best tip I can also give is you should be able to buy formula in clinic O( where you will be toldto go to get baby weighed )after baby born
but noone will tell you this- Aptimil is £6.97 in tesco for a box and £5 at clinic
good lucj

scoobylou_3

I breastfed exclusively for almost 4 months but by month 4 found that my baby was still hungry so introduced formula initially just at night and she accepted both equally. I chose SMA Gold to begin with but she was easy to please and would accept any. Some people say you should mix the two from an early age so that they get used to a bottle quicker. A word of warning though. The less you breastfeed the quicker your milk supply will dry up so try to do more breast than bottle if you do mix the two. I would try to persevere with the breast even if its difficult at first because I found it less tiring and less of a nuisance being able to just lift her from her cot into our bed in the middle of the night and I would doze while feeding! Thats much better than having to get up and make up bottles etc. Much easier. Some mums find breastfeeding easy, but some mums dont and have real problems with it. If thats the case dont torture yourself just buy formula. Your baby will probably prefer the taste anyway. Good luck. Keep us informed in the coming weeks

auntywalker2

I bought a steriliser and bottles before the birth (for water & weaning if nothing else), sent DH to local supermarket one day when I realised that b/f was not for us and used Farleys First for both of mine. They were both settled and happy on this.

You don't need to get formula in, just in case, as it is so widely available at Tesco, Boots etc and with late night shopping and 24hr shops, you should not have a problem sourcing some in a hurry, unless you don't have a car and live in the sticks, I guess.

Once you have made the move it is much cheaper to buy at baby clinic, about £1 a tin less I recall.

HTH

Karnam

note about the above poster. you can mixed introduce a bottle without having to worry about formula. i have an electric breast pump and give my 8wk old a bottle a day of breast milk to make sure she will accept it.

one more tip, dont buy a tin of formula. if you're using formula just til you're used to breast feeding, but v v small amounts as and when you need it in cartons.

across

i only ever bottlefed and loved it cos everybody could help! (i know you can express and let others feed but that sounds like hardwork for me you still have to watch what you eat and drink and go through the process)never fancied breastfeeding to much hard work for me but it must feel rewarding if you choose to do that. Bottlefeeding for me was rewarding as it meant husband could make bottles up,sterilise for me,help feed and give me a break! so i bought loads of 'farleys first' in the yellow tin and they stayed on it until cows milk!!never needed second milk or any other, farleys first is a winner!!!!!my first only ever had four feeds a day and slept all through no problem!she slept more than she was awake never saw her eyes for first fortnight!!!!!!!!!!!second one never stopped screaming for bottle!!she had 6-8 a day depending on whether she drank them fully or not drove me bonkers getting up!!!!!!!!!!!they are all different as are we mums!!!!!!!!!!!good luck!!!!!!!!!! i think breastfeeders are very patient and brave!it was so painful when milk dried up i couldnt have done it!

Jay-Jay_4

scoobylou wrote:

Your baby will probably prefer the taste anyway.

Please don't make sweeping statements like this, some people may believe it.





This subject always turns into a fight between the breastfeeders who will encourage you to persevere whatever happens, even when it's hard.... and the bottlefeeders who say don't feel guilty, just get a bottle as your baby will sleep all night.


I agree with the people who said 'don't buy any'. You can always nip out and get some of you really feel that you can't go on but there are lots of other avenues before you decide to introduce formula.

The advice to offer your baby a bottle of formula to help it sleep is because formula is artificially thick and you baby finds it hard to digest so it keeps their tummy full for longer. As it's hard for baby's tummy to digest there are all kinds of side effects like colic and constipation..... these problems may outweigh the 'benefits' of artificial milk.

If you decide to feed artificial milk then you'll miss a feed and produce less milk..... you need to feed AT NIGHT to keep your milk supply up as this is when the milk making hormones are more reactive. If you miss night feeds your milk supply drops and thus you get people saying that they don't have enough milk or that their babies were 'hungry'. It really is a viscious cycle

And so I'll apologise for the debate that will follow... and wish you very good luck with your baby and breastfeeding.

purplepurple

Aptamil first is meant to be the nearest thing to breast milk.... you can get it in cartons, so maybe get a couple to keep in the cupboard. I would say that if you've decided to give breastfeeding a go, then do it. See how you get on... you just have to do what's best for both of you