Formula milk

Lillibet_2

With my son b/f was utter hell for the first 4 weeks. When he was 3 days old, just as the "baby blues" hormones kicked in I decided I just couldn't do it & drove, in floods of tears, like a maniac to get to tescos before they closed on a saturday night. I came home with a couple of small cartons of ready made SMA gold, gave him one bottle to get me over the immediate problem then reverted to b/f. After that he got a bottle feed last thing at night & still does, but he is still b/f the rest of the time.

I would never start b/f again without some of the ready made cartons in the cupboard just in case. I honestly believe that if I hadn't been able to find somewhere that sold formula (out in the sticks a bit here) I would have let him stave:o rather than put him on my boob at that point in time due to the combination of indescribable pain & hormones:p

It does take a massive amount of will power & commitment to b/f, if you are a bit shakey then maybe ask your partner or a neighbour to look after the formula so that you can't immediately reach for it yourself?

HTH & good luck

PS : Def get Kamillosan in, it really is fantastic (And I tried a lot of creams before I got to that one)

gravitytolls

Lillibet wrote:

PS : Def get Kamillosan in, it really is fantastic (And I tried a lot of creams before I got to that one)

U was allergic to kamillosan, and because it is so widely used, and such a natural product, no one realised.

Baby no 5, I had worst pain ever, weeping prolifically. Midwife came, saw localised rahs on boobs, thought it was from breast pads. Gave me canestan in case it was thrush., This burnt like crazy, she said stop using, and gave me antibiotics. It was about 3 weeks before I could feel that everything was going to be ok.

Baby no 6, no breast pads, applied kamillosan, and immediately my nipple tightened, and the pain was incredible. I realised this was the problem, ran to the bathroom, and using cottom wool and warm water, I washed the studd off. But the damage was done, the reaction had started. When I showed the midwife, the same on as last time, she couldn't believe she could actually see the layers of skin peeling away before her eyes, and she agreed kamillosan seemed to be the factor in both cases.

I dind't have antibiotics that time, and ended up with mastitis. That was pretty grim too. But baby still fed for 4 years, so we got over it ok.

blessings3

Hi have breast fed all three of mine (still feeding 14 month old) - Hurt for a few days with the 1st and he was a pain to get started( not much has changed and now 7 lol) but apart from that have never had a problem.

But have always had some formula in just incase I was ill /other emergancy and can honestly say in gosh, 7 years of comibined brest feeding have never used it but did make me feel secure

As everyone else has said support for the 1st few weeks is the major thing - I phoned the midwife service twice in the middle of the night with my 1st as he wouldn't latch on - they were great and very supportive !

Best Wishes with the baby!

brummiebabe

I'm not going to enter the whole breast/bottle debate! Ultimately, you'll do what's right for you & Baby!!!

I uses Milupa Milumil with both my DSs - they were both sicky/hungry babies & it was fab for them!!!!

Best of luck with the birth and the next few months!!! Hope it all goes well!!!

Juicy_Tube

You have come up trumps as usual

Thanks to everyone who has taken the trouble to reply. I have read and digested with interest! I will take all of your comments on board. Cheers!:beer:

JT x

BrokeBrokeBroke

Not getting involved in the whole breast or bottle thing, I would recommend being prepared. I had my son in Wrexham North Wales on Good Friday (The Best Friday we now say!) and I just assumed I would be home the next day. He was so conked out after the birth, we never really had a chance to feed him until the Sat eve, and there was no way he was going to breastfeed. The midwives wanted to give him some milk on a saucer, so I said no way, if anyone's feeding him I am! So they gave me a little bottle of SMA ,and off we went. The next day came, and he was feeding really well (formula) and I was told we could be discharged. They wouldn't let me take any of the little made up bottles they have and told me the supermarkets (Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys) were open that day. So, off we went... Easter Sunday, and no, not one of the supermarkets were open!!! I had to buy a little box from Spar, which cost a fortune! Luckily I had bought bottles and steriliser so had them and just had to figure out how to make the formula when I got home. Crazy crazy! So, BE PREPARED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

waster_2

Breastfeeding does not suit everyone and any decent midwife will tell you that. My partner is a specialist midwife who is an Infant Feeding Co-ordinator. Her sole responsibility is to support mums' with their feeding of baby. Whilst she believes strongly that the advantages of breast feeding are proven, she will never force any mum to brerast feed if they do not want to, for whatever reason. Her role is to support mum and baby in feeding and it is the mum's decision as to which way she wishes to feed her baby.

However, breast feeding is not easy for some mums and perseverence is often needed to succeed. Attending Parentcraft Sessions before the birth will often give some basic information on what to do and how to do it as well as the post natal contacts. Many community or general midwives do not have the knowledge or experience to give specialist feeding advice. Does your Hospital/Maternity Unit have UNICEF Baby Friendly Accredition or have they made a commitment as to working towards it? If they have then they will be or will have trained the majority of their midwives to have at least a basic knowledge of feeding issues.

All I can say is good luck, I hope all goes well and give breast feeding a go before giving in to formula. And ask your hospital/maternity unit if they have either a specialist infant feeding co-ordinator or a midwife who has some training at least on infant feeding practice and issues.

SammyD_2

I breastfed baby one for ten months, hard to get established, but we got there.

Baby two (now five months old) was a nightmare to feed. Hospital absolutely zero help, but had one fanastic community midwife. I was on the verge of giving up on day three (talking mass hysterics on my part, hubby saying he could not bear to see me like this, and even my Mum who is a breastfeeding fanatic was saying to bottle feed). But I persisted and got there, and am still feeding her.

Unless you live in the middle of no where, don't buy formula in advance...if you do you will also have to buy all the other paraphenalia like bottles, steriliser etc. It is all too easy at 2am when you are exhausted to go and get the formula. I spent six hours trying to get my daughter to feed one night, and had to spoon feed her expressed milk in the end.

Have the la leche league/NCT number to hand. Expect it to be hard work for the first few weeks...don't even think about trying to do anything else. It may be really easy for you, but if you really want to do it then you might as well be prepared for it to be hard going. And once you have the basics right, it does not mean baby will necessarily follow - my darling would do the perfect "latch on" and then just would not suck.

Also, expect to have mixed views from hospital midwives who vary in their helpfulness...even though my hospital was meant to be baby friendly, I got zero support from the midwives on the post-natal ward even though I was asking for help. I agree with Waster that many midwives do not have the specialist knowledge re advice on breastfeeding. If you need help, you need specialist help, which is why NCT/LLL can point you in the right direction if the hospital can't.

This all sounds very negative, but I love feeding my baby myself - easy, cheap and convenient.

Final point on formula - if you are vegetarian and want to bring baby up vegetarian as well, bear in mind that most formula is not suitable for vegetarians - it is the way the whey powder is made. Hipp is veggie, as is some of the SMA from memory. The ingredients usually say whether it is suitable for vegetarians or not.

Best of luck.

gravitytolls

Well done Sammy for persevering, and writing so eloquently with perfect advice.

jellyhead

i went into hospital expecting to breastfeed but i bought a steriliser beforehand when it was on offer. i kept the receipt and didn't unwrap it so i could return it if i didn't use it. in any case i thought i'd use it for teething rings, bowls and spoons etc. when weaning and maybe on a breast pump if i used one, and nipple shields etc. the steriliser came with a starter pack of 3 bottles and a bottle/teat brush. if for some reason i started to bottlefeed all i would need would be some formula - you can buy that in most places although it's probably overpriced in little shops but i was reassured that i'd be covered in an emergency.

maybe you could do that, and return it if it's unused. i used nipple cover things, i forget what they're called but it's like a drip tray that you put in your bra on the side you're not feeding/pumping from to collect the milk that leaks out. very useful if supply is poor and every drop counts. so i had to sterilise those, and my breast pump.

the NCT breastfeeding counsellor was very helpful and the hospital also had a breastfeeding co-ordinator. i didn't see her while i was in hospital but the midwives who came out after the birth gave me her number and she spoke to me by phone. my hospital is very pro-breastfeeding and they weren't full. some women were home within hours of giving birth but others were in until they were happy that breastfeeding was well established. if you feel you still need advice when you come out of hospital try the NCT helpline.

midwives will tell you all formula milks are the same. they're not allowed to be biased. unless the baby has a problem that requires a specific milk i think they probably are similar. i asked around and everyone seemed to use different milks.