pregnancy moneysaving

Lelly

I used sports bras when pregnant (Dunns) they were also comfortable when Breastfeeding, Nursing bras and me never got along! I bought the proper things first time round but didn't find them as comfortable so didn't bother with them for the next 3. Happy days! I loved feeding my babies. the youngest is now 21.

starlite_2

I have just gotten a little carried away with maternity clothes shopping on ebay..got some lovely h&M and topshop skirts, a few tops etc..as well as some other stretchy stuff. Will have to remember to take good care of them so I can pass them onto friends later, or resell them.

s@sha

Hi again, I decided to revive this thread as I've been thinking some more about what I may/may not need when the little fella is born, and would appreciate some more advice.

I started browsing the breast pump & sterilizing stuff in Boots and am now a bit confused by all the different types! I'm hoping to breastfeed, so:

1: Do I need to still buy bottles & a sterilizer?
2: Is a breast pump necessary? Or is it only usually used if Baby won't take to the breast or something like that, so it can still have breast milk?

And on a completely different subject...cot bumpers. Necessary/not necessary?

I thought they were literally to stop baby from bumping it's head against the top of the cot. But have now seen that they are only to be used for about the first 6 months, and my preg.info book says that young babies have to be placed with their feet at the bottom of the cot, so their head won't be anywhere near the bumper anyway?

There seems to be so much 'stuff' that babies need, yet I'm sure a lot is hardly used. Trouble is, I'm not sure what's necessary & what's not!

Hope all the other mums-to-be on here are doing well

Plasticman

s&#64 wrote: »

1: Do I need to still buy bottles & a sterilizer?
2: Is a breast pump necessary? Or is it only usually used if Baby won't take to the breast or something like that, so it can still have breast milk?

And on a completely different subject...cot bumpers. Necessary/not necessary?

We recently had our second child and both were breast fed. We bought a few bottles and a sterilizer as it gives you the opportunity to leave the baby with granny etc if necessary! When our eldest was poorly we also gave her cooled boiled water from a bottle. The other thing to consider is that not everybody manages to breast feed so it's good to have a 'plan B' just in case.



My wife found that the breast pump was necessary even though she was breast feeding as there were times that the baby wasn't hungry but she was getting rather uncomfortable! The expressed milk went into the freezer for a later date.



We didn't see the point of cot bumpers either and didn't have them for either of ours. When our eldest was born some people were saying that they could increase the risk of cot death so that made our mind up! Although at that time they seemed to be saying that absolutely everything increased the risk of cot death!



Hope this helps!

Jay-Jay_4

I had an Avent ISIS breastpump and some small bottles for mine and was really pleased I did as I had really sore boobies after a few days so would express so that I could miss one breastfeed a day for a few days, it gave my boobies a little break. I think if you are intending to feed for a few months then a breastpump is pretty handy. Not only can you express for milk feeds but when you come to wean the little fella you can use your expressed milk for his food.

BUT......There's a technique to express by hand which is effective for some women though not everyone can get the hang of it and it takes practise.

You can sterilise by boiling or by using something like Milton fluid. I bought a microwave streriliser which wasn't too expensive, is easy to store and is easy to use.

Maybe leave off buying a breastpump until you've had your baby. Choose what make and model you want and you can send hubby out to get it if you decide that you need one. A sterilizer would probably come in handy however you feed you baby as you'll need to sterilize cups, bowls and spoons.

IMO a bottle is always handy in case of emergencies, if you get stuck at the shops and baby is at home with Dad it's nice to have a supply of milk in the freezer and a bottle in the cupboard so that you're not franticaly rushing to get home, baby isn't screaming his head off and Dad isn't pulling his hair out.

auntywalker2

I bought a steam steriliser and some bottles beforehand, they are widely available on ebay, and you can re-sell afterwards. You will need to sterilise cups, dummies (!), bowls and spoons etc for a while, aswell as being able to leave baby with someone else for while. I didn't buy a pump, and was glad as I only managed to feed for 10 days, so saved my money. These are also often on ebay, and have a resale value too.

Cot bumpers are not recommended, so save your money, though they can be useful when baby is starting to move about and gets their legs stuck through the cot bars and thus wakes you up! though a baby sleeping bag is best to prevent this.

Also, if you have a warm house don't buy many blankets, baby will probably only need one doubled over, which is equivalent to two. You use them more in the car and pram than house, but hardly need any IMHO.

Good Luck and HTH

CDP

Hi

Now I would say dont bother with any of those things. We live now in the age of 24 hour opening so if it comes to it that you absolutely need to give the baby a bottle then there will be somewhere locally open.

A definite no on the cot bumpers as they are basically a fashion accessory.

Sterlisers brings up a question of whether you really need to do it all. If you a fully b/feeding you shouldnt need to give your baby anything else at all however it is feeling. Breastmilk is really special stuff that alters its consistancy depending on whether it is a hot day etc. also it is the bext thing you can give a poorly babe too.

The DOH recommends b/f until 6 mths by which point most little ones are touching everything and anything and they are certainly not kept sterile then. On the continent parents just use dishwashers etc to sterlise and dont buy loads of the special sterlising equipment we do here.

Only MHO though as in the end it is your decision....like parenting fullstop... there are no right or wrong answers!

HTH
C

Jay-Jay_4

CDP wrote:

The DOH recommends b/f until 6 mths by which point most little ones are touching everything and anything and they are certainly not kept sterile then. On the continent parents just use dishwashers etc to sterlise and dont buy loads of the special sterlising equipment we do here.

I would agree that sterilisation after 6 months is a waste of time and yes I quickly went on to use just my dishwasher for cups, spoons and dishes...I never once sterilised my nipples either ...but I found that my microwave steriliser was usefull for the fiddly bits inside my breastpump and my breast shells which would've got lost in the dishwasher. I donated my milk to a milk bank for prem babies so had to make sure that everything was absolutely sterile

I did feel that a steriliser that took 8 minutes was more convenient than waiting for a full load in the DW and waiting an hour for it to wash, though you can certainly live without a steriliser....I suppose it's like everything else nowadays, it's just a matter of convenience.

Sorry for the ramble

Savvy_Sue

If you buy a couple of small bottles and some sterilising tablets you can keep the midwife / HV off your back when she starts telling you baby might want boiled water in hot weather. You don't need a proper steriliser: an ice cream tub will do. And bottles are theoretically useful for leaving expressed milk behind for others to feed baby. And if you use a dummy - I know, I know, you're NEVER going to put a dummy into your baby's mouth! - you'll need to sterilise it.

But these are all a complete waste of money if baby declines to put anything other than flesh into his mouth for the purpose of feeding or comfort. I swear my eldest would have starved rather than take a bottle, and I tried abandoning him to the tender care of others often enough for him to get used to the idea, but he never did. And while I never intended to give him a dummy I was so desperate to get some sleep undisturbed by his wailing or without him attached to either my breast or my finger I would have been a happy lady if he'd used one occasionally.

Jay-Jay_4

Savvy_Sue wrote:

But these are all a complete waste of money if baby declines to put anything other than flesh into his mouth for the purpose of feeding or comfort. I swear my eldest would have starved rather than take a bottle, and I tried abandoning him to the tender care of others often enough for him to get used to the idea, but he never did.

This is such an excellent point Savvy_Sue.

I refused to let my first baby have a bottle, preferring to be there myself for every feed. Unfortunately when the time came for me to leave her....6 months down the line....she would NOT entertain the idea of a bottle. I was then stuck with a baby who I could not leave for more than a few hours and who wouldn't settle without me.

I introduced expressed milk within a few days of my second baby being born and it has all been so much easier this time around. She was happy to be left with Grandma so that we could have an evening out and happily took to a beaker of my milk from 6 months.

I know that people talk about nipple confusion and I agree that it's not good to mix feeding methods all the time but to occasionally give a bottle of expressed milk so that baby 'will' take it is a good idea IMO.