With DS my hubby was in Iraq from 3 months so never expressed as there was only me to feed him anyhoo - but at 7 months I tried to express when he got back and was so hopeless, couldn't do it !!! I fed him until 12 months .......
With DD I expressed occasionally from about 4 weeks just so I knew I could, and so if I wanted to get my hair done wouldn't have to make sure I was running out of the salon with foils still in cos she needed to be fed
So, whilst I really understand you are hesitant to give bubs anything other than breast - IMO after the first 6 - 8 weeks if you need to get out, or have a break o/n - express and give it an occasional go.
We put so much pressure on ourselves - bubs will still have your milk hun!
I was planning to only breast feed and not use bottles or formula at all. I wasn't going to buy any bottles but my mum said even if I don't use them, it's a good idea to have some on hand JIC. I'm glad I took her advice. When DD was 6 weeks old me & DH wanted to go to a friends engagement party without DD. Friends of ours babysat and we sent DD with bottles and formula. It was also great when I needed a break coz DH could feed her. She was breast fed about 99% of the time until she was about 4.5 months and started full time daycare because I went back to work.
I had an AVENT manual breast pump & I found it useless. I was later recommended by the baby health nurse that electric breast pumps are much easier to use (by the time I got this advice I no longer had any milk supply & bub was on formula at 5mths to my disappointment)
I started with TWO little AVENT bottles !!
And i purchased a BigW brand (Dymples) microwave bottle steriliser (was clear lid & white plastic bottom) for about " $10 " in 2006 & it lasted me for ages & is now packed away in brilliant condition.
(Would have loved an electric sterisler but I didn't have the bench room (believe me you won't want to be pulling it out of the cupboard several times a day
ALL THE BEST ... and don't let the subject of breastfeeding concern you - You can only do what you can do
Ren - dont forget all babies are different and so too are our BB's. What has worked for some of the girls (not having to express ect) didnt work for me (I had to express to get my supply up).
I dont think it hurts to be prepared....you can always sell it on ebay or pass it on to another expectant mother
Thanks girls for your help. It's great hearing everyone's different perspectives, views and what worked and what didnt' work for each of you.
I've decided I'm going to buy the Medela Swing electric pump! It seems like a great pump and i've heard alot of great feedback about it. I'll keep it in it's packaging and if it doesn't get used, like Maz said, i can just sell it on E-bay!
I'm looking forward to this breastfeeding class in Nov
I had to pump to boost my supply and having already bought one would have been handy (cause it's also handy to just have in the house anyway even if you don't use EBM- I've pulled it out to get some milk for gunky eyes, express when a bit engorged). I wouldn't bother with many bottles or a steriliser though. As we just use it very infrequently I sterilise by boiling in a pot on the stove- no extra gadgets required.
Oh, and I wouldn't buy formula just in case. Having had very low supply and ending up needing some formula for a few days take it from me you get PLENTY of warning and working through it before you need to crack open formula if it comes to that.
Like everyone has said, what works for some won't work for others and all bb's are different lol!
I felt like I needed to be prepared for anything and so I bought an Avent manual pump which came with 2 small bottles. I left it in the wrapper thinking I wouldn't need it but ended up using in on day 8 after DD was born because my nipples were so so sore and I couldn't handle DD sucking anymore. So in my case I was so glad I was prepared and I could just whip out the pump to gently express while my nipples healed! DD was fine going from nipple to teat and vice versa. I never had an issue with that pump (and 2 of my friends have since borrowed it and then bought one!) but have also heard great things about Medela.
Great that you are going to a breasfeeding class, I'm sure that will give you a head start. And don't worry about it all too much hun!
Hey Renstar,
How ya going gf? I see you have plenty of feedback already and mine dosent seem a lot different either. As this is baby number 3 for me and my wonderful lil sis has just had baby number 1 I have experience at both ends of the spectrum.
I have just renewed my aba membership too. So many reasons why. There bras are great as far as sizing and pricing. They have a great range of pumps and parts that are discounted for aba members. The phone support line and of course the mag.
So you can hire a medela lactaset from most local pharmacies( i worked in pharmacies for over ten years;they usually require a deposit and are considerably dearer then aba),and of course at aba the hire rate is 50%off for members.
I [
purchased the medela swing for my sister and as a first time mum she loved it. She said very quiet,easy to use,lightweight and fast. Having watched her express i would definetley agree. Can't wait to use it now that she is no longer bf. You will probably pay around 260-300 retail, but a great investment.
I am planning to buy two bottles. I like the new mam ones they are also shaped like mothers breast(but my other babes had no problem with dummy/teat/nipple confusion) and they are BPA free.(you might want to read up on that) The bottles that come with the medela swing arent bpa free or a good shape,so they wont be used. Essentially the drift i got about bpa is that the polycarbonate plastic used in SOME bottles MAY leach chemicals into the heated baby milk.
As for the formula;still sitting on the fence with that one. I think for my sanity i will probably keep a couple of s26 gold box packs(like a little juice box-ready made) in the pantry. As I'm back in the domain of single mumdom i just want to try and anticipate problems rather than driving around at midnight with two cranky kids and a screaming baby with me at my witts end trying to find a chemist open. I will though try and get my supply up quickly so i can try and get an adequate store in the freezer,so add breast milk storage bags to that list. That way if i need to do a top up, or have a break or if my 11 year old wants to feed his lil bro then thats cool too. I imagine this post is quite lengthy but i hope it helps.
Love
Pauline
Last edited by pollyanna; August 31st, 2008 at 12:22 AM.
You know, I think I would take the money and buy a subscription to the Australian Breastfeeding Association and spend another $20 for you and your partner to attend a class.
The best think about breastfeeding is ...it's free. And the system works, usually really, really well.
Did you knw you don't have to sterilise your pump or bottles if you are using breastmilk? Just a rinse with cold water, a hot soapy wash, another rinse and you are set to go. No sterilising required.
I fed 2 or my children without bottles or pumps - it was probably the most relaxed time of my life.
If like throws up those circumstances where you do need bottles or a pumps, you can easily get them then.
Warm Regards
Barb
I bought a couple of bottles & teat before DD was born JIC. I didnt buy a breast pump until 3 days ago (so she was over a month old) and I havent used it yet, Its more for if we are going out and we are leaving DD with the IL's for long enough that she'll need a feed, in saying that the midwives at the hospital taught me how to hand express.
I bought the madella(sp?) manual breast pump, it was about $40 because I didnt see the point in getting anything to fancy because it wouldnt get used very often.
I got a kit with a couple of the avent bottles in it as well as the microwave steriliser. I also brought a few of those S26 readymade tetra packs of formula to keep in the cupboard jic. I found the bottles were also handy for cooled boiled water, esp seeing as we were heading into summer. I was adament that I was going to breastfeed but didn't want to be running all over town to get formula and bottles in case of emergency.
My DD never had a problem with going between teats and my nipples, I put it down to giving her the water in a bottle as well as the occasional formula feed when I had to go out. (Had huge troubles expressing).
I have found the Avent bottles and teats great. And my sister used the Avent manual pump and has had no problems. I would say an electric one would be better due to it being quicker and easier on the old arm muscles.
While I understand where many of the posters are coming from in saying leave getting a pump and bottle unless it comes to a point when you need it. In our experience, however, it was half 11 on a sat night when I needed a pump so wouldn't have been able to get one at that time. Luckily I had picked up a steriliser and pump set (AVent manual) which had bottles and heaps of other stuff in it on offer. When it came to it, on day 4, we had to start feeding our little one every three hours, due to her juandice making her really sleepy so she didn't want to wake up for a feed, we had to feed her this often to get the juandice through, but at 7pm, she decided that she did not want to attach, and by 11 had still not had a feed, even though we had tried everything that the midwife recommend, we ended up getting out the pump and gently spoon feeding her, until we saw the midwife the next day who gave us a syringe - there was nothing wrong with the way i was attaching, she was just too tired to attach and stay on. Anyway, we carried on doing that for another 48 hours, so I am so glad I had the pump already, or else it would have been formula for us i think.
Hi
With bf, I think that it's important that you plan for success and doing the ABA bf classes is probably a great way to start - I wish I'd done one.
I see you've already decided to buy the pump, which will probably come in handy, but as for bottles and sterlizers etc, I personally wouldn't buy anything like that for now - just wait and see how you go. As someone else mentioned, having bottles etc can be a temptation to use ebm or ff. There will be times when your baby is really fussy and wanting to feed all the time and you're tired and just want a break, but in those early weeks when you're getting bf established it's best to stick to bf.
I know sometimes ff etc is necessary - but you should get some warning of that and will be able to go get what you need if and when it happens.
Good luck
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