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just in case bottle feeding advice please?

2K views 4 replies 4 participants last post by  dharmagrrl 
#1 ·
I'm hoping to breastfeed but just in case I'm unsuccessful at this I'm wondering if I should buy some bottles too - any advice on this?
I'm on a very tight budget and wondering what bottles to buy? How many? What steriliser? If I need baby milk - which kind?

Any advice much appreciated!

Many thanks,

:)
 
#2 ·
I didn't buy any bottles, steriliser, pump or formula before DS was born. I was determined to breastfeed and thought if I had them in the house I might be tempted to give up sooner than I would otherwise. Also I thought if I was really desperate, I could send DH out to a 24 hour supermarket to get what i needed. in the end BFing went really well and I still have never had bottles, steriliser or formula in the house ;D If you are on a tight budget, personally I would wait and see how you get on rather than spend a small fortune on stuff you may never even need (unless you plan to introduce formula at some stage).


Also, if you give birth in a hospital or birthing centre, the midwives should help you get feeding established before you go home and let you know how to get support later if you need it - so you won't be totally left to your own devices :) Good luck ^hugme^
 
#3 ·
you could get a starter pack (aptamil do them) which contains several pre-sterilised, ready to feed bottles. That way you have an emergency stash just in case, without buying lots of stuff you might not need.
 
#4 ·
I agree that if you're within easy reach of a 24-hour supermarket it isn't worth buying much stuff "just in case" as you may end up not needing it.  However, I did buy a few things in advance (and ended up using them despite my best efforts at b/f).  I bought

Tommy Tippee bottles -I tried a few but these worked best for both my LOs. I wouldn't bother with the newborn size (125ml, I think) as your LO will very quickly need more than that.  I think the normal size is 240ml.  If you end up feeding formula exclusively, you will probably need 6 but I wouldn't buy that many until you know you definitely need them.
Steriliser - I would recommend an Avent steam steriliser - my one has worked like a dream and is easy to use, although it was quite pricey (about £40 two years ago).  My one has a digital display which shows roughly how many hours are left before the bottles need to be re-sterilised, and it also has a feature which allows you to use it non-stop for 24 hours without topping up the water (which is very handy for thoses first sleep-deprived days). Cold water sterilisers are probably the cheapest method (other than boiling everything up in a saucepan) but I thought they were a real faff (I bought one for going on holiday with DD as it was less bulky than the electric one), especially if you are in a hurry with a baby screaming to be fed, as you have to wait a certain length of time for the steriliser tablets to work, everything is supposed to be rinsed with boiled water and I ended up with pools of water all over the kitchen.
Milk - my two have had HIPP organic and done very well on it.
One other thing which I thought was worth its weight in gold for formula was one of those dispensers (Avent do them as do Boots and they cost about £4-5) where you can measure out doses of formula powder ready to add to the bottle when you need it.  You will probably not believe this, but I was so sleep deprived for the first few weeks that I couldn't have managed to count out the correct number of scoops of powder at each feed (especially at night) so I used to measure out doses in advance (or get DH to do it if he was more awake). They are also really handy for when you are away from home.

Ellie

 
#5 ·
Thank you!
This is all very useful. I fully intend to breastfeed but you never know how things will go and I don't live near a big supermarket so I'm trying to plan ahead. Thanks again for all your help.

:)
 
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