ideally i would like to give bfing a go because i never got the chance with dd. i loved the fact that dh could feed dd aswell though s im slightly torn dh says do what i think is best. what i would like to do is bfd in the day express and bottle feed througout the night i ahev heard that the tommee tippee closer to nature range is very good but just wondered how easy is what i want. please be honest with me as i am torn with what to really do!
It sounds perfectly 'do-able' to me! You will be told to exclusively bf without expressing to get your supply established at first, and if you can do that it would help. I couldn't get my DD latched onto one side so expressed and fed her that way right from the start with support from my midwife and health visitor. The only thing that i would say is that you might need to pump over night at first anyway to get your supply sorted (not constantly but probably once) but play it by ear and you will settle into a routine.
Baby USA has a BF support thread and youcould always post on that as she is a real expert!
I use those Tommee Tippee bottles and really liked them. She never seemed to get confused between breast and bottle and even after she got a bit bigger and could latch on properly i still continued to give bottles of expressed milk when out and about as i couldn't for the life of me get her on properly in public!!
If you commit to doing it it is so rewarding, but it can be hard work at first so stick with it!
Posts: 1177 | Location: United Kingdom | Registered: 14 November 2005
hi.. just a quickie to say that i am combining breast with bottle....i exclusively breastfed for 5 weeks and then introduced a bottle for night time feeds...she took it fine... and went staright back on breast again afterwards....
probably best to wait till around 5 - 6 weeks tho..as then your feeding is a lot more established...but others do it sooner and get on fine.. babyusa gave lots of fab advice to me...she is great ... also the kellymom website is brill for all sorts of advice too xxx
Posts: 464 | Location: United Kingdom | Registered: 02 January 2006
I used the Tommee Tippee closer to nature breast pump and bottles - they were all really good. Certainly got the milk out!
BF for a few weeks exclusively if you can gets your body used to producing all the milk your baby wants. If you are determined to combine you really need to make sure you're expressing every few hours when baby's not feeding to keep your milk supply up. I started combining with the best of intentions, but I didn't express enough and my milk dwindled. It's difficult (but not impossible) to bump it back up again if it does slow down though.
Remember that everyone's bodies are different too, you'll soon find out what works best for you.
Posts: 637 | Location: London, UK | Registered: 31 August 2006
RJ like others have said, you need to be committed to exclusive bf because expressing is hard work to begin with and a bit boring really!!! My munchkin had no problems switching between breast and bottle either but she only had one bottle when she went to bed, the rest was bf. You'll probably need 4-6 weeks to get your supply established and if you stop feeding at night, then you're supply will eventually dwindle completely at night but as long as you stick to it, it shouldn't be a problem.
The only thing I would say, though, that no one told me, is that it takes a while to get the hang of expressing and to get a decent amount of milk out - the first few times I tried it I got about 3 drips and nearly gave up!!!! So stick with it!!!! I used to express off one boob at the same time as feeding off the other to try and ease the boredom but ideally you need 3 hands for this!!!!!!!
Wow-I'm so slow at getting round to replying these other ladies have beaten me to it and they have given you great advice! Have you taken a look at the kellymom websiteit has lots of great breastfeeding advice. I see you already have a little one-did you breastfeed her at all?
Posts: 610 | Location: USA | Registered: 21 September 2005
thnaks fpr all you great replies its quite nice to get some support my mil is dead against it dh not to happy but will support me if its what i really want to do.
babyusa- no i wasnt allowed to breastfeed my dd i was on very strong steroids for asthma that would have affected my milk supply!!
Gosh it sounds like you have some big hurdles to begin with-I won't lie to you BF is not easy to begin with and the support of people around you is important- perhaps you could find a local BF group so that you will have some hands on support and advice once baby is here? Of course we are all here to help and give advice too. NCT and La Leche League may have groups near you and you don't need to be members to ask them for advice or your HV may know of a group-it isn't too early to contact them and talk about what you are aiming to do. Is your asthma under control now or could it become a problem again?
Posts: 610 | Location: USA | Registered: 21 September 2005
funny thing was as soon as i gave birth to dd my asthma went back down to a normal level so no more steroids hence the wanting to try to bf. am just taking inhalers now and midwife has checked and apparently they wont affect bfing. thanks for the advice i am back at widwife in 2 wks so will ask her if there are any groups near me!!
