Andrew was a bottle baby. He went from losing weight being BF to gaining good amounts on formula. Don't know what was up with my milk it was there but not enough to get him growing.

wow yay go you ladies.

i'm expressing into bottles at the moment my lil ryan won't laatch without a nipple shield. They're such a hassle and so damb ugly. my dh is loving being able to give ryan a bottle.

am thinking of going to formular as soon my milk will just dry up. i'm not sure where to start though.

Jimmy has been bottle fed since he was 5 days old. He had both EMB and formula between birth and 12 weeks, then weaned onto formula only.

The day we first gave him the bottle DH and I felt hugely relieved. We'd honestly thought Jimmy was going to choke to death when we tried to feed him via a cup, and were at the end of our wits after the unsuccessful battle to BF. This really lovely nurse came in to our room at midnight, took one look at us and said "You're not going to try and feed him all that via cup are you? I'll get you a bottle if you want". We haven't looked back since.

We were given a pamphlet on formula feeding by another nurse in hospital (when we asked for info) but no verbal instructions on how to bottle feed. The whole attitude towards bottle feeding is quite scary really - its really important to know how to sterilise correctly, not to reuse leftover formula, that you should throw out freshly made up formula if you can't remember how many scoops you've put in (which happens often with nappy brain  ) etc etc.

Here is my tip for preparing fresh formula as quickly and safely as possible (v important in those early weeks when bubs has no patience and wants the bottle NOW!):

** Sterilise all your bottles and teats etc at once (I found it helpful to have at least 4 bottles - we use the Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature ones)

** Pour a set amount of boiled water from the jug into each sterilised bottle and leave to cool. You will top this up with freshly boiled water just before feeding bubs. The ratio that works for us at the moment is 130 mls cooled boiled water, topped up with 70 mls boiling water for a 200 ml feed. Experiment until you find out what mixture works for you.  

** Store the bottles in a cupboard or somewhere out of direct sunlight and use within 24 hours, otherwise tip out the cooled boiled water and start again.

** When bubs wants a feed, fetch a bottle containing cooled water, top up with boiling water, add req amount of formula, shake and you're good to go. 

** You can also speed up the process if you leave just enough water in the jug to make up the next feed (so it doesn't take too long to boil).

I wish I'd worked this out when we first came home from hospital, not weeks later.

we gave ryan 100mls of formular last night at 5.30 then went out for dinner, he slept till 10.30 when i woke him to bf him cause i wanted to go to bed myself. he then woke every 2.5 hours after that. BF him each time. My milk is just not enough for him. I've just bort a couple of sachets for us to try but it looks as though it's heaps better  so maybe that's it for us.  Will save all the fuss with nipple shields too.

So how many bottles will we need. And what do you do when you go out shopping etc do you prepare the bottle before hand?? i don't want to ask my MW as she'll flip.

i think i still might like to BF during the day, as long as milk doesn't dry up. Though it's already looking and feeling funny. are your boobs meant to go squishy again instead of hardish?? and milk as someone said up there like trim cows milk.

Jezsika wrote: Ok this is a maybe wierd observation but has anyone who has gone from Avent to Tommee Tippee noticed this? Shake the formula in the Avent and you get HEAPS of air in it and the bubbles stay there for ages. Shake the formula in the Tommee Tippee and there are NO bubbles what so ever? FAB :D

I found the same when Alize was having a bottle, I ended up ditching all the advent bottles and giving them to the DC to have as back up and got all TT. They are great and very cute colours too lol

You can also get glass bottles from http://www.babyonline.co.nz/ - We heard about the "why plastic feeding bottles may be dangerous" debate when DS was about 5 months old and wished we'd known about it before he was born, so we could have avoided plastic bottles. [From website above "Recent studies show that Bisphenol A (chemical used in the production of polycarbonate plastics) can leach out and potentially have development effects on infants and newborns."]  

golly there's so much you need to know about FF.

Told my MW we were starting FF she seemed fine about it. now to tell my mum. she is pro BF right up there with blimmen la leche. she BF 5 kids each one till they were 18 mnths or so never even used bottles for water just TT sippa cups. I feel like i'm letting her down somehow as ryan is her first grandchild so i should set the standard or something. It's just easier for us.

Wow what a vent.

oh someone said something about making this thread and a BF thread sticky aye. How about having it on the first forum topics page like the 'cloth nappy' thread. emma??

have you all seen the Breast feeding ads on TV. They always seem to come on when i'm about to stick a bottle in Ryan's mouth.

oh by the way who watched that thing on TV3 last night about not microwaving plastic. So does that mean not microwave streilising bottles.

Thanks for starting this thread Jess - I think most of you know (i have posted in other areas) that I had a really hard time with our decision to f/f. In fact I now understand that it was the main thing that caused my PND.

I had a very long labour, and when he finally arrived was a lazy pants and wouldnt suck well, combined with the fact that my milk didnt come in for 4 days and that I couldnt get colostrum out easily....it was all a bit of a disaster. The paediatrician said we needed to give him formula as he was dehydrated, but we were still made to feel like "criminals" by the m/w's and had to sign a form etc...which is so incredibly stressful when you are sleep deprived, worried about your baby and on the biggest emotional rollercoaster ever. When we got home, my m/w was a bit blaze about the whole thing, and suggested "persevering"....in the first weeks at home I was spending 45mins trying to b/f him, then topping him up with formula or EBM,  then expressing...then starting all over again....I was exhausted. When we were referred to the lactation consultant she made some statements that were insensitive, hurtful and didnt help 2 new struggling parents at all. We struggled with both b/f and f/f for about 10weeks before we decided that for everyones well being it would be better to go onto the bottle fulltime. When we did he was like a new baby - calm, content, slept well....fantastic!

I still struggle with the guilt....which was made worse early on by some comments made by complete strangers in parents rooms....(which basically caused me to be too scared to leave the house in case I had to feed him in public!!)...but I now know that my little boy is thriving and is so happy. My DH also loves the fact that he has been so actively involved in the feeding process, and feels like it has really helped him bond with Oli.

Emz, I couldn't BF either and went through the whole emotional rollercoaster thing for a few months after the birth. I don't like *failing* either and often wondered if the outcome could have been different if I'd done something differently. Easy to believe after the fact, when you're no longer sleep deprived and depressed .

I thought I'd got over it, then read those BF ad threads and got really emotional again (why didn't I just stop reading them, duh!!). The same day friends came to visit with their 5 week old daughter, and I got jealous seeing how easily she latched on, which was crazy as I haven't felt that way about anyone else, including the BF mothers at coffee group who have babies of simliar age to DS. So perhaps I haven't totally dealt with it and was kidding myself that I had. Although I'd like to try BF again in theory there is so much negativity attached to my last experience I don't know whether I'll have the courage in reality. 

I think what I've learnt is how important it will be for DH and I to have a post-natal plan in place before the birth next time. Perhaps even a Plan A, Plan B, Plan C etc! It's a relief we know all about bottle feeding now, so can incorporate it into our plan.  Last time the only thing we really focused on was the birth, which of course is a big deal but in the scheme of things over with in such a short time. We had no idea how difficult the whole newborn period could be.

You're definitely not a failure Emz  - the gorgeous wee man grinning at me from your ticker photo is proof of that .   

adele21 wrote: Wow! This is a great thread. My little sam was born on June 23 3 weeks early and has been ff pretty much ever since. My problem is flat nipples, my poor boy had nothing to latch onto and I don't think I ever had a let down... He was fed colostrum via a syringe after a midwife expressed it for me and I expressed Breastmilk until he was six weeks old. My other problem was that I would sit at the pump for about 30 mins and only get about 50mls from both boobs combined if I was lucky... Sam would have been lucky to get about 80mls of EBM once every two days. He was always topped up with formula. He was quite jaundiced in the first week but not enough to need photo therapy and he lost the maximium he was "allowed" to. Since then he has thrived, putting on agood amount of weight. he last weighed about 4.5kg at 6 weeks and seems quite happy. I use PUR bottles which are designed to be sterklised in the microwave- you can get them from New World. I still feel sad that I can't BF but I have a healthy and happy baby. Sometimes breast isn't always best. I was formula fed because I was adopted, I'll bet nobody would care if I told people sam was adopted... it actually tends to shut people up VERY quickly... some people get quiite embarrassed about it.

this was my problem, my Dh's brother and sister were adpoted so they were both FF

I have told my sister that when she does finally have a baby to come on here as she will get a heap of support as she will not be able to BF as all and baby will be on formula from birth. She had a double breast reconstruction at 18 years old as she was an A on one side and a DD on the other (very lopsided), so both breast have been reconstructed and the dr that did it said that he tried to do it so she could still BF but it was just too messy and as she ended up with an major infection in one breast resulting in more surgery.

Charly maybe if she isn't eating all that much go back to the birth - 6 months and then change once she is eating more food.