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3rd Trimester
Formula Feeding Moms?
How are you preparing? How many bottles are you getting? Are you getting some formula beforehand or will you wait until you see if the hospital brand works?
Also, what are you telling people that ask about whether you will nurse or not?
Personally, I don't want to go into all of my reasons and it's not a question that they should be asking anyway-- so I have been saying I will try BF. And I will, in the hospital, to see how it goes. Thanks for your thoughts!
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Re: Formula Feeding Moms?
I have no problem telling people that I will not be nursing. If they ask, I simply say "no." At the hospital, they will ask "breast or bottle?" and I never had an issue with people trying to force "breast is best" on me. If your confident in your decision (b/c you obviously chose it for a reason), they will see that.
Anyway, DS had reflux, so we used Similac Sensitive formula for him and it worked well (along with meds). We plan to just start out using that formula again this time and hope she likes it.
As for bottles, I have 6 of the Dr. Brown 4oz bottles and 12 of the 9oz bottles. That seemed to work out well for DS, so we're sticking with it.
GL!
Carter Robert 7.18.08 | Brynn Sophia 5.24.10 | Reid Joseph 9.10.12 | Emerson Mae 1.27.14
I'm formula feeding Natalie right now (undecided as for next LO).
----- I would go with 6 - 8 bottles. You don't necessarily need the smaller bottles either, depending on your baby, he/she might not use them that long anyway. Though, Natalie still uses them - she's a peanut:)
----- I had bought Good Start to have on hand before she was born. In NICU, they fed her similac advance (she was in there for 3 weeks). We switched to Good Start after a few weeks at home.
----- People asked all the time if I was breastfeeding her, I always felt like I needed a good "excuse" why I was formula feeding. But, I should have just said "no, I'm not" and moved on to a different topic. Right now, people ask - and I do the "I'll try and see how it goes" because that is my intention - I'll try for awhile, but I'm not beating myself up over it either way. Here, I get some pretty crappy looks for whipping out a bottle...... It annoyed me, because they have no idea what Natalie and I went through......
eta: we had 8ish bottles to start - we have more now!!
I wouldn't get too many bottles right away becuase often it takes trying a few to see what works best for your baby. Maybe try a starter pack of one of the BPA free bottles you want to try and see how it goes. They are easy enough to run out and get more when you find the one that works.
You are right that no one should ask but trust me they will! I tried with both my first two and they just wouldn't "take". I ended up pumping for both which was very difficult becuase it was twice as time consuming to pump then feed. This is my third with a 4 and 2 year old at home and I will try in the hospital once again but if it doesn't come naturally I am not planning on pumping with this one and will go straight to formula when I get home.
As for formula I used enfamil with lipil for both kids and it was fine.. thats what my hospital had so I stuck with it.
I am going to try BF as well. I recently went to a BF class (only 2 hours) at the hospital that I will be delivering at. I would highly recommended going to one if possible. My instructor was defently pro-BF, but she was very honest about the about the whole process.
Back to your question. I have 3 different types of bottles and two types of formula - all have been samples or very cheap with coupons. I just want a variety on hand and I may get a few more formulas.
I have two starter sets of Born Free glass bottles but we've only opened and sterilized one set in case he doesn't like them. I know we'll have to wash them all day (since I only have three little ones and two big ones) but I don't want to open a $50 bottle set if he hates them!
So far people haven't pushed the BF vs formula thing, luckily!
I had a lot of bottles, but 6-8 is probably good. When DD was a NB, I used a different bottle for every feeding cuz she ate often. Toward the end of bottles, I used just one all day, washing it after every feeding. When they eat very often in the beginning, it's easier to use a separate one and wash them all at the end of the day. And it helped to have a few bottles made for the overnight feedings, rather than having to make them in the middle of the night.
I wouldn't stock up on any formula right now. DD's formula was changed when she was 2 weeks old because she wasn't gaining weight. Then it was changed again at 4 month because of slight reflux. I'd wait to get the formula at the hospital and then take your pedi's advice from there.
Every one knew I was going to formula feed. No one asked about my decision cuz I was very open in telling people what I was doing and that it was a personal choice. I had a whole team of doctors and I had one that sorta lectured me every time I saw him when he asked how I was feeding. It was really irritating.
Thanks so much ladies! I feel like I'm the only one out there choosing FF (Or admitting that is my choice). I will go ahead and get a small variety of bottles. My neighbors are very judgy and pro BF and they will be around all the time-- so I will just have to tell them I choose to FF and leave it at that. My reason is due to antidepressants and I dont' excactly want to go into all that with them- it is none of their business and I don't know why I would feel like I have to- it is not easy!
Thanks.
I started BF with #1 and then when trying to be able to add in the bottle, we went through 4 or 5 kinds before he settled on Dr. Browns. I have those to try (not BPA free since it was before that scare) and if #2 likes them, we'll head to BRU to get the BPA free ones. I also am interested in trying the Playtex nursers and have 3 or 4 on hand to try. After those two choices, I would have no clue as to which way to go bottle wise. I'll just start buying new ones to try as he rejects them!
I do plan on using the Target brand formula since it is nearly the same and cheaper. If not, we'll go for the Enfamil next. I preferred that over Similac last time. DS#1 ended up on soy so I may start that right away with #2 to avoid many of the problems we had with #1 (reflux (on meds), gas, etc). I have not bought any yet and may on the way home from the hospital depending on what type we get there. I have 2 cans of Similac I got in the mail (reg/soy) the other day on hand just in case.
When telling people about not BFing, I stress to them that I had such a hard time last time that I'm not going to put myself through it again. Baby had severe reflux and had to be on prescription meds and took 3 weeks to regain birth weight. I ended up with an infection in my c-sec incision which with the antibiotics gave me thrush which was entirely to painful for me to feed---I would cry. My supply was incredibly low too---hence the slow weight gain back to birth weight. With trying to pump, I got so little that it was hard to build up any sort of stash so I was the sole feeder unless we supplemented with formula. Plus the guilt when stopping was OVERWHELMING. I have already been struggling with that over the last few weeks anyway!
I wanted to BF with DD but my milk never came in so I chose GoodStart formula which she did very well with. We also tried different types of bottles. The only one she didn't like was the playtex nursers. With this baby we plan to use Good Start again and since the hospital I'm going to only has Similac we are bringing some premixed nurser bottles with us (had to get a script from the pediatrician saying it was ok). I found a good deal at Target over the weekend and had 2 $3.00 off coupons so we went ahead and got 5 30oz cans of powder Good Start formula. A bit of a dice roll but I'm hopefull since DD was fine with it that this baby will be too.
I know how you feel about the neighbours. Our community is very small, and I've had a woman actually tell me to suck it up and breastfeed and this was when I was asking a different woman about a pump she used.... Just ignore and know that you are feeding your baby and your baby will thrive!!! Interestingly, my Dr. (who is now a friend of mine), tried breastfeeding and switched to formula - she has no regrets. Her husband is now my Dr., and needless to say - I don't get any "Dr. lectures" about breastfeeding - it's hard and not everyone will/can carry through with it.
When people ask me if I am BF I reply "Nope, these are not working boobies." It usually makes people giggle and they dont really know what else to say since they werent expecting that and it ends the conv.
As for bottles we have 3 diff. types from showers we had and we are just gonna see what she likes best. I think I am gonna start with the Playtex VentAir ones and if those dont work we will try the Playtex drop-ins next. DF will pick up formula before we leave the hospital since we want to see what they end up giving her before we buy any.
But I'm really freaked out by the idea of women who want to formula feed- just telling people that they couldn't breastfeed just to avoid questions and keep people off their back. No wonder so many mothers-to-be are scared of breastfeeding and know so many people who "couldn't"... It's sad to think that their confidence in the female body is being undermined by stories that aren't even true. Yes, I know there are many women who do try with all their heart and dedication- and can't make it work... but I wonder how many women (maybe even you) are afraid to put their heart into it- because deep down they mistakenly think there is a high chance they won't be able to.