June 2012 Moms
piedpiper07
member
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FF Moms
piedpiper07
member
I am seriously considering making the switch. I have no qualms about the formula itself as I already give it to DS anytime anyone else is watching him, its more the logistics. So, because this decision is irreversible can I get the low down on the pros/cons of the bottle?
I have a dishwasher so dishes won't be too bad but how are night feedings? How do you orchestrate warming the bottle before they are screaming like crazy? Any other things to consider? Average cost?
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Re: FF Moms
I do like to FF because I can know exactly how much she is eating. We have a mini fridge and bottle warmer in our bedroom. It's not necessary, but we have a two story house and I am a klutz who did not want to be falling down the stairs at night. The warmer only takes a few minutes to warm up and I change her diaper while it's working. DD does not wake up screaming for food anymore, but when she was little and did, sometimes I would just give her the bottle cold. She didn't seem to care either way. I guess it just depends on your baby and what they're used to.
She drinks 5-6 5 oz. bottles per day. I spend around $35 on formula a week if I don't have coupons. If you sign up on the website of the formula you use, they will send you $5 off coupons. I sign up my family members also, so we rarely pay full price. We use the ready to feed though and I think the powder is cheaper.
I thought the same thing about the whole dishwasher idea that you do in that the dishes won't be bad, but the problem is unless you run the dishwasher every night you won't have clean bottles for the next day. Unless you want to stockpile a whole bunch of bottles in your cupboard. For me, I have a fair amount of bottles and we prefer to handwash them since there are so many parts and pieces...you would need to take up the whole top rack of your dishwasher with those little baskets for nipples and rings, and then the bottles themselves. It is so much quicker and easier for us to just wash them by hand. Takes 10min tops!
Pro's to a bottle: anyone can feed your LO, it can be done anywhere, anytime without worrying about offending anyone or having people stare at you weird, you can still bond over a bottle (I know this because I'm very bonded with my little guy and I just got him to latch yesterday after 10weeks), you know how much they are getting.
Con's to a bottle: if your LO will only drink it warm you have to carry pre-warmed water with you or go through the hassle of warming it up wherever you are (that is hard to do when you are on a road trip since many rest stops have temperature settings on their sinks that don't allow the water to get very hot), LO may not like the bottle that you have chosen and may reject it to which you have to spend more on other bottles with no guarantee, more stuff to carry.
Night feedings aren't bad. As I'm changing LO the bottle warmer is working its magic. You just have to figure out the right amount of water to put in it at first, but that is about the only challenge. I can't speak to cost because we are BF during the day and FF at night. It seems to help my LO sleep better with a little bit heavier liquid in his tummy.
Night feedings are fine. I don't warm the bottle. I used room temp bottled water the first six weeks. Now I switched to tap water. I put the water in two bottles before going to sleep so I just have to add the powder. I feel like it takes the same time (or less time) to just add the powder that it would to warm the bottle.
I buy the larger container of formula. It's $25. I have formula checks so that takes $5 off. Make sure you sign up for all the brands of formula so you can get the checks in the mail to trade on the bump for what you need. Sign up on the different brands' websites.
One other thing is check with your pedi about adding a Vitamin D supplement (Tri-vi-sol). My pedi has me give it to DS once a day. I add it to the first bottle in the morning.
I FF and think it's so easy. I use room temperature bottled water so that I don't have to worry about LO being used to warmed bottles. I have one of those munchkin formula dispensers by my bed and just get everything ready before I go to sleep. Once I know DS is awake I toss the formula into the water that I pre-measured and shake while I walk across the hall.
I much prefer FF to BFing, it just is not for me.
For me
Pros-
No worry about what I eat
Hubby can help me feed him
Even though I would NIP, its nicer not to have a second thought about feeding before we go out
Not pumping at work
I use room temp water so no worries there.
My LO needs weighted formula so that would have been hard with breast milk
also knowing how much he eats is nice since he does have reflux
Cons-
Night feedings are slightly laborious (vs. just pulling LO in close). LO is fine if I get him when he first starts moving around
No antibodies in formula is big for me
I feel like our bond wasnt as immediate
cost- we go through a big $22 bucket in a little over a week
we use tommee tippee and they are like $7.50 a bottle
To me FF is super easy.
I use the playtex dropins bottles so the only thing I have to wash is the nipples. I just bought 6 nips and hand wash them at night, only takes about 10 minutes. Wasn't a fan of having to wash a bunch of bottles.
As for cost we spend about $20 a week on formula using coupons. We also buy the liners 100 of them for about $5
Night feedings are a breeze. I just pre fill the bottles with water set them on my night stand ( LO doesn't care about warm bottles and he's in our room) then just dump pre measured formula in the bottle and shake.
The cons for me is just having to make sure I have at least one extra feedings worth than I think I'll need for when I go out.
In the diaper bag I'm carrying the bottle shell, a few liners, a few nipples, refillable bottle of water and the pre measured formula. His cloth diapers take up way more room than the feeding stuff.
I would say try and take it for a test drive while you're pumping and saving to see if its right for your family.
We formula feed for medical reasons, not by choice. But here's what we've found:
Pros: DH can help and DD is more bonded with him than the other 2 kids ever were at that age.
I can feed her anywhere and not worry about keeping covered.
I can wear anything I want, not just easy access clothing.
My mom or DH can watch her for awhile without me worrying about the baby being hungry.
My kids get to help feed their sister.
Cons: The expense. We have to use Nutramigen and it's $35 for each large can.
I have to get out of bed at night to feed her instead of just pulling her close.
She doesn't get antibodies from the formula, so we are twice as careful about where we take her which is tough with 2 older, active kids.
All the dirty bottles!
All the extra packing anytime we leave the house whether it's to the store or to Grandmas for the weekend.
We use bottled water at room temp for the bottles, so DD never got used to having her bottle warmed up. Besides, our formula says not to warm it, so occasionally the LO has to drink a cold bottle from the fridge if we had made it earlier and then she fell asleep.