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Pumping Storage/Feeding Bottles

NADA-HNADA-H member
in Breastfeeding
Hi ladies,

I got a Medela freestyle double electric pump for when I go back to work- 2 months post partum- I'm planning on exclusively breast feeding, God willing!

the set comes with 4 bottles that are all 5oz in a pack with a cooling membrane.

I wanted to buy more of the feeding bottles which come with the storage closed top but was wondering if I should just go ahead and get them in the 8oz size so that I can use them for when she nurses more at each feeding? does that seem reasonable enough? instead of buying 4 extra 5oz and then upgrading to the 8oz

if say I fill up an 8oz bottle would it be ok for my baby to drink as much as she wants from it the second day at her feeding and then drink from the same bottle again 3-4 hours later if it's kept in the fridge? 

it seems that everyone I know only uses the 5oz bottles for storing and feeding and aim to finish it at each feeding. I'm not sure if that's a matter of preference or hygiene/freshness of the milk or what exactly.

and if I'm going to pump for the next day every day (no freezing and no stash) how many bottles would I need? I will be able to nurse before going to work and then I will pump 4 times during the day (I work 8-5 and with the commute it will be even longer hence why the 4 pumping times)

would 8 bottles do? 4 that I would have at work with me to pump and store in today and 4 with her at my mother's house to nurse from?

I might end up buying some other bottle brand for direct nursing if she doesn't like the medela one. I will introduce it at the age of 4-5 weeks so that we can choose a bottle brand for nursing and keep the medela ones for storage.
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God Bless You my Little One
Farida, our first child, born on the 19th of July 2014
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Farida, at 8 weeks
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Re: Pumping Storage/Feeding Bottles

  • mommatotwo2mommatotwo2 member
    Baby will likely never take more than 5 oz per feeding, unlike formula, breastmilk changes in composition as baby grows, and only slight increases, if any, are needed. You will want enough feeding bottles to have a full set to feed and a full set to wash. You will want to give baby a one serving bottle for each feeding, because baby will not likely stop half way through and will overeat. With breastmilk, many Moms will rewarm and serve at the next feeding, but for the freshest milk, you shouldn't plan to do that and should only do it if you are trying to avoid tossing what's left of a 3 or 4 oz bottle that baby didn't finish. Many moms, myself included, pump into one set of bottles during the day and pour into storage bags each time, keeping your pumping bottles in a cooler for the day, so you don't need to wash each time. Breastfed babies can be extremely picky about bottles and you will likely need to try at least a couple before you find one baby likes. I personally found medala bottles terrible for bottle feeding. The nipple is way too small. Tommee tippee anti colic worked best for us. Lastly, you might want to consider a small freezer stash, I've had to rely on mine many times. Good luck!
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  • NADA-HNADA-H member
    thank you so much for your input ladies, I'm going shopping on Friday and will look at different bottle options.

    the problem here is Medela is not always available and their parts are rare to find. so keeping freezer bags or storage packs is hard and I'd have to rely on the bottles for pumping and storing if not also feeding.

    I will try the medela with her way before I got back to work but unfortunately my pack only comes with 1 calma nipple, just 1 and 4 bottles and I can't seem to find the calma nipple anywhere.

    I checked at Mothercare and they said they used to have Tommee Tippee but they ran out and don't know when and if they are getting more...this is so annoying.

    are there any other bottles that you ladies can recommend? I need something for breast fed babies. I will have to shop around as not all the brands available in the US are available here in the middle east.

    Is AVENT natural bottle and nipple a good choice? has anyone tried them?

    oh and did you try the AVENT sterlizer and/or bottle warmer? are they worth putting them on my registry?
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    God Bless You my Little One
    Farida, our first child, born on the 19th of July 2014
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    Farida, at 8 weeks
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  • ThereBeDragonsThereBeDragons member
    I like the Avent bottles for pumped milk. I don't really feed out of the medela pumping bottles unless all my Avents are dirty and baby is fussing too much to wait for a clean bottle. But- because I am pumping exclusivly at the moment (baby is having issues with the boob) I do like to have a nice number of containers to pump into. I've got 5 in rotation at the moment that can hold a full pumping from one breast and that seems to be just enough that I haven't had to break out the freezer storage bags (you don't need medela brand- any should do for freezer storage- you don't pump into them, you pour into them after pumping)
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  • jill0986jill0986 member
    I personally bought 3 additional containers and for me it was a washing thing. I didn't want to have to wash all the bottles everyday.

    As for how much. My daughter (3 months) takes 12-16 ounces in the 10 hours I am gone, but every baby is different so this is really trial and error. What I did when I went back to work was packed her 12oz as well as have my mom a few freezer bags so that way if she need more she has it available. I now only send just what she needs but my mom has a stash just in case.

    We got a bunch of 4oz avent natural bottles during our shower so that's what we use. Our daughter took it no problem and I like that it has a larger nipple base.
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  • NADA-HNADA-H member
    thank you ladies! going shopping this Friday and will be selecting items for my registry at the shop. Did any of you use the AVENT steriliser and warmer? are they worth it?
    imageimage
    God Bless You my Little One
    Farida, our first child, born on the 19th of July 2014
    image
    Farida, at 8 weeks
    image
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  • VickyTGAWVickyTGAW member
    jill0986 said:
    I personally bought 3 additional containers and for me it was a washing thing. I didn't want to have to wash all the bottles everyday.
    Ahh, me too! I have roughly ten 5-ounce bottles (some Medela, some cheap ones) in our rotation. Four to five bottles usually go to daycare and then I take four with me to pump into during work. I still end up washing bottles almost every night though.

    That said, I have been pumping a combined 27 months between my two sons. There is always room for improvement!  It never dawned on me to pump into the same bottles and then pour into the storage bags. Good tip, @mommatotwo2!
    mommatotwo2 said:
    ... Many moms, myself included, pump into one set of bottles during the day and pour into storage bags each time, keeping your pumping bottles in a cooler for the day, so you don't need to wash each time. ...
    Since I'm so far along in my pumping journey and already have the infrastructure, I'll just go ahead and pretend I bought all those extra bottles to help the environment. Sounds plausible, right? Right?  : )
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  • jill0986jill0986 member
    I have the avent sterilizer and love it. I think it's preference on weather you want to sterilize or not. I wash everything by hand because the dish washer in our apartment sucks then throw it in the microwave then take out and let dry over night.

    I do not have avent warmer but the Kiinde Kozi as that was the one my LC recommended. I have never used it so can't tell you much about how quick it is but my husband has never complained about it.
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  • NADA-HNADA-H member
    I think I will go ahead and buy some extra medela bottles the 5oz for pumping and then try the avent to see if she likes them before i go back to work and if she does then I will buy plenty of those for nursing and use the medela ones for storage.

    I can't find any storage bags or containers of any brand in Doha, it sucks

    as to the sterlizer and warmer I think I will cross them off as I don't have that much space anyway and would hate to get something and never use it. This way I would have 2 less items on my list and the chance that 2 other more important items would be purchased for me as gifts from my list.

    thank you so much ladies...it scares me so much to think of all to come but i know that once I get to it and have a routine my anxiety will subside
    imageimage
    God Bless You my Little One
    Farida, our first child, born on the 19th of July 2014
    image
    Farida, at 8 weeks
    image
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  • NADA-HNADA-H member
    Thank God!

    I managed to find some medela storage bags in Doha among other brands too, I bought a single box, not sure if I would freeze more than 20 bags for my stash.

    that stuff is bloody expensive here. I finally logged into Amazon and managed to find 10 medela storage bottles for less than the price of 3 here!!!! can you believe that? so I purchased it online.
    I also managed to buy the sterilizing wipes and dishwasher bags on amazon, couldn't find any here in Doha anywhere...pumping is a new culture in Doha mainly practiced by westerner Expats so all the things needed for it aren't widely available but thank God for amazon.

    I bought 2 Doctor Brown bottles to try them out when on maternity leave and mainly breast feeding, if they work just fine with my baby then I will buy more and leave some at my mom's house and some in my house.

    thank you so much ladies! you were a great help
    imageimage
    God Bless You my Little One
    Farida, our first child, born on the 19th of July 2014
    image
    Farida, at 8 weeks
    image
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