Okay, just did some brief reading. Apparently you only need to sterilize before first use or if baby's been sick. After that, as long as your tap water is safe to drink, it's safe to clean the bottle parts. No need to sterilize each time you use the bottle, which is what I was worried about.
@anniemarie887 I used a sterilizer (I liked the baby brezza because it was big enough to fit bottles, pump parts etc and it also dried too) but the sterilizer bags from medela for the microwave work well too and each bag can be used 25 times.
Sterilize all bottles, pacifiers and pump parts before initial use. I didn't sterilize after each use after that, usually at the end of the day (When I pumped at work I put all my parts in a plastic bag and kept them in a fridge and then washed/sterilized at home). As she got older I got more lazy and maybe sterilized a couple times a week. DD went to daycare so I guess that made me more paranoid about germs and I work at a hospital and pumped there so that also made me more paranoid about germs as well.
Regarding the bottles, with ds we did Dr. Browns and I religiously hand washed all those freaking pieces with the special brush and sterilized every time. By about 4 months I’d had enough and started throwing them in the dishwasher and skipped the sanitizing. New baby’s and germs are scary but like others have said it’s not necessary to sterilize every single time you wash and you’ll drive yourself crazy trying to keep up.
Back to breastfeeding- The scalding/freezing/thawing/saying a magic spell before feeds is really giving me anxiety 😣
@k_mama91 Was the breast milk taste thing an issue last time when you fed DS? Did he stop wanting to nurse?
Sanitizing- for the most part, DD didn't go for a bottle at all (like some others mentioned), so it wasn't a huge issue for me. But I only remember sanitizing super thoroughly before first use, and then washing after that. I think I periodically boiled certain parts of my pump and bottles, but not every tiny bit.
@cpk3535 I really didn’t give it my all so that’s ultimately why we failed. All of the little details were discussing here played a part in overwhelming me and that’s why I didn’t commit. I’ve been reading up bc I really want to be successful this time but the taste issue has me worried. It will be my luck that we’re doing well and he won’t take anything pumped.
@k_mama91@cpk3535 the high lipase is why my bf journey ended with DS. I exclusively pumped but after a month he flat out refused BM but absolutely loved formula. I read that having your baby early (4weeks in my case) also leads to higher lipase levels which causes that bitter taste in BM. At the end of the day I was happy he got 4 weeks worth of BM and it was his choice to stop taking my milk.
The microwaves bags for sterilizing are a godsend and you can use each one 10 times if I remember correctly. My husband was the real stickler for sterilizing everything each time, and started out by boiling it all. Except he'd overcrowd the pot and pieces would end up at the edge of the pot unable to move, and ended up melting. Like, I think we lost 2 or 3 bottles and a few caps and rings that way before I convinced him to try the bags.
One of the ways a lot of moms I know tried to reduce the amount of washing, particularly pump parts, was to rinse them out and put them in a giant ziploc bag in the fridge, especially when they were back at work. Technically it's not recommended, so it depends how much of a stickler you are, but as someone mentioned there are varying times to how long breastmilk is good for, so if you can add milk to the same bottle/bag throughout the day, I don't see why milk residue in the pump would be any different.
The microwave bags from Medela were a lifesaver when traveling! At work I just washed with soap and water and left in a plastic Tupperware container. I recommend the Kiinde container for thawing breastmilk and good for warming bottles too.
I am working from home now so wondering if I go the nanny route and try to breastfeed when needed instead of doing daycare and having to pump. Did anyone try to do that?
@anniemarie887 I don’t think you need to use any specific bottle or pouch with the Kiinde. You can just use whatever one you prefer. I used Lansinoh bags (Medela leaked like crazy) and transferred to Avent bottles.
@anniemarie887 I have a friend who swore by the Kinde system. She really loved it. She had her DD after I had DS so I was already well into my routine and didn't want to switch it up. I'm not sure I'll switch this time either but it is tempting.
I'm sure this is TMI and I should probably save it until the group goes private, but it's bugging me so I'm going to ask anyway. I'm worried because I learned in my breastfeeding class that the baby is supposed to latch to the entire areola. But I feel like my nipples have become way too big during this pregnancy and what if they dont fit in her little mouth? 😩 Does that happen?
@blueskychicago12 they take more than you think they will in. And I don’t think my son took the entire thing, and his latch was fine. I’m big chested to start with and then add pregnancy and breastfeeding. Well you get the idea. He took what he needed.
@anniemarie887 Oh I had no idea! You are much better prepared than I was. I did not research baby gear at all. The bottle warmer and sterilizer was something that my mom bought after baby came. She took one look at what I had and decided that I was woefully underprepared. She went out, took BuyBuyBaby by storm and got “All the things I wished that I had had with you” (My mom is the best, without her I wonder what would have become of me...) All the most useful stuff I ended up with was because of her!
Awww @g_gabs71016 your mom sounds like the best!!!
We are a little late to the baby game, I’ve had 8-10 female friends have babies in the last 2 years. Hellllllo early 30s. So I’ve been to a lot of showers and seen a lot of baby gear.
@blueskychicago12 My nipples are also huge and I’m assuming the baby’s ability to fit the whole thing in their mouth contributes to the pain everyone talks about when beginning to breast feed.
@k_mama91 If the baby takes the whole nipple in it, there really is no pain in my experience. Most likely if you have a lot of pain, something is not right with the baby's latch, or you may have something else going on like a clogged milk duct. I really found it was not painful at all aside from just sensitivity around nipples and for that I used lanolin. The pain was related more to not pumping or feeding the baby when my breasts were full! I hope that is somewhat reassuring?!
@anniemarie887 Ha, I was 32 with my first and the first one to spring for a kid except for one friend from college and one from grad school who was older anyway. Now I am "advanced maternal age" apparently. Yay for kids in your 30s and beyond..
@g_gabs71016 Yes thank you! I plan on taking advantage of the LC in Thebes hospital so I hope to go home with a little confidence about the whole thing.
Anyone have any experience with pierced nipples and breastfeeding? All my doc says is... “that will make things interesting”.... thanks for nothing *eye roll*
(obviously I would need to take out the jewelry before going into baby’s mouth)
@g_gabs71016 Same for me! None of our friends have started having babies until like this year, and I was 30 when DD#1 came along. Now I’m also of advance maternal age (I’ll be 39 when DD#2 arrives).
@k_mama91 I also have pretty big nipples, especially when breasts are swollen during pregnancy, and the only real soreness I experienced at first was when DD wasn't naturally latching on just right. It took a few days (maybe a couple of weeks), but we found our rhythm pretty quick. Then the only pain was overloaded breasts from time to time, which I couldn’t help with pumping for some reason. I never really found the pump attachment that fit me very well. Even though my breasts were really full, my pump must just not have fit my breasts well, and all it really did was feel kind of bruising. I’m looking forward to trying the manual pump on one side while nursing on the opposite side this time with more regularity 👍. Second the lanolin, too!
@cpk3535 I weird and have already sized both flanges that came with my pump and I could be mistaken but neither size seems to be right. I’m thinking about ordering a couple different sizes and taking all of them to the hospital so the lc can tell me which is correct. From my pathetic attempt the first time I remember the pump doing weird things to my nipples and I now realize it’s bc the fit was way off 🤦♀️
@k_mama91 I remember reading somewhere about figuring out which size flange you need by comparing your nipples to which size coin they are most similar to or something. I will have to look and see if I can find the info chart. I'll share it if I do. The ones that came with my pump probably won't work for me, either.
@k_mama91 when I was in the hospital the LC told me I needed smaller flanges (the size smaller than the standard one that comes with the pump). You can find different size flanges really easy on Amazon.
Re: Breastfeeding
Sterilize all bottles, pacifiers and pump parts before initial use. I didn't sterilize after each use after that, usually at the end of the day (When I pumped at work I put all my parts in a plastic bag and kept them in a fridge and then washed/sterilized at home). As she got older I got more lazy and maybe sterilized a couple times a week. DD went to daycare so I guess that made me more paranoid about germs and I work at a hospital and pumped there so that also made me more paranoid about germs as well.
Back to breastfeeding- The scalding/freezing/thawing/saying a magic spell before feeds is really giving me anxiety 😣
Sanitizing- for the most part, DD didn't go for a bottle at all (like some others mentioned), so it wasn't a huge issue for me. But I only remember sanitizing super thoroughly before first use, and then washing after that. I think I periodically boiled certain parts of my pump and bottles, but not every tiny bit.
One of the ways a lot of moms I know tried to reduce the amount of washing, particularly pump parts, was to rinse them out and put them in a giant ziploc bag in the fridge, especially when they were back at work. Technically it's not recommended, so it depends how much of a stickler you are, but as someone mentioned there are varying times to how long breastmilk is good for, so if you can add milk to the same bottle/bag throughout the day, I don't see why milk residue in the pump would be any different.
I am working from home now so wondering if I go the nanny route and try to breastfeed when needed instead of doing daycare and having to pump. Did anyone try to do that?
Married 1/28/17
TW:
BFP #2 10/10/17, MC 11/4/17
BFP #3 12/17/17 Birth 8/13/18
BFP #4 4/21/19 Birth 12/5/2019
I'm worried because I learned in my breastfeeding class that the baby is supposed to latch to the entire areola. But I feel like my nipples have become way too big during this pregnancy and what if they dont fit in her little mouth? 😩 Does that happen?
Married 1/28/17
TW:
BFP #2 10/10/17, MC 11/4/17
BFP #3 12/17/17 Birth 8/13/18
BFP #4 4/21/19 Birth 12/5/2019
We are a little late to the baby game, I’ve had 8-10 female friends have babies in the last 2 years. Hellllllo early 30s. So I’ve been to a lot of showers and seen a lot of baby gear.
@anniemarie887 Ha, I was 32 with my first and the first one to spring for a kid except for one friend from college and one from grad school who was older anyway. Now I am "advanced maternal age" apparently. Yay for kids in your 30s and beyond..
(obviously I would need to take out the jewelry before going into baby’s mouth)
Married 1/28/17
TW:
BFP #2 10/10/17, MC 11/4/17
BFP #3 12/17/17 Birth 8/13/18
BFP #4 4/21/19 Birth 12/5/2019
@k_mama91 I also have pretty big nipples, especially when breasts are swollen during pregnancy, and the only real soreness I experienced at first was when DD wasn't naturally latching on just right. It took a few days (maybe a couple of weeks), but we found our rhythm pretty quick. Then the only pain was overloaded breasts from time to time, which I couldn’t help with pumping for some reason. I never really found the pump attachment that fit me very well. Even though my breasts were really full, my pump must just not have fit my breasts well, and all it really did was feel kind of bruising. I’m looking forward to trying the manual pump on one side while nursing on the opposite side this time with more regularity 👍. Second the lanolin, too!
@blueskychicago12 I would love to see the chart! Now I’m curious as to what size coin I am 🤔