Planning to breast feed, do I need bottles too?

I’m interested to know the answer to this too xx

I literally was thinking this yesterday, someone said to me yes to get bottles in case you’re out and about and can’t breastfeed. But I’m not sure, need guidance haha

I’m think better to buy then not. I was the same and ended up with pumping as he doesn’t luch on well.:/ We had mam and Philips steriliser

It’s completely up to you whether you plan on exclusively breastfeeding or introducing a bottle at all. With my first I fed for 2 and a half years and he didn’t have a bottle and wouldn’t take to one at all and refused drink anything other than my milk and it was draining for me personally. I brought a couple of bottles when I was pregnant but I was adamant to breastfeed. We had a rough start with a missed tongue tie and weight loss. This time from 6 weeks once my supply had regulated I’m going to introduce a bottle of expressed milk just to get them used to a bottle. I’m using mam this time. If you do give milk in a bottle breastfed babies never need more than 4oz at a time no matter how old as milk changes to the baby’s needs so only need the little bottles. I never sterilised my pumps or Hakka or bottle with my first as I was told I didn’t need (you don’t sterilise a nipple before feeding and doesn’t have dangerous bacteria in like formula) so just washed in hot soapy water xx

Pump the milk out and feed the milk via a bottle is also breastfeeding xD that's what I plan to do anyway sonce my husband and family can help as well and i have horrible sensory issue when it comes to nipples

It’s such a tricky one because you never know how things are going to go! I’ll share a little about our journey with my first & some thoughts - I had to be induced bc the baby stopped growing, and he came out just over 4lb and jaundiced. He couldn’t latch because his mouth was so tiny. In the hospital they gave us some formula day 1 to give him (it was imperative in the situation) and we went out to buy some for the next few days, but we got the newborn ones with the teats on so didn’t need to have bottles. They also gave me syringes to collect colostrum for him and after a day or so started me on a hospital grade pump that we did have to go buy bottles for (got 2 NUK bottles at Boots that worked great, we were in a total of 8 days)

We hired a private lactation consultant, the works, but he just couldn’t latch so I ended up exclusively pumping then moving to combi after 4 months then formula only after 7. So yes we did end up needing a full set of bottles (6 regular, 2 large to hold my pumped milk) My main thought is you can always buy them later (Amazon same day delivery) and if you Want to try to breastfeed 1. You won’t have them as a crutch in case it’s hard (because it is hard) and 2. You can always buy the little newborn ones with teats on them

I have got 2 small mam bottles and will get 1 pack of ready made formula as a just in case. After 4/6 weeks once Breastfeeding is established I plan to use a bottle 3+ times a week so my OH can help with a feed and I know baby will take a bottle if needed even for simple things like nipping to the shops, having an appt ect xx

I breastfed my first and got bottles too as I planned to express some occasionally so my partner could feed baby too. But also i was glad we had them as she needed formula that first night home as she wasn’t latching and it was Christmas Day so wasn’t able to get bottles from anywhere. If you do get bottles as back up or for if you want to express then I’d just say don’t get too many of one kind as babies can be fussy and not take to certain bottles and it’s often trial and error finding what they’ll take

Breastfeeding is all about pushing through the hard days but the bond is 100% worth the hard work. I struggled with my 1st baby and always resented the midwife that told me to just use formula instead so I was determined with my 2nd to make it work and he self weaned at 2. So 3rd time round I know Iv got this but I will be buying a couple of bottles so I can express for dad to feed x

I did an antenatal course where they said it's setting yourself up to fail. Statistically more women give up quicker if they've already brought bottles etc and it's not nessary. They will help you in the hospital and if there's a medical reason why you can't breastfeed they will have bottles/formula you can use. They don't like you using there's if you didn't plan to breastfeed as it's there for women who need it. Also shops are open such long hours now and most of us will have someone who will go for us if needed, be it babies dad, a parent or friend.

Thank you all that’s so helpful xx

@Toni I feel like in some hospitals it’s actually the midwives that make you give up quicker, not whether you have bottles already. In my hospital they were absolutely useless with helping to breastfeed, they didn’t show me how to do it, just basically rammed my boob in my babies mouth while she screamed which didn’t help at all. I was determined the breastfeed and it was only because of the midwife that came to my house after being discharged that I was able to as she properly helped and showed me what to do. Of course this isn’t always the case however I have heard many stories similar

Yes! I’m on my second baby who I’m still breastfeeding and you more than likely will need bottles. I did a lot of research and I went with nanobebe bottles, they mimic the boob the shape and feel so baby can have both quite easily. I exclusively breastfed but I would pump too and take the milk out with me in the bags, ask for a bowl of hot water and defrost it if it was frozen or I would pop the frozen bag in the fridge the night before and use the Tommee Tippee milk warmer (the Mam attachment I think it is that it comes with fits the nanobabe bottles). I would buy the premade formulas for your hospital bag incase the baby doesn’t latch straight away. X

Oh please also be aware, breastfeeding tends to bloody hurt the first few days-week and then your nipples get used to it. They tend to crack so get some nipple cream. I was wincing when I first breastfed and the woman in the bed opposite came and spoke to me and gave me encouragement to keep going as it does get better, I’m so glad for her because I did and it does! Xxx

My mum breast fed all her 4 kids but still bottle fed us with breast milk so if she was going somewhere we will take the bottle, or that my dad could still feed us

I breastfed my little girl and I’m planning on doing it again this time. I bought bottles but I didn’t use them for a couple of months as she didn’t take to them and honestly breastfeeding her was easier than having to sterilise and prep bottles! One thing I would recommend is buying nipple shields, they saved my breastfeeding journey! My daughter was struggling to latch on and these really helped xx

I was planning to breastfeed my first but had bottles in the house just in case. Due to her health and me not having a great supply I gave up pretty easy and we switched to a high calorie formula. This time round I'm hoping to breastfeed and I am not buying bottles. I have 1 that I got as a freebie and that's it. If we need to get bottles/formula if I cannot breastfeed then we live right round the corner from a Tesco's so I'm not worried about that but I just think personally it will help me to feed if I cannot bottle feed

I breastfed my first and plan to again. But we got tommee tippee bottles ready for incase and we introduced a couple of expressed bottles a few week from 5 weeks just so that I knew he would always be ok taking a bottle if there were ever times I needed to be away from him. He took to the tommee tippee bottles really well. We have the Nuby UV steriliser and it was one of our best buys, so quick!

If you are going to breast feed they suggest not using a bottle. It makes it harder for baby to grasp feeding from you and also feeding baby with formula milk fills them up a lot faster so they may not want to feed from you as often which may cause problems with milk production. If you want to express milk later on then it’s useful to have bottles available but I wouldn’t use them until you have established a good feeding technique.