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My hospital had sterilised single use bottles you could tip the milk into and a fridge to store the rest as newborns don't take much per feeding and if you use the teats that come with the bottle you have to throw the rest once they've Drank some x
Just take the pre-made little bottles if you really want to take some. If you’re planning on exclusively breastfeeding though, you’ll want to do that as much as possible as soon as you have baby. Your milk doesn’t “come in” for a few days after birth but baby will get colostrum in that time which is a thicker first milk packed with everything baby needs. Also feeding baby straight at the breast, if that’s what you want to do, encourages your future milk supply x
The hospital I was at had single use pre- steralised bottles (j like you brought some just incase & needed to use it as my baby just was so sleepy latching was hard & when she finally latched she fell asleep so i hand expressed - they should give your syringe- and gave formula). Your "milk" won't come in for 3 to 4 days but colostrum should be triggered to be produced if you're not already when the placenta leaves your body. Which as long as they latch okay is all they'll need :)
@Amber I was just worried as he’s having to be delievered quite early i didn’t think I’d even have colostrum / he’ll be likely put in NICU so may not be strong enough to BF x
@Jessica Ahhh I see, the hospital should be able to provide you with a breast pump to encourage your supply. I know you didn’t ask about this but have you tried expressing colostrum? You could be surprised how early you can collect it! x
@Amber I haven’t purely again because my baby is so small I have read it can bring on labour so I haven’t wanted to do anything that could make him come any earlier than absolutely necessary xx
@Jessica i ended up having my baby 10days early and i was suprised how much colostrum i had got then and they only need the tiniest amount first few days. Then you milk woll come in. The hospital should give you a pump if needed mine also had the premade formula with the teat so i managed to get a few there as i didnt even think about it at the time 🙈 You can collect colostrum from 36weeks i think? Maybe earlier i tried but i had no luck but you could try hand expressing some
@Hollie ah okay that’s good to know thank you! I have my appointment tomorrow with the consultant so once I’m given a confirmed week of delivery I’ll give it a go! X
@Jessica my baby was 4 weeks early and I had no signs of colostrum prior to her being born but it came almost immediately. My girl couldn’t latch and would just fall asleep so I started hand expressing (midwives gave me everything I needed) then on the second day they brought me a pump ☺️ they also had milk etc so I didn’t need to take any with me. Don’t worry too much, I’m sure you will be fine ❤️
@Lauryn this is really reassuring thanks so much Lauryn! 🤍
The hospital should also have milk as when I was in hospital they gave me a few bottles
I don't know if this helps, I had my son in Nicu in 2022 as he was born at 24wks. Even in normal maternity ward, they had a room where you wash your baby bottle and we were given a sterilise bag that you use in the microwave upto 20times, that was very handy ! So you could take your own bottle in or as others have said the hospital do have the pre sterilised ones. X
I would take a couple of the ready to drink milk wirhout teats and a bottle. My hospital would only give you one ready to drink bottle and then you needed to use your own. I ended up being in for 5 days so had to get family to bring in more as my baby wouldn’t latch and despite hand harvesting he wasn’t feeding enough. They also had sterilising bags so I could keep washing my own bottle I brought.
@Charlie thanks Charlie I think that’s what I’m going to do just a mix of both and then hopefully I’m covered x
You can buy ready made ones that come with a teat that goes straight on. They are also smaller so you don’t waste as much