Questions about baby!

[emmyloves1991]

I feel a bit silly asking this and even more sillier asking it on here but hey bite the bullet & that. I was thinking when i breastfeed i would like to breastfeed in the house but when im out i would like to my breast milk in bottles, is that possible or is that just confusing to baby? I'm a bit embarrassed to ask midwife, i don't know why, shes really nice lol!

Also i have brought a bumper but have heard bad things about them and they weren't all that positive about them in my antenatal class so should i take it back?

 

[lolita1990]

That's what I plan on doing. Breast feeding when I can in the house, in families houses etc and bottle feeding when I'm out and about and it's more inconvenient to pop him on the boob. It's totally find to combine both, as far as I'm aware.

And I don't have a bumper either as I've heard they're no good. I think it's personal preference. If I feel I need one once bubs is in the cot instead of the crib I'll get one x

 

[Lulu1982]

You can express and give milk to your baby in a bottle but the recommend waiting until breast feeding is well established before doing so. Milk comes out of bottles much faster than boobs and some babies can get lazy and start refusing the breast.

I introduced bottles at 4 weeks with my daughter, which is much earlier than they say but it was once or twice a week if I was out somewhere i couldn't sit comfortably or if I wanted a break in the night. Inevitably, when. Took a bottle of milk, she would decide she was starving and I'd end l breast feeding on top anyway!

My LO moved int her cot at 5 months. I used a bumper but on the outside of the bars as otherwise she just stared around the room mil she was overtired and then wouldn't sleep!

 

[iwantabub]

Bumpers go against all our sids guidelines here in Australia... I got mine with our cot set and I used it as a wall hanging because it matched our nursery...

I am no bfing on public other than in rooms Etc and asked mw... She said a lot of women go wrong by expressing when they go out because regardless of where u are u either need to express or feed on schedule or that's when your milk will start to become not enough. If u want to exclusively bf that's fine to bottle after 4ish weeks but every time u would normally feed bubs u need to express or feed to keep the milk coming...

After that chat I just decided I would either find a room or cover up when baby's hungry coz it looks less ridiculous than expressing in public haha...

I am still planning on bottle feeds for when I want to have a drink or dh wants to feed...
But I don't want my milk to dry up as I don't want to use formula for as long as I can possibly avoid it

 

[Zfbaby]

I plan on combi feeding for the same reasons. I'm going to wait at least two weeks after breastfeeding is well established and I've bought a system specifically designed for being able to go back and forth without nipple confusion. Hopefully it will work and be worth the extra money.
But yeah I'm uncomfortable with breastfeeding in public. In fact I would find it hard to feed at home with guests family or not around me. That's just me though, super squeemish and private.

 

[Eleanor ace]

Its advised to wait until BFing is established (usually 6-ish weeks) so as not to cause nipple confusion (swapping between bottle teats and nipples) and to let your supply develop. Combi feeding can be very hard to manage, but it is doable!
I would say though that although breast feeding in public can be super daunting at first you might well find that once you've done it a few times its no big deal. I'm VERY shy about my breasts and worried about feeding in public. But its totally possible to be really discreet by just slinging a blanket over LO.

 

[Dani_Ldn]

I plan on breastfeeding at home & whilst out. I have never been squeemish about things like that, but if I am in a public place I will have a shawl or muslin wrap to shield baby & my boobs as I know there are people out in public who are not so comfortable with seeing this. I certainly won't be shutting myself away in a dirty public bathroom or an alley way if I need to breastfeed though.

Re the bumper, we have one coming with our bedding set & I will have it on the cot until baby arrives & may keep it on there for a little while as baby will be down the other end of the cot sleeping anyhow (but need to do a bit of research to check if this is actually safe or not). We have bought a big cot bed & baby will be in that from day 1.

 

[SpringCrane]

In regards to the bumper, I know solid/quilted ones are very much discouraged in the US because of SIDS. They are still sold in nursery sets, which is really strange to me! You can use a mesh one if you find that you need a boundary. They have them at Target near me, but I'm sure they're on Amazon or in other stores in other countries. A friend used one as her son would throw out his pacifier without it.

This link is from the AAP about infant sleep safety: https://goo.gl/SioWY

As for breastfeeding, I plan to exclusively breastfeed except for the occasionally bottle should I need to be away from my baby. I won't be introducing any bottles until at least 8 weeks, but then I'll at least make sure the baby has a bottle he'll take in case it's necessary. It's really common around me for women to breastfeed in public with a cover, so I don't think I'll feel too weird about it. This, of course, is assuming it all goes perfectly well and as I plan. That's how life works, right?? ;-)

 

[Amberyll23]

I was able to breast and bottlefeed breastmilk to my DD without any issues. I even got her to take the bottle at around 3 wks of age (again, earlier than recommended as others have stated above), but she showed no confusion and I breastfed her successfully at home along with bottlefeeding breastmilk for her entire first year of life.

As for bumpers, there are a lot of safety concerns out there with those. I got one with a nursery set that I bought but never used it because of those concerns. Instead, I bought a "breathable baby" bumper and used that instead. I plan to do the same with this baby.

Here is a link to the breathablebaby liner I am talking about. I got both of my liners from Amazon.com

https://www.breathablebaby.com/liners/liner-breathable-mesh.html

 

[Athena]

No to the bumper they are too much of a risk.

I will be BF in public as it doesn't bother me but I will try and cover up a bit as I don't want my milk spraying nipples shown off to the whole world! Personally I won't bother with bottles at all as I am too lazy to sterilize and it's a pain to heat milk to right temp when you're out and your baby wants feeding, like now! So for me the boob is way easier, you may find that too but ditto what the others said about nipple confusion and you really need to establish a good supply before you start expressing. I have a couple of friends who expressed too early and ended up stopping BF as they thought their milk had run out as it messed with the supply. Good Luck!