Things we wish we had known before we started Formula Feeding or buying the equipment

[Jody R]

Hoping to get lots of imput on this to share all our experiences and hopefully pass some helpful advice on to anyone who is thinking about formula feeding right from day one or combining with or changing from breast feeding. I think we can all offer some valuable advice so please feel free to add yours.



I really wish I'd known these things before I started formula feeding Joseph and before I had already spent a lot of money on equipment that wasn't right for us.

1. I wish I had bought anti-colic bottles right at the start. Instead I bought normal Tommee Tippee bottles and when Joseph turned out to be a colicy baby it cost us a fortune trying to find the right bottles to help.

2. The right bottles to help us were Dr Brown ones and Joseph's problems were immediately improved. Within two or three days he was eating and sleeping a lot better and throwing up a lot less. He had less wind to bring up and it came up much easier.

3. We still use our Tommee Tippee microwave steriliser that we bought with the Tommee Tippee bottles. It cost £20 in Asda and we bought two (one for my mum's house) before I found it for only £8.99 in Home Bargains.

4. We have eight bottles at home and four more at my mums house. I think that makes it so much easier, we've always got clean bottles ready to sterilise and aren't under pressure to instantly wash one the second he has finished it, if we can't wash up right away a good rinse means it can wait a little while until Joseph is sleeping or playing instead. At first it felt like we had only just finished feeding and winding and he was ready to start again so this was a big help.

5. The first time we made up a bottle we were scared and worried about getting it wrong and it's okay to feel like that when you've never made a bottle for a baby before.

6. We use Cow and Gate Comfort milk, still on stage one because my HV says he is still getting all he needs from stage one and is happy on it so she doesn't recommend the change.

Does anyone else have any advice or recommendations to give? I know different things work for different people so it would be good to give a range of advice.

 

[Claire788]

Buy a couple of ready made cartons of your formula - a couple of times I've been to bleary eyed to noticed we were out of bottles, then had to spend ages waiting for water to cool... Carton..instant!

Dont rush out and spend £50 on a breast pump, to feed EBM - I can only produce a dribble from a pump, and complete waste of money (combo feeding at mo)

 

[Claire788]

Double post

 

[shaunanicole]

1. I wish I would of know I don't have to get the measurements of formula EXACT. It's okay to be sloppy with it while getting a scoop.

2. I wish I would of known to just buy a bottle sterilizer to begin with instead of boiling. I finally bought one when Ava was a week old and it made a HUGE difference.

3. I wish I would of known preparing bottles ahead of time makes things a lot easier.

That's all I can think of.

 

[Mrs Dot]

1. sterilise the bottles and then add boiled water, put in the fridge then you have a job lot of ready bottles and can sterilise in one go.

2. Buy a microwave steriliser - quick easy and saves space in the kitchen as you can store it when not using inside the mwave!

3 don't bother buying a bottle warmer - £35!!! er just put boiling water into a small jug/bowl and shake the bottle every couple of mins to distribute the heat throughout it!

4. get one of these for trips out then you're never caught short for hot water (and won't spend a fortune on cups of coffee in cafes!)
https://www.johnlewis.com/230229463/Product.aspx?source=14798

 

[OmarsMum]

- Keep extra tin of formula - u never knw when ur grocery is out of it at 12:00 am & the feeds u have are not enough for the next morning.
- Get a water flask for ready warm water
- Dont buy too many bottles before u have the baby. U dont knw which one ur LO will prefer ! ( I have 2 NUK & 4 Avent bottles that never been used)
- I wish I knew what colic was before giving birth, as I struggled for 3 wks to knw why my LO was screaming - infacol & TT CTN anti-colic bottles was the solution
- GIve ur LO warm milk instead of room temperature - better for gases & reflux
- Feed on demand & dont stick to the tin. dont panic if ur LO is taking less if he's gaining wieght & growing-up.

 

[pheobe]

whichever bottles you go for make sure they are wide necked as geting the formula into the tall thin bottles is a ball ache!

also I make my bottles up in advance - never had a problem and never have a screaming baby who's fed up of waiting for a bottle

 

[pheobe]

- Keep extra tin of formula - u never knw when ur grocery is out of it at 12:00 am & the feeds u have are not enough for the next morning.
- Feed on demand & dont stick to the tin. dont panic if ur LO is taking less if he's gaining wieght & growing-up.

defo agree here....and also don't worry if baby takes way more than the tub says!

x

 

[dom85]

I wish I had known how rubbish Tommee Tippee bottles are, not just because LO had colic but also because you cant read the bloody numbers!!! I have no idea how no one at Tommee Tippee thought about this before they brought them out.

The Tommee Tippee milk powder dispensers are also rubbish, really poor design generally and they also dont hold more than about 6 or 7 scoops. Bibi powder dispensers are the best, I've bought 2 sets because they're so useful.

 

[history_girls]

I wish I had known about:

Dr Brown bottles! A reverlation at 10 weeks old
That the feeding guidelines by age on the box don't mean much - my LO never matched up with this
To have ready made cartoons for emergencies

 

[Eala]

That you can never have too many plastic-backed bibs for feeding Saves your LO's clothes getting soaked if they dribble or have a spit up!

When LO is tiny, the TT bibs with the soft padded/foam collar are a godsend

Can definitely recommend having at least 1 carton in the house, and in the change bag at all times

With regards to teat sizes, don't worry if you need to move up a size before your LO is at the age it says on the packet. Romilly was on stage 2 teats when she was um... about 2 weeks old, I think, on MW advice. You'll know if the teat is too fast as they'll dribble milk everywhere, splutter and choke on it.

Don't be afraid when winding your baby to pat them firmly on the back At first, we would panic that she'd somehow break if we did more than a gentle tap

 

[AP]

i wish i never bought all those bottles - alex only takes nuk and not the zillion million other brands we bought before!

 

[Eala]

Yup, I'm with sb22! We ended up on Dr Brown's (yup, another DB fan ) but before that I had TT CTN, and Breastflow Have sold the Breastflow ones, should really look at selling my TT too

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

All of the above! OH and I knew NOTHING about FF as we'd planned to BF.

 

[mum2bee]

i wish id of looked up about formua feeding also intended on BF

 

[OmarsMum]

i wish id of looked up about formua feeding also intended on BF

Me 2 I just bought 2 bottles for emergency use. I ended up with FFing frm day one & struggled for 6 wks until I got it under control

 

[Vickie]

-as some have already said have some cans of ready made on hand, so much easier when going out rather than having to worry about warming a bottle up!

-it's okay if your baby doesn't take the recommended amounts. Don't stress over it unless it is affecting his/her weight gain!

 

[sleeping bubs]

That a cold water sterliser is way better than electric steam one
Not worrying about what say on side of tin lol
Getting lo prescription in for his milk when I only have one un-opened tub left
knowing that lo won't take to the bottles easily have changed twice lol tt cn tt standard varie flow (Hopeless!!!) and NUK

 

[v2007]

I wish i had bought powder dispensers becasue at 4am when u can barely open your eyes and you need to measure out 5 oz and you lose bloody count.

V xxx