Part 10: Due December 2017, Jan Feb and March 2018

yes it crossed my mind, i did that with DS2 because he wouldn't open his mouth for the first 2 days, i really struggled to get any out expressing by hand and ended up with the midwife having to do it too me :-/ it was such a performance hand expressing for 30+mins just to get 1ml of milk out and then having to sterilize the syringes etc that i figured it would be easier to just switch to bottles.

i have tried expressing using a pump too (once milk came in) but found it killed my supply within around 3 days, this might sound very lazy of me but i feel-for me at least that if ive got to be running the sterilizer and washing things up etc then id rather be on bottles, otherwise it feels like its double the work.. all the pain/pumping time etc of breastfeeding plus the washing up and sterilizing of bottle feeding its like the worst of both worlds added together and felt for me like a huge amount of work, but maybe thats because pumping is very very time consuming for me just to get enough out so each feed was like this great big performance!!

im so much happier bottle feeding, i just dont know if i would guilt myself for not doing that first feed, as like you say they really do plug breastfeeding and over here refer to the colostrum as "liquid gold" which makes it seem like even if they get no other milk from you they really do need to have that..

mommy2apples can i ask if you noticed any difference at all in your babies who had bottles for their first few feeds and the ones who were breastfed? ive had certain midwives tell me that giving bottles for those first feeds can make baby much more sicky than ones who get the first milk from mum, i dont mean make them ill just that they are much much more likely to be throwing it up because their stomachs dont handle it as well those first few feeds, which then makes me feel like ive got to do the first few feeds because otherwise im harming the baby and making it lose out on all the antibodies etc :(

15 months is amazing :heart: im sorry you had a hard time with #4 xx

4blue2pink the colostrum really is quite important and using a bump in the first initial days after delivery is neither going to achieve much but is also not recommended. So if u can for the first atleast 3 days to a week hand express or breastfed the colostrum.

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i haven't used a pump before my milk came in as i imagine that would be quite painful and as you say pretty much pointless, i did try to hand express with DS2 but it was a nightmare and not something im keen to do again, its either breastfeed those first few feeds or bottle feed from the start.

with my youngest i gave her the first 2 or 3 feeds and then she was put onto bottles and im thinking of doing the same again its just knowing how much pain those feeds cause that worries me

Yeah i breastfeed for the first week and transition to exclusive bottle feeds. My babies have never given me trouble with transitioning from breast to bottle.

I guess in the end do what works for u the best. Every mom and baby are different. What works for one might not work for others

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i think its easier to either 100% breastfeed or 100% bottle feed, i find trying to combine the two or pump etc is when it becomes a very time consuming nightmare!

ive never had trouble switching to bottles either, are you planning the same this time around? 1 week of breastfeeding then onto bottles? its nice to hear from someone with plans very similar to my own :)

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Originally Posted by 4blue2pink

i think its easier to either 100% breastfeed or 100% bottle feed, i find trying to combine the two or pump etc is when it becomes a very time consuming nightmare!

ive never had trouble switching to bottles either, are you planning the same this time around? 1 week of breastfeeding then onto bottles? its nice to hear from someone with plans very similar to my own :)

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Yes 4b2p. I plan on a week or maybe 2 of breastfeeding and then bottle feeding from then onwards.

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I expressed from day 1 with DD1 because of issues we had..at first I would only get a few mls..by the end of day two before being discharged from hospital, I will always remember my pride when I managed to express a full 17 mls (from both breasts combined!) lol it is doable if you want to avoid a babe latching and causing pain, yet still give baby the rich colostrum :)
I think just see how you feel on D day and run from there :)

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Thought the bump was looking cute today [emoji177] 26w5d and it's HUGE


[emoji170](07) [emoji170](09) [emoji170](14)[emoji170](15)[emoji166] EDD 1-15-18[emoji166]

So cute ash!!


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