Formula feeding - what do I need?
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Topic: Formula feeding - what do I need?
Posted By: shadowfeet
Subject: Formula feeding - what do I need?
Date Posted: 01 December 2009 at 3:15pm
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I've just been told that I have no other options than to formula feed from birth. So, what will I need to buy before birth? How many bottles/ teats? Best type of formula for newborns? How much formula to buy? If anyone can suggest any brands to look at first I'd be grateful. I need to get everything by the weekend preferably. Thanks ------------- 
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Replies:
Posted By: Bizzy
Date Posted: 01 December 2009 at 3:30pm
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Did who ever that told you this not give you any info or ideas on what you will need? (am dying to know the whys but will keep my question to myself...)
i dont know anything about bottle feeding but we do have a bottle feeding thread on here where lots of mums get together to talk about that kind of stuff. i will see if i can bump it for you. ------------- http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker"> 
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Posted By: shadowfeet
Date Posted: 01 December 2009 at 3:41pm
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Thanks It was the lactation consultant at the hospital, so not allowed to mention brands etc. I know vaguely what I'll need but was wanting advice on what amounts of everything to get and what works best because OB ladies tend to have great advice. As to the whys, I'm pretty angry right now, but have been prescribed medications throughout pregnancy that are ok for pregnancy but contraindicated for breastfeeding. Noone looked into it further so just assumed that if it's ok in pregnancy it would be ok in breastfeeding, and now they've realised (yes, they just realised today, after telling me the importance of breastfeeding for the last few months) it's apparently too late to mess with everything to rearrange it just around breastfeeding. -------------
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Posted By: monikah
Date Posted: 01 December 2009 at 3:49pm
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man that sucks for you :(
you'll need good bottles, steralising tablets or microwave steraliser (depending on what option you choose) a bottle brush. we changed our dishwashing liquid to ecostore, you can get racks that go in the fridge so you can store your bottle upside down and stay sterile. we have to be on S26 anti-reflux but before that we found karicare quite good though some ppl find constipation with the 'gold' formulas. if i can think of anything else ill add it :) ------------- 
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Posted By: Bizzy
Date Posted: 01 December 2009 at 3:56pm
awesome! that does suck!  ------------- http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker">
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shadowfeet wrote:Posted By: weegee
Date Posted: 01 December 2009 at 4:01pm
That does suck 
It might sound unlikely but there's actually a lot of useful advice about bottlefeeding http://www.breastmates.co.nz/Questions.html - here on the Breastmates website too. ------------- 
Mum to JJ, 4 July 2008 & Addie, 28 July 2010 |
Posted By: Bexee
Date Posted: 01 December 2009 at 4:27pm
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I'd hold off on stocking up on any one formula until you see what suits your wee one. We use Nurture but mix it up but it's only for top up feeds. From what I've heard from those who fully formula feed, it can be a case of trial and error to see what works for the individual baby.
We LOVE our plug in avent sterilister (just dump it all in with water and flick the switch) and also have an avent bottle warmer so you just pop in the bottle, whether it is at room or fridge temp, and how many mls and it heats it for you. Not a neccessity, but DH found it awesome when he did feeds and also great for baby sitters/relateives who might not be so sure about heating bottles. It won't let it overheat. I think with bottles it can also be a case of seeing which works with the wee one. Perhaps see what sort the hospital use if you'll be using those first. We use Avent and haven't had any trouble. Not sure on how many bottles, we have about four of the right size and that works well for supplimentary feeding but perhaps you might need more for fully formula feeding. Sorry for the novel - hope this is of some help. |
Posted By: hannibal
Date Posted: 01 December 2009 at 6:48pm
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Definately a Avent Steriliser that goes in the microwave - its a godsend! - and with the specials on at places like Farmers at the moment you can probably pick up for a good price along with some bottles (I used the Milton tablets in a big container to start with but it was a pain in the bum).
I had about five bottles in total - one was a really small one. I used Avent ones and a bottle brush. Like the others say don't stock up formula - you might not get the right one to start with. We started with a GOLD labelled one and it didn't suit and we changed about four times before getting it right. Feel free to ask anymore questions if you want, S PS - Don't beat yourself up! |
Posted By: weegee
Date Posted: 01 December 2009 at 6:57pm
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shadowfeet - I just remembered I have a microwave steriliser I got given that I've never used, you're welcome to it if you want it, just PM me your address. -------------
Mum to JJ, 4 July 2008 & Addie, 28 July 2010 |
Posted By: mybeautiful3
Date Posted: 01 December 2009 at 7:15pm
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Shawdow - do you mind if I ask how sure "they" are that your meds are not compatible with b/feeding. I know you must be going through a myriad of emotions - as it sounds like you really wanted to give b/feeding a chance- but is is definately worth getting a second qualified opinion.
I know we have a medical book in our La Leche League library which many of our members have borrowed & takien to their doctors when needing to discuss medication & breastfeeding. ------------- Just  my job as a Birth Doula!
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Posted By: minik8e
Date Posted: 01 December 2009 at 8:43pm
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Hiya Dawn,
Sucks about the bf
We use Karicare and have done since they were in hospital. Not the Gold one, just the normal one. We haven't had any problems with constipation or anything. We use Milton tablets for sterilising - 2 tablets with 4L of water. We just wash the bottles with normal dishwashing liquid, rinse well and stick them in the container. We also use Tommee Tippee bottles (not the Closer 2 Nature ones, just normal narrow neck), but for the smaller bottles we used Evenflo as Neonatal recommended the old fashioned teats instead of the newer anti-colic ones. Which teats were best were trial and error though, as even though they were all "0-3 months" they all had different flows on them. Pur teats were really fast!! Evenflo are really slow and were great until we had to start Gaviscon and then the hole kept blocking. We have 6 bottles all up, and just wash them and chuck them in the Milton after each feed (or 3rd feed if we're being lazy  .
I would also recommend getting a formula dispenser - about $6 from Baby Factory. It is a container with 3 compartments that you measure out your formula into - it's a godsend for leaving the house and being prepared with bottles. We have 3 of them (so 4 feeds for us). It came in really handy when the girls were with their grandparents for the whole day when I had exams, and will this weekend when they stay overnight at my Mums. If you have any questions, I'm more than happy to help as much as I can 
Oh and we buy the tins now - $18 a tin for Karicare, and we use almost 2 a week. Nurture is about $14 a tin from memory, and S26 is about the same as Karicare. You can get sachets (about $1 each) which make up 200ml at a time (pour however much you need into a separate bottle and keep the rest in the fridge for the next feed) which might be handy until you figure out which formula you want to use. |
Posted By: hannibal
Date Posted: 01 December 2009 at 8:48pm
| If you're a Farmers cardholder they have 30% of nursery stuff on Thursday only. |
Posted By: shadowfeet
Date Posted: 01 December 2009 at 9:02pm
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Thanks weegee, that would be awesome Mybeautiful3 - They looked it up in their book, one of the authors was Hale and I can't remember the other. it's classified as an L5 (the worst, contraindicated) for breastfeeding safety medication rating but only a category C for pregnancy. So pissed that they mucked around for so long about it and not consulting me about what the consequences of it would be Thanks Hannahbil and Bec. I think we might get 1 tin of formula in a type that's generally mentioned, and maybe some sachets in other brands? A friends offered her small bottles -------------
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. In doing a general google of the med the side effects are jaundice and difficulty breathing for the baby amongst others.Posted By: Manda08
Date Posted: 01 December 2009 at 10:38pm
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Basically what the other girls have said is what you need, the small sachets are really good to, i did find with the gold formulas though contipation was an issue!
And like minik8e said the formula container things, are awesome!!!! Also i had a small thermos i kept in the bag with warm water, so if i was stuck anywhere i could still make a warm bottle, helped heaps. I have 19 bottles in total, dont know why... lazy maybe! haha but you def only need a couple, i was lucky DS took any type of bottle but you may just want to see what your bubs is going to take first before buying to many.
Hope it all works out for you, sucks you have only just been told. ------------- 
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Posted By: RubyG
Date Posted: 02 December 2009 at 9:40am
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Call plunket line - i found them very helpful.
We use Nuture gold - started on s26 gold, but changed as i didn't like the oily residue it left in teats and bottles even after washing. We use a tin a week for 200ml bottles, so i imagine for a newborn a tin would last 2 weeks or so? Get lots of bottles and teats - with a newborn the last thing you want to be doing is washing them 2-3 times a day. At night we would sterilise 6 bottles and fill them with boiled water, put the teats and caps on and leave thm on the bench - that way we always had plenty ready to go and we just needed to add the formela and shake. To heat we just used boiled the jug and popped the bottle in with hot water to warm thru, somepeople use the microwave, we didn't only because i didn't know how long etc. I know the medication is the issue, but could you express for a few weeks and disgard the milk until your meds are changed - would be a pain in the butt, but if you really wanted to to give breast milk this could be an option? You would probably need to continue expressing and give via a bottle though. I did this for 4 months because my wee man has a weird thing in his mouth that meant he couldn't latch properly. ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: minik8e
Date Posted: 02 December 2009 at 10:39am
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Oh, we did the same as RubyG for heating the bottles - I got a couple of 500ml plastic jugs (cheapies) and fill them with about 300ml of boiling water and sit the bottle in there to warm them. We got told not to use the microwave as it creates hot spots in the milk (it doesn't warm the milk equally). And also make sure the formula is always warm - cold formula sets like concrete in their bellies and makes them very uncomfortable. We just wind the girls a few times throughout the feeds, and while they are winding we put the bottle back into the water (or after they've burped, because sometimes it takes a while for them to burp!! whereas the formula only needs a short time to reheat).
And we have a 1.5L jug of water that sits on the bench, filled with cooled boiled water for the bottles. We just boil the kettle and fill the jug, usually when there is a decent break until their next feed to let it cool down. One thing we did find, is NOT to use warm water to make the formula because it just froths up. |
Posted By: first
Date Posted: 02 December 2009 at 11:54am
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A thing people don't think about much but I have recently learnt about is the position in which you bottle feed your baby. With a bf baby you switch sides half way through but with bottle babies this doesn't tend to get done and can mean that one eye gets more work out than the other so just remember when you feed to make sure you give you baby a chance to feedsnuggled close but also facing both way.
------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
http://pregnancy.baby-gaga.com/"> 
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Posted By: oscarboo
Date Posted: 02 December 2009 at 4:46pm
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We found our tommee tippee electric sertiliser great. Fits 5 closer to nature or 6 normal bottles in it. We had 6 bottles which we used all of when G was little. I'm like the others and suggest you don't stock up on formula. We went through quite a few before finding what worked. Did find S26 and karicare good though (they are also meant to be sweeter tasting to the baby).
------------- http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow">  
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Posted By: Shezamumof3
Date Posted: 02 December 2009 at 7:16pm
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Hey Dawn, that really sucks hun :(
We use S26, it was always the best one for Caden and Isabella has formula top ups with it. As for heating, we use the microwave, it takes to long sitting it in water when you have a screaming baby. I heat the water up first test it then add the powder and shake it up works well.. no hot spots We use a cheap microwave steam sterilizer and its fantastic! ------------- |
Posted By: Nutella
Date Posted: 02 December 2009 at 10:38pm
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Oh one thing that might be helpful if you have a dishwasher is a tommy tippee basket thing you can get from the warehouse that you can put all the teats and stuff into and that stops them from getting loose in the dishwasher....not sure if this is useful for at first when you have to sterilise but might be useful later on? I thought it looked ingenious so got one even tho we don't have a dishwasher and left it at my mums house. Also I figure it would be handy for small things like medicine dispensers and the likes?
But not very helpful if you don't have a dishwasher so ignore me if you don't  ------------- 
 Oct 11
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Posted By: Blankney94
Date Posted: 03 December 2009 at 11:12am
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Hi Dawn - sorry to hear they weren't keeping in mind future things with your prescriptions. We like the Avent range in this house and everything is interchangeable - ie you can add handles and sippy spouts to the bottles later on. We have gotten by on three small bottles (150ml) and two large ones (260ml). Once baby gets older though you will find you need more of the big bottles. You will need about four No 1 teats. Bottle sealing caps are also a good idea, as is a good bottle brush (esp for baby bottles). Oh and sterilisters as mentioned previously. We use the Heinz Nuture formula. It's on special regularly at Pak n Save. We haven't had any problems with any formulas. Hoping all goes well for you and the birth of your lovely bubby! ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: shadowfeet
Date Posted: 05 December 2009 at 7:45pm
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Thanks everyone, I really appreciate your advice, was in a bit of a mess the other day. Unfortunately I can't see them changing this prescription anytime soon without demanding another doctor. I've grabbed a tin of S26 since that seems to suit most babies, a bottle brush, have 3 loaned bottles and bought one more, and a couple spare sachets of formula. That should get us through for long enough to see what she likes. Will definitely be getting more of the other stuff that makes formula feeding easier later on. Now just to wash everything and repack the babies hospital bag -------------
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Posted By: Blankney94
Date Posted: 07 December 2009 at 1:06pm
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Be sure to let the nurses know of your "bottle is required" situation at the hospital, so that they are supportive. (It's not like you had a choice). ------------- http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: ColleenS
Date Posted: 08 December 2009 at 5:06pm
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What I have is:
6 x large bottles (to about 250ml) and teats for newborn (make the bottles different brands, so they don't get a preference for teat) - I have tommee tippee, avent and evenflo 1 x microwave steraliser (this is awesome, I don't fluff around with tablets - just 7 minutes in the microwave) (from farmers) 1 x bottle brush (from supermarket) formula - I use S26 Gold top (from supermarket) 1 x formula dispenser container (or with the S26, you can buy premix or individual travel powder) - a must for on the go, or out and about. a large jug or glass (to put bottle and hot water into to warm the formula once mixed) Everymorning, I wash the bottles (in sink with normal washing detergent and bottle brush), then rinse them out and put in the microwave steraliser. I then fill the jug with clean new water from the tap and boil the jug. After the jug has cooled somewhat, I prefill the bottles to the mark they suggest and leave them on the bench etc (not the fridge). Each time I make a bottle, I add the powder and mix, then run the hot water into the glass/jug and warm the bottle by placing in the glass/jug. Each day the bottles should be steralised, i think until they are 3 months old. I hope this helps! |
Posted By: Ninzi
Date Posted: 09 December 2009 at 12:54am
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Hi there - congratulations on your (soon to be) new arrival . You have lots of advise here, but i really wanted to write to you as last year I was in a very similar situation.
My son is 1 on Sunday and I too had to change my plans because of medication issues :-( I did get to breast feed for about a week, but it was a big shock when i suddenly had to change my mindset and also figure out what to do at a tiring time. So although i completely understand how disappointed you must feel it is great you are able to get your head around it now and not have people rush to the chemist late on a weekend! I don't know about you but I felt really prepared to breatsfeed and had found out all i could do before hand . However I found it very difficult to find info on bottle feeding my little bubba. So after nearly a year this is what I know: Firstly it is really important to understand that formula is made essentially of protien (milk) and there are2 parts to this- whey and casien (kind of like curds and whey in little miss muffet!) The whey is more easily digested and the casien takes longer. The interesting thing is that breast milk is whey ddominant, some formulas may seem cheeper but are casien dominant. The argument being that because they take longer to digest , they keep baby fuller. My belief is this is not what their little tummies are meant to have, and my 9lb boy was more than fine!. It is especially important under 6mths.We used Nutricia Karicare (best price at pack'n'save) For eg. the follow-on formula (6mth +) I use is whey 52% casien 40% , where as S26 only has 20% whey and 80% casien. I only learned this at the last min and only through my own investgation. So honestly i would start with that brand and buy one tin first because although you hope you wont have to go down the road of allergies etc, it is best not to tempt fate and stock up too early ;-) So much more I would like to tell you but must get to bed. Would be happy to talk on phone too if you would like. Best of luck xxx |