Questions for moms that bottle fed newborns

[teachermom2834]

For various reasons I am going to bottle feed my 4th baby ( I breastfed all the others). I am worried about when my milk comes in. I remember how uncomfortable it was even when I could nurse to ease the pressure. I am nervous about handling this aspect of it.

 

How long does it take for the milk to dry up? What do I do in the meantime? I was thinking I would need to dig out my heavy duty sports bras to wear through this time, does that compression help or just hurt?

 

Any tips for getting through this? The engorgement was so painful and unpleasant even when I was nursing. I'm really worried about this.

 

Also, how did you prepare your newborns' bottles? Did you make them up one at a time as needed at room temperature or make up a whole day's worth of formula and store in the fridge? Did you sterilize water separately or in bottles mixed with formula already?

 

Any other tips? This all seems so complicated. I promise I'm not a dumb girl but I am a little unclear about these things.

 

Please don't tell me I should breastfeed. I've given it plenty of thought and this is the way it's going to be for us this time around.

 

Thanks,

Marie

[Twinmom]

I've unfortunately got no advice on the breast engorgement issue, since I adopted all my kids. However, I can speak to the bottle-prep side!

 

I used my blender to mix up a whole day's batch at a time and stored it in the freezer, separated and measured into bottles. This was a huge help, esp. when the twins came along! We weren't as good about steriziling the water as we should have been. When I did do it, I would just boil the water first, cool a bit, then mix the formula in the blender and distribute. We warmed them slightly in the microwave (and shook well) before feedings. Never had any problems whatsoever with this approach.

 

Best of luck and congrats on the new baby!

[Jenstet]

I tried to breastfeed for 3 weeks with my first. I switched to formula. For my second I tried for 24 hours then switched before I left the hospital. The hardest part was the pressure from all the nurses.

 

I don't remember being that uncomfortable. I think I was sore for a few days then it seemed to let up gradually. I was never able to produce enough milk though so I have never really experienced the whole leaking and swelling with milk thing.

 

As for the formula. I may be in the minority. I didn't sterilize anything. I used playtex drop ins so they had a new liner every time. I use bottled water because we have a well and it just made me feel better. I eventually switch to the tap. I will sometimes put the nipples in the dishwasher but that can make them gummy and gross after a few washings so I usually just wash with soap and water.

 

I used Similac. You can only make one bottle at a time. After 1/2 hour they go bad. I have never heated a bottle in my life. I just use the room temperature bottled water. Similac makes a premade formula you can store in the fridge that is good for 2 days or so. My kids never liked it because it was cold. There is a little scoop in the formula. Fill the bottle to the right amount, say 6 oz. then scoop in the formula. 1 scoop for 2 oz. water, Very easy. They make little formula packets and containers you can put right into the diaper bag for travel. Also if your hospital has the newborn tiny bottles grab as many as you can. They are great. The formula is pre-made and they come with a brand new nipple each time.

 

To answer your question better. I think because you know you aren't breastfeeding before you go in your milk may not come in as it does when you are breastfeeding. Make sense? Get some rest in the hospital. The nurses can help you now by bottle feeding. ;)

[Miss Marple]

I had to bottle feed my youngest son due to medication I was taking after his birth. The breast engorgement was not fun! But I did get through it. A friend who was a L & D nurse told me to pack cold cabbage leaves in my bra. Sounded crazy, but I did it and it really helped although I smelled like cabbage soup. Also, I did develop a fever for about a day, but tylenol helped with that. It's been 12 years now so I don't really remember how long it lasted, but I think it went on for about 5 days. I do remember that it really hurt to lay on my side. I got through it...but it doesn't bring back fond memories!:-). And, just FYI, he has turned out fine and healthy (he was born at 35 weeks).

[Tracey in TX]

I bottle fed our triplets. It was strange after nursing the first two babes. I opted to pump for a couple weeks. It really helped with engorgement as I weaned my own body from the need to nurse. If memory serves me correctly, I pumped every other feeding, then every third. It was much less painful than going cold turkey!!

 

Looking forward to hearing the announcement of your newest family member :)

[abbeyej]

I can't help with bottles, but for engorgement, the cabbage that Cynthia mentions is truly *amazing*. Keep several cabbages (I've only ever used green, though I assume red would work -- it would stain though) in the fridge. Pull out a couple of fresh, cold leaves, and place them in your bra cups. If the veins are thick and hard, you can cut them out. Some people suggest crushing the leaves a little with a rolling pin first, but my experience was that that was unnecessary. Replace the leaves with fresh ones when they get warm and wilty.

 

Yes, you'll smell a little like cabbage for a day or too. But it *greatly* reduces the swelling and pain (and the chance for plugged ducts and mastitis).

[Susie in CA]

I had no problem with the breast engourgment at all. I, maybe, felt it for a day or two. That's it.

 

My only suggestion about formula is to consider getting lactose free. We had great problems with son number 1 until we got clued in to the fact that lactose free might help him. It did. DS2 started out with it. No problem.

 

Susie

[nukeswife]

I can't speak much to engorgement as it never seemed that bad for me. I have bottle fed all three of my kids. I was on medications for asthma that wasn't around for long and they didn't know what effects it may have on my kids so I chose not to breastfeed for those reasons.

 

As for mixing up formula, you don't have to just make one bottle at a time. You can make up enough for 24 hours at a time. The half hour rule is if the baby drinks out of the bottle but doesn't finish it. You can leave it out for 30 minutes but if they don't finish it by then you have to toss it. I used either Carnation Good start or Walmart's Parents Choice formula. They are essentially all the same as the industry is pretty regulated as to what they must have. Those are the 2 we found our kids to keep down the best. As for heating the bottles and steralizing the water I didn't bother with the steralizing because I used the Playtex nursers with silicone nipples (which do great in the dishwasher) and the drop in liners. I used our tap or filitered tap water and all 3 kids did well. Since I would mix up a 24 hour batch in the blender or the magic bullet blender we would just keep the bottle in the fridge and either microwave and shake well or set it in a bowl of hot tap water for a while.

 

Hth

[KarenNC]

I can't help with the engorgement other than to suggest putting fresh cabbage leaves in your bra. My milk never came in at all, so I never really had an issue with it, but this is something many folks I know have recommended over the years to help-- http://www.drgreene.com/21_1814.html talks about it.

 

As to the bottles, I have to admit much of her very newborn stage was a blur (much of it due to very difficult pregnancy and delivery, then the problem with lack of milk that lead to the emergency room for dehydration at 4 days old). I know that we did the bottles room temperature at least by a bit later on and she had no problem with it.

 

I bought a supply of bottles, the powdered formula and a set of little containers (you could also use screw top spice jars or anything else about that size). She liked the Vent-Aire angled bottles, if they still make those. I would measure out a bottle's worth of powder into each container and keep a supply on the dresser in the nursery, then have several bottles prefilled with water next to them. That way in the middle of the night I could stumble in, unscrew the bottle top, dump in the powder, screw back on the lid and shake to mix and get to the business of feeding her quickly. As the bedrooms were upstairs and the kitchen downstairs, this was a necessity for us---no desire to fall down the stairs stumbling for the microwave or fridge in the middle of the night!

 

Doing this also worked well for keeping a supply in the diaper bag and was not as expensive as the predone little packets of powdered formula you could also buy (at least 7 years ago---don't know what they have now). We also found the special dishwasher baskets designed to hold nipples, etc to be very useful. The drying rack helped as well.

 

Being in the circles I was in (and still am), very heavily populated with ardent La Leche League folks, etc, I was very worried initially that I would get a lot of flack over bottle feeding, but surprisingly few folks ever said anything. I was very grateful for that. I had enough on my plate doing what I needed to do to keep my child alive and, hopefully, preserve what little bit of sanity I had as the parent of a newborn!:) It did have the benefit of allowing my husband to share more easily in the bonding that comes from feeding as well as made it easier to have her grandparents or a friend watch her for a bit while we got out together once in a while.

[chiguirre]

I had to combine pumping with bottle feeding for all three. I stopped pumping at about 4 months for the first two and at 2 months for the last because I got a horrible rash from pumping. The engorgement lasted about 2 days each time. The first two I just went cold turkey, the last they gave me medication to stop milk production (to help the horrible rash) but that was worse than nothing. It made me terribly nauseous.

 

For formula, I loved the Similac premix when we were visiting the US, but I mainly used boiled water and powder. You only have to sterilize for 2 months. After that hot soapy water is enough according to my pediatrician (and my kids didn't have any stomach flus).

[3lilreds in NC]

We used Similac lactose-free with my oldest; my new little guy is nursing, but has a definite preference for Similac over Enfamil in his cereal, LOL! You should see the faces I get with Enfamil. I used up my one sample can of Similac and tried Enfamil since I got three cans of that - he's not a fan. Now we're trying Carnation Good Start. I gave that to my middle dd when she weaned pretty much cold turkey at 11/5 months - her idea, not mine. Anyhoo, the boy likes it better than Enfamil, that's for sure.

 

I never thought of freezing the formula - what a good idea! All the things I wish I'd known back then! What I would do was boil some water and then make about 4 cups of formula in my big measuring cup with a whisk. Then I put it into bottles and stuck it in the fridge. It worked fine. I believe you can keep it for up to 72 hours in the fridge. It tells you on the can, though.

 

I found my sports bra to be helpful when I was going through engorgement after my dd weaned herself. I didn't know about cabbage leaves but I wish I had! I don't think it will take more than 2-3 days for you to be pretty comfortable again, although it could take a little longer than that for the milk to go away completely.

[Stacia]

cabbage that Cynthia mentions is truly *amazing*.

 

Keep several cabbages ... in the fridge. Pull out a couple of fresh, cold leaves, and place them in your bra cups. If the veins are thick and hard, you can cut them out.

 

Yes, you'll smell a little like cabbage for a day or too. But it *greatly* reduces the swelling and pain (and the chance for plugged ducts and mastitis).

 

Yep! It's amazing how well this works. (And how much you'll smell like slaw, lol.) It's the best remedy I found. The cool leaves are definitely great (and you'll want the large, outer leaves of the cabbage -- it gets too hard to get complete coverage when you start messing w/ the smaller, inside leaves). ;)

[teachermom2834]

That was all very helpful. I will definitely have the cabbage waiting for when I need it.

 

It's amazing how complicated it all seems when all you've done is nursed before.

 

Thanks.

Marie

[Alenee]

I bottle fed our triplets. It was strange after nursing the first two babes. I opted to pump for a couple weeks. It really helped with engorgement as I weaned my own body from the need to nurse. If memory serves me correctly, I pumped every other feeding, then every third. It was much less painful than going cold turkey!!

 

Looking forward to hearing the announcement of your newest family member :)

 

I bottle fed my first dd after ten days. Weaning myself off of nursing the way Tracey did was a good way for me. I had enough for triplets!

 

I wish I had figured out early on that I could give my dd cold bottles. She never minded cold. However I did find out and it was such a time-saver! I sterilized the bottles in boiling water but also found out the dishwasher can do the same thing. Bottles for the day were made up in the morning. Then at night I would put two in a cold pack with ice and leave upstairs for night feedings. That was such a blessing! I could grab one on the way into her room, rock her while I fed her with the lights off, then put her right back to bed.

 

I don't know about different brands anymore but the ones I used didn't go bad after 1/2 hr. Like I said, I made them all in the morning for the whole day's feedings.

 

One tip about bottle feeding. My dd was a voracious eater and could suck down an 8oz. bottle within a few minutes. She would then spew it all shortly after. Burping more frequently with bottle feeding is almost a must. So we began burping after 1-2 oz. This was not something we had to do with nursing my other two. This kept the spit-up to a minimum.

[Jann in TX]

2oz hot water + 3 scoops formula + 4 oz cold water = perfect bottle in less than 20 seconds!

 

All of my girls were bottle fed at some point (due to me having to take certain medications). Having a hot water dispenser was a lifesaver. I have insisted on one in every house we have had the past 17 years. Besides making bottles easier (my dd's would get gassy with cold bottles) ours is used quite often every day. I LOVE hot tea--no waiting for water to boil. DD likes instant cappuccinos... Having instant boiling water comes in very handy in cooking too. Best $100 we ever spent (DH was able to install them himself--and he is NOT a handy-man).

[kat19]

I never breastfed my kids. I'm just not comfortable with it for some reason.

 

We use the playtex bottles, you can squeeze the air out of the bags so there is no air in the bottle.

I use the concentrated formula that you just mix with water, so I make a whole batch at a time and put in the fridge.. He does like them a little warm so we just squeeze the air out and run them under hot water to warm them. I make them a little bit more colder then my husband, I would like baby to get used to drinking it cold so it would be easier on us :001_smile: but if he likes it warm that is fine too :001_smile:

 

I do have some cans of the powered formula but he was a month early and doesn't seem to like it right now.. I am hoping eventually we can use these cans up though. Maybe boiling water like I read in some of the replies will help, not sure..

 

When the engorgement came in for me, this time is was painful, I don't remember it being like this before.. But I got through it alright. It lasted a few days.. I am still trying to dry up though.. It's been over 2 weeks and I am still getting a bit of leaking(mainly on one side) but it's not anything I can't live with :D

 

I hope all goes well for you :D

[melissel]

Oddly, peppermint also helps to suppress milk production, so you may want to experiment with taking it in some form. I know that when I was nursing (not so much with my first, more with my second, who nursed much less often), I'd see a noticeable drop in my milk after I ate Breyer's Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream, which contains real peppermint extract. (And yes, I'd eat a good amount at a sitting--that's why it's not allowed in the house anymore :blush:) I could never figure it out, until I read about the peppermint/milk production link.

 

A good excuse to sit and eat ice cream, eh? :smilielol5:

[abbeyej]

Oddly, peppermint also helps to suppress milk production

 

Yep, that's another great suggestion!

 

Sage inhibits milk production as well... KellyMom.com suggests:

To use dried sage (Salvia officinalis) for reducing milk supply, take 1/4 teaspoon of sage 3x per day for 1-3 days. You can mix the sage in vegetable juice (for example, V-8), but it won't mix well into other juices. You can also mix it into other foods. If you don't like the taste of sage, try putting it into a tiny piece of sandwich and swallowing it whole - peanut butter or something else a bit sticky seems to work best for holding the sage in place. Tear off the corner of the sandwich containing the sage (it should be a very small section) and swallow it without chewing (that's why you need a very small section).

[jmgconner]

Okay, I don't think this is what you want to hear, but engorgement is awful! I resorted to prescription painkillers (and I'm a natural childbirth person). Now, with that said, I did have breast surgery as a teen. I have milk ducts, but they don't all hook up to the nipple. It took me about a 3 days of painkillers, and another 3 days of Tylenol.

 

For the bottles, I like Playtex VentAires. We use room temperature bottled water and the powdered formula. I put in the desired amount of water and add the correct amount of scoops. No heating required.

 

Good luck and Congrats on your baby!

[melissel]

Yep, that's another great suggestion!

 

Sage inhibits milk production as well... KellyMom.com suggests:

 

Ah, I meant to check there and got sidetracked. Kellymom always has the answers!

[Pam "SFSOM" in TN]

For various reasons I am going to bottle feed my 4th baby ( I breastfed all the others). I am worried about when my milk comes in. I remember how uncomfortable it was even when I could nurse to ease the pressure. I am nervous about handling this aspect of it.

 

How long does it take for the milk to dry up? What do I do in the meantime? I was thinking I would need to dig out my heavy duty sports bras to wear through this time, does that compression help or just hurt?

 

Any tips for getting through this? The engorgement was so painful and unpleasant even when I was nursing. I'm really worried about this.

 

Also, how did you prepare your newborns' bottles? Did you make them up one at a time as needed at room temperature or make up a whole day's worth of formula and store in the fridge? Did you sterilize water separately or in bottles mixed with formula already?

 

Any other tips? This all seems so complicated. I promise I'm not a dumb girl but I am a little unclear about these things.

 

Please don't tell me I should breastfeed. I've given it plenty of thought and this is the way it's going to be for us this time around.

 

Thanks,

Marie

 

Before your milk comes in, bind your breasts with an ace bandage. Wrap it nice and snug. Theoretically, if your breasts can't physically fill up, you won't engorge. Take it off to shower, remembering that letting the water beat on your breasts will stimulate milk production. As silly as it sounds, you may want to shower with a sports bra on until your milk dries up. Then re-wrap with the binding bandage when you get out of the shower.

 

If you're on a public water system, you don't need to sterilize the water. Make up the formula for 24 hours, then heat it as you need it. At about four to six months, you can actually start transitioning the formula cooler and give it to them stone cold out of the fridge. :-) (Probably you could do it earlier, I dunno.)