Another thing is if your a 1st time breastfeeder it's worth reading and watching as many videos as you can before you actually give birth. I wish I'd done that. Also another thing is if you are determined don't feel bullied into giving formula at hospital like I was.

Agreed. My MW lent me a DVD with loads of footage of babies latching on, as well as of a one day old baby crawling up his mummy in the bath and latching himself on! Remarkable The photo stories you get in books and leaflets are great, but there's no substitute for moving images to give you an idea of what to do.

Maybe try to check out where your nearest BF support group in advance too....

Thanks, ladies, for all the great tips!!! You are angels!

A few questions that I have been pondering of late, help gratefully received!

With regards to combined breast/bottle feeding, how essential is it to give it 6 weeks before trying a bottle? Does it make a difference to the baby accepting both that we will be bottle-feeding expressed milk not formula?

I really want to breastfeed but the nature of our jobs and living arrangements mean that it's not going to be possible to do it exclusively. Also I am under some pressure from OH who really wants to be able to feed the baby himself to express sooner rather than later.

My mum tells me that when she had us, she combined breastfeeding with bottles of water to help quench thirsty babies' appetites. I've not read anything about this practice now, is that because of the using baby-led feeding on demand or is it considered unnecessary/unsafe now?

Re pumps, I have been given a Avent Isis manual pump to express with but I am concerned that I am going to find it hard work as I have broken both my wrists/thumbs several times and they are now very weak. I find repetitive motion stiffens or hurts them and I am concerned I will find manual pumping painful or difficult. How long does manual pump expressing take and are the pumps stiff or tiring to use?

I would like to get an electric pump but they are so expensive and I've had no luck getting a second hand one on ebay. If I know that manual pumping is likely to be hard then I am willing to spend the extra money but we need to save pennies wherever possible!

Are there any reasons for not using dummies/pacifiers other than it interfering with breastfeeding?

Thanks all!

hi molly, i think i can answer some of your questions...
- i planned to exclusively breastfeed for at least three weeks, but found breastfeeding harder than expected so once isabel was two weeks i expressed one feed a day for OH to give in a 'breastflow' bottle (designed to work similar to a breast to avoid nipple confusion - tommee tipee also do this style bottle in closer to nature range)
- although isabel has done well on breastflow bottle and i think its helped encourage her to widen her latch for me, some babies go on to either refuse bottle or refuse breast so its really the unknown for each one i'm afraid...
- i use a tommee tipee manual pump...takes me about 5-10 mins to express about 4oz at the mo. i don't have weak hands/wrists but i imagine you'd be ok with a manual doing one or two feeds a day but if you were doing more you could look to hire an electric one...think its breastpumps.co.uk that hire medela electrics like they use in hospital which have different speed settings and are very efficient!
- dummies shouldn't be introduced for (i think!) at least three weeks as can cause nipple confusion
- you mentioned your mum used to give water too...when breastfeeding you shouldn't need to give your baby anything extra other than breastmilk as your body automatically makes it more watery to quench baby's thirst in hot weather...if you top up with water or formula it sends your body messages to produce less milk and you could mess your supply amounts up

hope this helps and please someone else correct me if i'm wrong...my post is a combination of experience and what i've read!

Thank you for answering those questions, its very helpful and reassuring! I think we shall try holding out as long as possible on the bottle and then just see how little Mango reacts when we try combining, I guess s/he is entitled to make up their own mind as to which s/he likes best!

I've got the Closer to Nature bottles, swayed by their marketing that they are the next nearest thing, although my pump is Avent I thought I could always transfer the milk if the pump doesn't fit TT bottles.

Also its helpful to hear how long your expressing takes, I think I'd got the image in my head that I'd need to be pumping away for hours, I think I can manage 15 minutes and who knows maybe the exercise will help my joints!

I did think that "topping up" with water must be a thing of the past as I've not seen it mentioned in anything I've read. Someone gave me book on childcare published in the 70s (as I'm interested in how I parents were taught to raise and entertain us as opposed to the modern day methods and limitless childrens tv, dvd and video-games) so I might have a nosy in that and see how recommendations differed then, could be an interesting read!

Thanks again to you and Isabel for your help!

no worries
lol...i express into an avent pot from a TT pump and you'll be doing the opposite!
i've seen some women on here take longer to express 4oz so just be aware it may take you longer...depends what your milk flow and supply is like...mine seems a little enthusiastic!!

bet you read some interesting things in that book!!
aww i was team yellow...i remember how exciting it was not knowing all the best hun x

Haha, how ironic about the pots! If you don't mind me asking, did you get leaking before birth? I seem to be getting a lot recently (I'm using my pads already) so I was wondering if thats an indicator of a good postnatal flow or whether it has nothing to do with it (the latter always seem to be the case with pre and post birth symptoms lol!)?

Have you ever tried hand-expressing, I wonder if thats hard to learn or is a gentler action?

If I find any good laughs in the book, I'll post them on the forum!! I wonder if there is a thread for "In My Day - stories our mothers' tell us about childbirth and rearing..."

I'm loving batting for team yellow, we toyed on and off with finding out but actually we're both really pleased now to have the surprise to look fwd to! I'm keeping half an eye on some strong cramps today and trying not to get too hopeful that the real thing is almost here...

Thanks again x

yeah i did leak towards the end...it was very random and sometimes heavier than others but enough to wear breast pads virtually daily to avoid embaressment! some peeps say its a good sign though i don't know if thats just an old wives tale...!

i do hand express during the night when i'm soooo full its uncomfy or just before i feed isabel as its harder for them to latch if you're too full, but i find hand expressing very hard myself so i only do it for light relief...i couldn't express a full feed that way or if i did it'd take FOREVER!!!

strong cramps...sounds like your body could be having a good practice run?