Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 (Tek) 9/28/84 based on 9/17/84; site hammer.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxt!houxm!vax135!cornell!uw-beaver!tektronix!orca!hammer!bethb From: bethb@hammer.UUCP (Beth Bonness) Newsgroups: net.kids Subject: Re: Breast Feeding - Help Message-ID: <1652@hammer.UUCP> Date: Thu, 21-Nov-85 12:20:38 EST Article-I.D.: hammer.1652 Posted: Thu Nov 21 12:20:38 1985 Date-Received: Sun, 24-Nov-85 04:37:09 EST References: <868@wdl1.UUCP> Organization: Tektronix, Wilsonville OR Lines: 74 > My wife and I are due in February, so naturally we are starting to > look around and see what to get. Although my wife intends to breast > feed, I expect that there will be the occasional need for a bottle > (especially when we wean the baby off the breast eventually). > > What is your experience: what type of bottle to use? > What type of nipple? (Orthodontic? Playtex type? Silicone?) > Is it important to get one of those machines for taking milk out of > the breast and saving it, and if so, which machine? > > Please help by sharing your experience. Thanks > > Mike Bender Congratulations, you're in for alot of good times. I work part time (3 days a week) and I nurse our 3 month old baby girl. Because I was going back to work and my husband would be taking care of her the days I worked, he obviously was going to have to feed her with a bottle. We had heard that if you wanted a baby to take the bottle, and were you going to breastfeed, that you should start as soon as possible, otherwise they may never go to a bottle. The same is true if you start a baby out with a bottle, they may not take the breast later. Anyways, within the first week I started pumping so we could get her used to the bottle. Now she'll take either bottle or breast, breastmilk or formula. She did have a funny reaction to SIMILAC with iron so we use ISOMIL, which is soy based and she hasn't had any problems. In fact I can nurse her for one breasts worth of milk and she'll take the second half of the feeding from a bottle. Not everyone is so lucky. Therefore, I would recommend that you try to get your new baby used to a bottle within the first month. Regarding type of bottles and nipples. The only problems we had with nipples was that Kalah would suck as hard on the bottle nipple as she did on my nipple and would choke because the milk would come out so much faster. What we had to do was find the smallest holed nipple. Most manufacturers have nipples for water, formula, and juice. You want to get the water nipple. When she was very small even those kind of nipples didn't work. There was a nipple that came along with the Kaneson pump I bought which had a nipple with a very small hole, and that's the only one we could use. I hear there are some nipples that used to be available where you could poke your own holes. That'd solve the problem if you could locate one of those. The orthadontic nipples, although she can take them now, were too big when she was young. Not all babies have the same reaction so you'll probably spend a little time and money buying different kinds of nipples, everyone does. I like the PUR orthadontic nipples for her now. Regarding pumps, you can get a good pump for between $15-$20 dollars. I use a Kaneson, which works great for me. The electric pumps may work faster, but I don't think the extra money is worth if. And I spend pretty much time pumping: three times a day 3 days a week. There's nothing like the pleasures of breastfeeding your baby, but it doesn't come as soon as I had expected. It took a good 6 weeks before I was over the sore nipples and could take a shower without cupping my nipples so the water didn't hit them directly. It also took a long time for my milk to come in. It was hard to convince my mother that this was perfectly natural and Kalah wasn't going to starve to death before my supply came in. What it meant was that I was feeding her every 2 hours to bring the supply in. Nursing sessions took about an hour, so for the first few weeks I wasn't getting very much sleep, at least not in chunks. But I can honestly say with alot of determination and support from my husband we both really enjoy watching Kalah nurse, and know she's getting the best food she can get. So don't be demoralized if your wife has problems. Enough talk, there's so much information about nursing. Let the group know if you need anymore help. Good luck! Beth Bonness (A happy working, nursing mama.)