What Bottles to Use - Lubbock,TX

First off congratulations!! Well, personally I like the playtex nursers. They are much more like the breast and make an easier transition from breast to bottle when you start pumping. Also try to give him breast only for the first month, so he will get used to it and not be confused going back and forth from breast to bottle. Also, get LOTS of breast pads!! I like lanisoh the best, they hold so much more! Don't wipe your nipples after he finishes drinking. The milk also helps your nipples to not crack. Just let them air dry for a few minutes then you can cover up again. It can be hard and very time consuming but hang in there. You'll be glad you did. I didn't wait a whole month before I started giving him a bottle and I think that's part of why my milk started to decrease before he was 2 months old. Everything else will fall into place once you hold your precious angel, and I think you'll wonder why you were so nervous in the first place. Also, do take advantage of all the offers you'll get from friends and family. Let them sit with the baby so you can nap, let them do the dishes or make you dinner. If you're ok with them doing your laundry, let them! You're gonna need all the help you can get so you can stay rested enough to take care of that baby at you best! Good Luck and God Bless!!

I pumped religiously for 6 mths and now have a healthy 10 1/2 mth old baby girl. I used the Dr Braun bottles. I absolutely love them. They really help cut back on colic and mimic the closet thing to a "natural flow" granted that that each bottle has about 5 pcs to it, it is alot to clean out. If you have the time and want at great bottle I highly recommend you use Dr. Braun. You should log on to their website and see for yourself. Also one thing I never did read up on nor anyone told me is that there are different size nipples along w/age. 0-3, 3-6, etc. Just make sure to swith out your nipples according to age. I wish I had known alot sooner, it would have saved me and my daughter some time on longer feedings due to slower flow. I am a 1st time mom myself. Good Luck, do alot of reading and walking. Walking to me was the key to feeling great throughout my entire pregnancy. It also helped with the heartbun and never experienced any swelling.

Hi A.,

Congratulations! As a breastfeeding and pumping mom I really like the Playtex drop in bottles - while you have to buy the drop in liners, you only have to worry about washing the nipples well. I can even use the same "bottle" by bringing extra liners and nipples - space savings! I also found that Target brand drop in liners work just as well as Playtex, and they're cheaper. Whatever brand you choose, the most important thing to remember when buying bottles is that you want them to be designed for breastfeeding babies and you want to purchase slow flow nipples for them to use the first few months. Otherwise they may get used to drinking bottled milk faster than your body can deliver it when nursing, and they may decide that nursing is too much work. Some babies like silicone and some like latex - don't buy too many of them (or at least don't open them all) until you know which your baby prefers.

If you haven't purchased a pump yet, I like the Medela Pump in Style Advanced. It's pricey (about $250), but if you have to be away from your baby for a good amount of time during the day, you want a pump that will help you pump fast and keep up your milk supply. I was able to get a prescription for my pump (in TX) and so I was able to buy the pump from the hospital lactation consultant without having to pay sales tax!

I wish I'd known I would WANT a nursing bra in the hospital. With my first, I went without a bra at the hospital, and I felt very uncomfortable when the in-laws or other people dropped by. I recommend getting properly fitted for a nursing bra two weeks before you're scheduled to deliver, and take it to the hospital with you. You'll be glad you did! :-)

It's great that you're choosing to breastfeed! I hope it goes well for you. Keep at it, and I'm sure you'll be successful.

I use the Playtex Drop-Ins bottles and liners. They are easy to use and if you are planning on either supplementing with formula or pumping and using the bottles to feed, babies adjust to those great. The nipples are made to be similar to the breast. My son loves them! Oh an make sure that you get some breast milk storage bags so that you can stock your freezer up with milk. Also, buy Tucks pads and Dermaplast to spray on your nether regions with after you leave the hospital, you will be glad you did. The Lansinoh nursing pads are the best. They adhear to your bra and are super absorbant. I also found that these little cami's you can buy at Target in the bra department are great to sleep in while you are still nursing because they are comfortable and easily accessable for baby and you have to wear a bra until you aren't breast feeding 24 hours a day.

For baby, I swear by these pacifiers that were given to me in the hospital. They are called Soothies and you can buy them at Target too. My son is able to hold them in his mouth a lot better than any other that's out on the market. Huggies puts out disposable changing pads which are great to put on your chaning table to help keep your changing pad clean if things get a little messy in their diaper and great for when you are out in public and having to use those baby changing stations. I also keep a heating pad in his room next to his crib. Prior to putting him down for the night, I warm his bed up so that when I lay him down his eyes don't pop open because he just hit a cold bed. It's worked wonders during that middle of the night feeding when all he want to be is held next to me as a warm body and all I wanted to do is go back to sleep.

Most of all, the only advise I can give is enjoy it. It goes by SO fast! My son is just 12 weeks old and it seems like just yesterday I was pregnant. And don't be afraid to ask for help and take people up on their offers to watch him while you shower or nap. The advise that people give you to sleep when he sleeps is golden and so true, you will need it.

If you need anyone to chat with that is also a first time mommy and recently gone through the same thing, message me.

~J.

We use the bottles with the bag. Love'em. I used them with both of my kids when they were small and now with my granddaughter. You can get rid of the air which helps the baby develop less gas. Avent is supposed to be really good and there is another one I think with the name of Dr. Brown. They are really expensive but supposed to be great..

I would suggest AVENT. This company makes good products that are inter-changeable (sp?). The avent bottle is short, and seems to pass less air,and shape of it is simular to a breast, making transition easier. Later when baby is ready for first sippie cup you can pop out the nipple of bottle and buy the sippie spout to go into bottle. Here's thier website

http://www.avent.com/uk/en/

I bought the bottles,replacements,bottle brush,binkies (all avent) at H E B. My youngest baby had colic and avent was the only kind that worked for us

I had the avent bottles and manual pump and was happy with it, but if you plan on pumping a lot, going back to work, an electric pump would probably be better for you. I heard that Dr Browns work for a lot of people, especially with colicky babies. Anyway, I would also recommend looking into babywearing, maybe you have a local group http://www.nineinnineout.org/ where you an try out different carriers and learn about them. You could also join the La Leche League, they might ahve some ansers for you, you can go there while you still pregnant and they can give you advice on what pump to use, etc...http://www.lalecheleague.org/

Fear is unfortunatley part of the prepartation,
For me it all faded as soon as I held my son on my chest for the first time.
This amazing innate feeling comes over you and all your fears dissolve!
It is truly amazing and surreal.
Don't worry about buying stuff til he is here and you know what you truly need. I found that I stressed over too much studff, and needed very little of it when he was born. You can always send soemone to the store for you.
There are so many uneccesary things out there that they say you need but you don't.
The only thing I can think of that they don't talk about too much are some heavy pads, cause you may need them for a week or 2, they give you some at the hospital.
Just relax and maybe meditate a bit if possible.
It will all be here soooon! Good luck to you.
C.

A. -

We tried the bottles that come with the Medela breast pump and regular nipples. They were nice because the bottles are so small. You're no supposed to store or reheat leftover milk. However, my daughter sucked so hard that the nipples would collapse. We finally ended up with the Playtex Vent-aire. They have several parts, so some people don't like to clean then, but we never had a problem. It has an angled bottle, the nipple, then a little rubber diaphram (sp?)and a cap at the end, to allow air in, but not leak milk out.

We went through all different kinds of bottles. the best ones we found were dr. browns brand. they can be found at target and babies r us. i breastfed as well. but i also worked. all the other bottles seemed to make him gassy.

just the basic bottles diapers clothes and diaper rash cream is all you really need to get started! they have a bunch of cool things like the bouncer thats about 20$ at most stores and the swing about 50-70 bucks but when it comes down to it you dont really need these things. dont be worried about messing up we all learn threw trial and error, the best pice of advice i can give you is not to get confused when everyone around you is telling you how to hold your baby or how to do things with him, do what makes you feel comfortable and everything will come so natral to you once the baby is here it is amazing! p.s. if baby isnt here yet get as much sleep as you can! Good luck!

Hi A.,
I am a first time mom of a beautiful 5 month old baby boy so I know all those anxieties your feeling. But dont worry you will be fine. Believe it or not, a lot of the care you give to your baby will come naturally. Just trust your instincts. I use the ventaire bottles for my son. The are suppose to help with preventing colic. My son has only been colicy 2 times but I think it was because of the formula (it was a new brand) not the bottles. The only thing about those bottles is that you have to put them together. My husband calls them puzzles. There are 5 parts to one bottle. If you dont mind the littel extra work with the bottles, I recommendn those bottles. My son really likes the nipples on those bottles. I also use the Soothie bottles (only for juice) and those seem to be ok. The only thing I have found with those is that they are hard to give while in the car. It has to do with the shape of the nipple. You have a greater chance of your baby sucking in a lot of air. The one thing, I can think of right now, that I learned and I am still learning is buy a head. Buy different size diapers and bigger clothes because your baby will grow so fast. My son is now in a size 3 diaper (big for his age)and it caught me off gaurd. I woke up one day and BAM!! his sleepers and onsies didnt really fit...neither did his diapers!! LOL So if you see a baby sale and there are outfits that you can buy that are 3-6, 6-9 and even 12 months, I would buy them because they will come in handy faster than you think! :o) I hope this helps. Have a great day!!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Avent bottles and pump. If you use the Avent pump, you have to use their bottles or a special coupler, and I believe their pump is the best on the market - esp for a hand held. (I hate the electric - I guess they just didn't fit). Their bottles are some of the best, too, and you can choose from disposable, nurser bag type, or regular bottles, with newborn, infant, and cereal nipples.

I'd also pick up a tube of LANISOH and some nursing pads. Start using the Lanisoh about a week before your due date - keep going through the first two weeks of nursing, right after nursing. It helps with the chafing and bleeding nipples. I'd also recommend that, after the baby is born, you nurse on one side until he's refusing it for the feeding, then switch to the other (about 15 minutes per boob is pretty effective). At our hospital they recommend 5 minutes per side, and that's usually just enough time to get really sore nipples and an angry baby... some new moms take that long just for the milk to let down at first.

Also, in my experience (and several of the moms that I work with), the first week of nursing your nipples will hurt so badly that you wish you could unscrew your boobs and use them as bottles. On the seventh day, it should be getting better and at the end of two weeks, it doesn't hurt any more. There are nipple shells (if your nipples are flat or poke in, instead of out) that you can get at Target that may help in the above instance, but over all a good lactation consultant is worth her weight in gold those first few feedings - and the hospital provides one for free.

Do you have a carrier? Have you looked at OverTheShoulderBabyHolder? I love mine. There are a few other styles of the same carrier online - over a shoulder is so much comfortable to me than the in front, because it distributes the weight to your shoulders and hips, instead of feeling like you're 12 months pregnant because it's all on your lower back. IT also lets you nurse the baby in public without anyone seeing anything, and you can use it pretty much from birth (after he's clean, of course - lol) to 50 pounds - in varying holding positions (from across your chest to on your hip... it's like an extra arm.

Enjoy your baby, it's hard to mess up when you love them that much.