The number of bottles and nipples you'll need depends on whether you'll be mostly bottle-feeding or mostly breastfeeding. If you're mostly bottle-feeding, you'll probably want eight to ten bottles, and if you're mostly breastfeeding, three or four should be enough. Start with 4- or 5-ounce bottles.
Expect to use around 8 teats and bottles on the first day. Please do not bring in powdered formula or the larger bottles of RTF, as we do not have facilities for their safe storage or preparation, or facilities for sterilising reusable teats and bottles.
Small, 120 mL (4 fl oz) bottles are a good size for newborns. As your baby starts to take more formula during a feeding, you will likely want to have bigger 240 mL (8 fl oz) bottles on hand.
For example: If your baby weighs 10 pounds, they'll need 25 ounces of breast milk per 24 hours (10 x 2.5). If they're feeding 10 times per day, that would equal 2.5 ounces in each bottle (25 divided by 10). If they're feeding 8 times a day, each bottle would need to contain 3.13 ounces (25 divided by 8).
Offering a bottle 3-4 times a week and no more then once a day should keep baby familiar with the artificial nipple while maintaining a strong breastfeeding relationship.
The fluid your breasts produce in the first few days after birth is called colostrum. It's thick and usually a golden yellow colour. It's a very concentrated food, so your baby will only need a small amount, about a teaspoonful, at each feed.
They only need about an ounce of colostrum per day. This equals about a teaspoon each feeding (you can expect to feed your newborn eight to 10 times the first few days). The amount of colostrum (and then transitional milk) your baby needs increases slowly each day as their stomach expands.
In the early days colostrum provides your baby with antibacterial fighting properties which help keep infections at bay. It is highly concentrated in a small volume as a baby's tummy can only take about 5 – 7 mls in the first couple of days.
Place containers in a snap lock plastic bag. Wrap (e.g. in clean tea towel), and place with ice bricks in a hard cooler (e.g. esky) avoiding air gaps. Please bring between 5 and 40 ml of expressed colostrum to hospital. If you have more than this, it can be brough from home at a later date if required.
The average colostrum intake by healthy babies increases from 2-10 mL per feeding in the first 24 hours to 30-60 mL (1-2 oz) per feed by the end of day 3 (ABM 2009). by THERALOGIX. Use PRC code “KELLY” for a special discount! References: ABM 2009, Mannel et al 2013, Mohrbacher 2010.
It is up to you though and you definitely don't need them before the birth because you can always buy some later. Breastfed babies don't need water until 6 months and most (though not all) babies can manage a lidded cup by this point.
Bottles: Many bottle manufacturers started phasing out plastics made with BPA around 2008, so bottles made after that time, or BPA-free bottles from before then, are generally safe to reuse, though you should replace the nipples. Bottles that are cracked, discolored, or warped should not be handed down.
Most six-month-old babies can wear clothes in size 9–12 months, for example. If you're buying for your unborn baby, in general it's best to buy 0-3 month clothes, as newborn size can be outgrown very quickly.
Your hospital will provide diapers and wipes for your baby while you're there. Bottles and nipples. If you're bottle-feeding, the hospital will have bottles and nipples to use.
You don't have to decide how you want to feed your baby until they are born and you have them in your arms. If you intend on formula feeding or feel you would like to have some formula milk with you in case you decide to formula feed once your baby is born, then you will need to bring this into hospital with you.
2 packets of super-absorbent sanitary or maternity pads. 5 or 6 pairs of knickers – you may want to bring some disposable ones.
Typically, though, it's around 30 milliliters or about an ounce a day, which is right around the amount that your baby needs.
Based on the limited research available, suggested intakes for term healthy infants are: Day 0 (up to 24 hours) 2-10 ml/per feed; Day 1 5-15 ml/per feed, Day 2 15-30 ml/per feed, Day 3 30-60ml/per feed, Day 5 30-60ml/per feed... but feeding should be by infant cue to satiation.
You will make small quantities at first, often less than a millilitre at each feed or expression, and this volume of colostrum is usually adequate for the needs of a healthy baby born at term.
Typically, though, it's around 30 milliliters or about an ounce a day, which is right around the amount that your baby needs. But don't worry if you're producing less than this amount—any amount is good for your baby.
Using the 1,2,3 rule:
Use the first milk (colostrum) from the cow; Feed the calf colostrum within the first two hours of birth; Calves must be offered at least 3L of good quality colostrum.
Most babies do not burp a lot when they are drinking colostrum the first few days, however, still burp them for a minute or two. If you don't get one, no big deal. Start all feedings with a burping session. They usually will give you one and this also helps to arouse them and be more eager to latch.
For the first 2 to 5 days after your baby is born, you will make a small amount of colostrum, which is all a healthy term baby needs. Colostrum is a thick, rich milk that is high in nutrients. Around day 3 through 5, your milk will come in.
Generally speaking, breastfeeding your husband or partner is OK. It's not perverted or wrong if you want the person you are intimate with to breastfeed, or if they ask to try breastfeeding or taste your breast milk.
You can collect your colostrum while you're pregnant by hand expressing in the same way that you will express breast milk when your baby is born. While you're pregnant, you should only use your hands for expressing. Do not use a breast pump until after you have given birth. 1.