Hospital bag

I know my sis in law got given formula at Milton Keynes hospital. She didn't bring it, midwives provided. A friend of mine at a London hospital also had it provided by hospital. I plan to exclusively breastfeed and hadn't considered bringing formula. But I do plan to bring colostrum syringes.

We were advised in our classes that the hospital won't provide it and to bring the premixed ones in incase needed. They didn't really say how many though.

I have done courses and they said, if you plan to breastfeed exclusively you shouldn’t give any formula. Your colostrum will be enough until your milk comes in which is roughly day 3. If you give a bottle it could cause baby confusion and then not latch well. I am FTM though, so only going off what I’ve been taught. It also makes me nervous that I will end up having nothing to give baby 😬

Yep, my LB’s stuff is all ready for him, it’s mostly my stuff I need to finish putting in my bag

I wanted to exclusively breastfed with my first but my colostrum wouldn’t even come in at first. I was getting really disappointed and thought baby girl wasn’t getting any food. Luckily I had the pre-made aptimil with me (pack of 6) and used those for the first day/2 days. Then on day 3 I went back into the hospital for my checks and they went through getting her to latch and my milk had come in. So do just keep putting baby to boob and it will stimulate it more.

I took the ready made bottles for my first but never used them so I’m not taking them this time x

I’d just take a pack of 6 of the pre made little bottles that come ready to go. If it looks like that’s the way it will go for you, you can always send partner/family to pick up. I’d recommend a brand that’s easy to get on the shelves though - not one that’s always out of stock and hard to get!

With my first I didn’t bring any as I only wanted to breast feed. Baby wouldn’t latch and midwives didn’t help, the most useful thing they did was give me sterile teaspoons to hand express onto and give to baby. They did have formula they were able to give but were very reluctant to, eventually got some just before I got myself discharged. I think I will take some this time just incase, even though I’ve educated myself more on what works for me with breastfeeding, just incase the support isn’t there again if I need it.

I breastfed and didn't take any ready made formula. Our hospital provided if needed for a very short while so dad's don't have to rush out etc incase of any BF struggles. Hospitals won't let your baby starve

I’m 32 weeks and 4 days and I started today as I feel little man is gonna come early and I wanna feel prepared x

Some hospitals with have pre made bottles of formula if you need it, this does depend on the hospital and they don’t usually have lots of choice, they will likely only have 1 or 2 brands so if you’d prefer something specific I’d take some in x

@Emily sadly this isn’t true for everyone I thought my first born was feeding while he was on the breast but I was so inexperienced and I didn’t know what that looked like. My baby ended up severely dehydrated and in NICU because I didn’t know he wasn’t actually getting anything from my breast. My milk came way too late and it was very hard so he needed formula to survive his first few days. He learned how to feed eventually and we moved to breast only

My local hospital would not provide us with formula, well technically they had it and could have but they refused to. I planned to breastfed but baby couldn’t latch which caused me a lot of pain and baby to get so hungry she was screaming hysterical and then it became impossible to try and feed at the breast as she was so agitated. We ended up going out in the middle of the night to a 24 hour Tesco to get formula to bring back to the ward to help the situation. Having a formula feed allowed her to calm down enough to try again at the breast. This time I’m taking a starter pack, all brands do them. They come with pre-made formula and pre sterilised teats. After I nursed I then topped up with the formula and it really helped us those first few days, without it I wouldn’t have been able to continue breastfeeding and I’ll be definitely taking it this time in case it’s needed again. I got the aptamil starter pack as it’s the most widely available one.

It all depends on multiple factors. Your hospital, your goals. If you want to breastfeed, you will (well 99% physiogically can) It's all about the mindset 🙌🏼 Talk to your midwife. My midwife said I should not worry at all, that they have ton of resources and tools how to help women BF the first hours, so no formula recommended. But every hospital is different so talk to your provider. 😊 It's all about knowledge, confidence and support. So sadly if you don't have a supporting medical team around you can still rely on yourself and your birth partner X

We were told the my local trust will.rpvide formula , only if you are intending to breastfeeding but baby doesn't latch etc. If you're planning on bottle feeding, you need to take your own x

I bought a Jenny Bag specifically for my hospital bag and I've been making sure I have the essentials to put in it, but I haven't started packing yet. I keep seeing videos on TikTok saying "if you're due in December, pack your bag NOW! Don't wait until you're 32 weeks or 35 weeks, pack it now!" I suppose it wouldn't do any harm to start packing as early as you like. I've just been making sure I have some comfortable, oversized clothes, maternity pads and underwear, etc.