oh, almost same like what I was doing and what I plan to do now..I have been pumping my breast milk for my son since 1st mth. Now that my maternity leave is going to end soon and I am thinking a way to provide breast milk to my son. But both my in law seems like don't really support this as they said breast milk unable to keep my baby full and he will cry more frequent requesting for milk. Understand the difficulties since in law are both quite old and formula milk will be more convenient for them. Thus, the only best way if to provide breast milk only when I am back to Ipoh during weekend and public holiday. I will pump and feed my baby by myself, so eliminate all the inconveniences claimed by my in law...

But, still thinking how much the breast milk helps in this way? My baby will only have breast milk during weekend but not everyday. I feel a big waste during weekday when I pump out the milk and just have to pour it away. It suppose to be so precious, but I have to pour it away..

i more mean than you. i was so afraid that my mil feed my girl with FM. i quickly return back all 4 tins of FM back to the store. slowly, my mil also get use to it. at first, a bit troublesome for her, yes. coz u have to estimate baby's feeding time and take out from fridge probably one to half hour earlier to warm. sometimes, warm to hot, sometimes, too cold. but does not matter. learn from experience. and soon, you will adapt to it. my mil said my girl took the MOST breastmilk among all her grandchildren. even she breasfed longest was 6 months.

please do not think how much BM helps even though u only let your baby takes during weekend. just provide as much as u can, and as long as you can.

for the excess...u actually can use to make soap. but i duno how la. hehe..or else u may donate. there are mummies looking for BM for their babies.

Hi all, read some of the post here and really learn something...I have yet read about breastfeeding even I'm gonna deliver this coming Nov.

What's worry me now is, how do I able to breastfeed my baby if I have sensitive nipple? Something like feel 'geli'.

Direct feed baby with breast milk is call latching? Sorry, really don't know the terms.

welcome to our breastfeeding group!

yes. direct feed means latching.

u try to direct feed first. if really feel geli or what, then use breastpump lor.

Thanks.

I want to know if now sensitive, will it change to not so sensitive or not sensitive? Since breast size will also keep changing now. Coz I heard my mom say direct feed is better.

definitely direct feed will be better.

from sensitive change to not so sensitive...erm..i think depends on individual.

Okok. Then see how it goes. Anyway still have few more months to know.

+1 for direct feed. Provided the baby is willing. No need to wash and sterilize bottle. And it's as fresh as it gets.

Definitely direct breastfeed is the best. I breastfed for 1st week, after that I pumped out so that my in law can help feeding bb also and I can have more rest. But this is not good because baby is still small and intestine is not yet mature enough, so start many issues like reflux and colic. Colic is really a difficult situation which baby will cry for 2-3hours no matter what matter you use until I am really run out of method and jz cried together with my baby...

For breastfeeding, you have to watch out food that you consume. Avoid dairy product and vege..some article said..but I tried everything but my baby still crying untilabout 7-8weeks then stable...

Now my in law complains that my breast milk got problem or baby not suitable for my breastmilk. This is because when my baby started with fm, no more crying. But, I think that it should be his intestine mature enough now, I never heard that breastmilk would be not suitable for own baby..

Still continue to provide breastmilk whenever I am back to my bb. I might continue doing so until Sept, then will re-consider again. Doctor advice breastmilk until 6mths is good, after 6mths is not necessary.

Hi everyone! Just wanted to update my progress here.

My girl is almost 9 months old, and I'm happy to say that still breastfeeding her

Have a great day everyone and have a great breastfeeding journey!

I'm also happy to share that my baby is able to direct latch instead of taking bottles only. Hard work but it's fruitful and rewarding to see him taking my breast directly.

Milk supply still low, mixing with formula milk, so my next target will be 100% breast milk.

Special thanks to sbux for her encouragement.

This post has been edited by periwater: Aug 14 2012, 02:02 PM

As for cooler bags, you name it, I probably have it, or at least its equivalent. So far, the Fridge To Go Victoria model is used most frequently as it is large enough to store 2 breast pump bodies (Philips Avent ISIS Duo) together with half a dozen Avent BM storage bottles (no need to wash and sterilize the pump parts everytime if you keep it cool as BM will not spoil if cool). How long it lasts depends on ambient temperature as well as the Fridge to Go model and whether you supplement it with other ice packs. For the Victoria model, it can last about 12 hours in room temperature (non-aircond but not warm) provided you supplement it with ice pack like Techni Ice (2 sheets, 1 above and 1 below - more important that it is place on top, as cold air is heavier and sinks plus the fact that the Victoria model only has cooling panels for the sides and bottom and does not have a cooling panel for the top).

You may be using the Fridge To Go FTG-3000 mini fridge model which only has 3 cooling panels (2 cooling panel no. 7 and 1 cooling panel no. 11) - that's the US model which will only last 4-8 hours max. I have the FTG-3000 US model as well as the FTG-1200 mini fridge Asian model which has 8 cooling panels (3 cooling panel no. 39, 1 cooling panel no. 11 and 4 smaller cooling panels) and can last about 12 hours when supplemented with 1 sheet of Techni Ice (cut into 3 pieces).

So far, have not really tested Techni Ice against Autumnz ice pack but will post outcome when possible. I also have the RM5 gel brick packs from Daiso which lasts as long or longer than Techni Ice, main disadvantage of it being bulkier and heavy, just like the Coleman Brite ice.

Can totally empathize with you, my wife lost a similar amount due to carelessness - the freezer was overfilled and the door didn't hold (and it so happened the day before we were supposed to get the deep freezer). Wife had freezer-door-opened phobia for about 2 weeks, however thank God that frozen supply being built up again.

I bought the Victoria for my wife too. As she uses it to transport the milk as well as the pump... Ohh where can I find the techni ice? Sounds preety good.

Baby sure willing unless nipple confused/used to faster flow bottle, especially if bottle feeding is incorrect (eg bottle held vertically which means baby has no choice!).

Fresh milk always taste better and there's zero risk of contamination and rejection; there are cases where babies reject chilled/frozen milk due to the non-harmful metallic taste as a result of the lipase enzyme contained in BM. Ideal for working parents if direct latching and bottle feeding can be combined as there are so much more less things to bring along when travelling if baby can latch on.

For those who are considering exclusive pumping, do note that it can be more tiring. Myself as an example, I spend at least one hour daily washing and sterilising pump parts and bottles - it's the only thing I can do to support my wife in her BF journey. We even have 2 electric sterilizers which help to speed things up. Plus another hour or so spent to pour excess milk into storage bags and labelling them for freezing as well as preparing the next day's BM supply for the nanny who is caring for our baby.

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Added on August 14, 2012, 8:45 pmYou can find Techni-Ice from most baby supply shops like Baby Loft and Fabulous Mom. Normal price is RM30 per sheet, can get 10% discount during a sale and 20% discount during baby fairs.

This post has been edited by wshoh: Aug 14 2012, 08:45 PM

Thanks wshoh. I wouldn't have noticed it without u sharing

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Added on August 14, 2012, 9:54 pmThis is how we organize the freezer. Put a batch of bm in a zip lock bag and then into those boxes from ikea.



This post has been edited by flowerhorn: Aug 14 2012, 09:57 PM

Thank you so much for the tips!! I will start searching for the right cooling facility for my EBM at work.

I have a question though, my LO is normally given 2 and half ounces of EBM (now he's at Day 8) during each feeding, but he tends to want more after just one hour. Then my CL decided to mix it with some FM powder to prolong his feeding interval. Are we allowed to mix FM with EBM btw? Thanks!

Most welcome sweeboon.

I guess you must be pumping or mixing pumping with latching since you can measure the amount of EBM. First things first, supplementing with FM usually leads to low BM supply and resulting in non-exclusive BF (i know this has been repeated many times here but i am stating it for the benefit of mothers/fathers who aspire to BF EXCLUSIVELY but may not be reading this thread from the beginning) as demand = supply. Supplementing with FM is the leading cause of non-exclusive BF as the time will come when LO's demand will be high due to growth spurt and/or overfeeding and your BM production cannot cope due to insufficient stimulation through DL/pump. You got to trust your body to produce sufficient milk, just think back of the time before FM was available - when people did not have an option, they just DL.

Strongly discouraged to pump too early on as milk supply is only established after about 6 weeks plus minus. Even the manuals for the pump, if anyone reads them and at least that from Avent - state that pumping is only recommended about 1 month after LO is born. You can be assured that the best pump is your LO, not Medela, Avent, Ardo, Ameda etc.

Your LO is more likely than not to be overfed at 2 1/2 oz per feeding for an 8 day old! My LO is 3 months+ and more than 7kg now (birth weight was 3.62 kg) and he is only consuming about 80ml (slightly less than 3 UK oz, i know because by wife is a FTWM and EP now) per feeding. I must qualify this though by stating that each baby is different in terms of demand (eg growth spurt etc), you've got to take his/her feeding cues.

I can't answer whether you can or cannot mix as this is a choice which each individual will have to make, hopefully an informed decision - do remember that you are paying the CL and YOU decide whether you want to mix or not. Mixing won't 'harm' your baby per se but it is definitely not encouraged and it is certainly for the benefit of the CL (and not your LO) as she will have less feedings to attend to.

The reason why the feeding interval is longer when FM is mixed with EBM is because FM is inherently DIFFICULT to digest (cow's milk is meant for calfs, not humans). That's why the poo is different for FM fed babies (more sticky) and who tend to have difficulty passing motion besides the other issues like heatiness etc. On the contrary, BM fed babies will easily pass motion as well as do so much more frequently. For combo-fed babies, i guess the poo result should be somewhere in between.

As BM is EASILY digested, baby will also be hungrier much faster and hence the reason why you say that he tends to wants more! FM babies are not fed as frequently because their digestive system is still in its infancy and will not be able to properly digest FM, hence the longer interval.

Also remember that you can never compare the amount consumed by a BM baby and FM baby. FM baby will require more FM milk to obtain the same amount of a particular nutrient as compared to a BM baby and not to forget that FM milk will never have the all the nutrients contained in BM which are impossible to duplicate. All the marketing bull$h!t by FM companies ie DHA etc - all of these and much more are already in BM! And some mothers even think that they need to drink those so called 'pregnancy stage milk' to produce milk - have you ever heard of a cow drinking milk to produce milk? Balanced diet will be good enough, I am sure that all doctors will say the same thing.

In a nutshell, if possible, just DL for the 1st month. If you want to continue BF after you start work and therefore need to combine BF and bottle-feeding (of EBM), then perhaps you need to train LO. I can't suggest a time as to when to start this as all babies are different, some will happily take both, some will reject DL after being used to bottle feeding (less work, no need to pump, just depend on gravity) and some will reject bottle feeding if too used to DL (fresh milk, right temperature plus mummy's warmth).

Hope this helps you in your BF journey!

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Added on August 16, 2012, 8:26 pmNo problem flowerhorn. Good to know that there are daddies here like me!

I think I need to get the largest size zip lock bag and implement your method. Currently freezing about 1 litre of EBM a day, not sure if my wife overproduce or baby drinking too little!

BTW, looks like you lay the storage bags flat first when initially placing into the freezer and then rearrange them when frozen? I find this method to be more space efficient.

Also, for the benefit of the readers here, I think the general consensus (from what i see being posted on TBAN's FB page and my personal experience) is that Autumnz storage bags are better than Jingle Jungle's. No experience with the more 'branded' ones as they are too expensive to use when compared with Autumnz/JJ storage bags which can be purchased for as low as RM9 during baby fairs for a box of 25 pieces.

This post has been edited by wshoh: Aug 16 2012, 08:26 PM

Truly grateful for the information and encouragement. I'd definitely want to BF as long as I can. And will definitely stop my CL from mixing my precious EBM with FM.

Thanks again

I have sensitive nipple too (one of the reason I failed to latch my LO) and initially I'm using nipple shield to assist my nursing. After a few weeks, I got used to it and now my LO is able to latch directly. Hope this will help you.

CongratS!!!