hey girls, had my 5th nhs antenatal class last night and they brought in a newborn from the delivery suite to show us and the midwife showed us how to bath him, it was sooooo cute he was tiny but really long!! Made me want my baby now!!!!

The rest of the session was about feeding pros and cons of bottle feeding and breast feeding, but i have bought this fantastic breastfeeding dvd from e bay for 99p which i thought was fantastic and made me feel really confident that i can have a go it is called breastfeeding without the tears, it does seem a little old fashioned at first, but the advice is brill and made me feel really confident and to be honest has told me a lot more than i have read in any book or been told by my midwife! So i highly recommend it if anyone is interested, also my midwife said that unicef have got loads of up to date into on breastfeeding on their website, she said it was def worth a look x

this dvd sounds excellent! I was about to resort to trying youtube as I really need to watch someone doing it and noone I know here has done or is doing so I can get practical physical advice. Show & tell is the next best thing.

Was speaking to my mum last night who is big on breastfeeding but she is in NZ and won't be coming over til February so she won't be around to help me and MIL didn't breastfeed at all so she won't be any help nor are any of my in laws unfortunately!

wow how did you get it for 99p? I looked and saw it for about £6.00 which isn't exactly bank-breaking but just wondered where you saw it so cheap?!

Actually...think I am just being slow. Did you get it for that price by auction? I was looking at buy it now price.

[Modified by: Lizzie77 on October 10, 2008 06:48 PM]</p>

i think i have the same one. yes it is a bit old fashioned but bf advice hasnt really changed.
i really loved bf last time and really helped me to bond as i had a c section and am diabetic so there was lots not going in my favour to be able to do so but i did. And i managed it for a year too although diddnt feed as much obviously in last 6 months.
Have bought the avent isis manual pump again and will need to express at times and will remember to offer the bottle earlier this time as he will be going to nursery from about 9 months.
Its not easy and its does take time to get it right but shouldnt hurt if baby latched on properly but i found it a wonderful experience and one i hope to do again.
Filo x

I soo want to breastfeed but I am so nervous I won't know what to do and the baby will sense it or go hungry or something cos I can't figure it out!

Am really hoping the hospital will show me what to do after I've gav birth..praying that there will be someone available to show me what to do! They must have to do that for lots of new mums though eh?

I am hoping because the health services are so keen on getting the pro-breastfeeding message across, that it will translate into actual service delivery (at hosp, maybe even health visitor if I am still not getting hang of it after they send me home!)

Will defo get a pump too. Filo - is the manual one ok? I have seen electric ones but they are quite a lot more pricey so not really sure which is best option.

Any suggestions, anyone?

the manual avent is really easy to use and if you are not gonna be expressing all the time the electric ones i think are a waste of money. plus the avent one in tesco is only £21 so not a big expense.
i used an electric one in the hospital and it was really strong so didnt really like it.
The mw are very proactive and they have some healthcare assistants who'll also be able to help you. If you are having trouble latching on they will come day or night. Also outside of hospital most mw will try to come fairly soon as well and after that the hv are ok. i also rang the nct breastfeeding line and they gave me support too.Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
Filo x

yes i got my dvd for an auction price of 99p then i had to pay p&p on top, it was a few weeks ago now so with my pregnancy brain dont know how much in total it was! Well worth it tho.

I know my hosptial are big on breast feeding, and i know that my local sure start to do a breat feeding group each friday morning which you can go to before and after your baby is born for advice and to chat to other mums, might be worth some of you looking to see what your local services provide, i think you need support it you are planning on breastfeeding xx

I would really, really like to breastfeed so thanks for this.

There's a "breastfeeding counsellor" (not sure of official title) at my hospital. If mums are having probs breastfeeding, would like a little support or need to be taught totally from scratch you can book this lady for an hour or so at a time. It's really reassuring to know that kind of support is there.

Filo, I think my little one will need to be be starting nursery from about 9 months, too - I hadn't thought about the fact that s/he'll need to be happy taking a bottle by then. Good point - thank you!

32+3

thanks for tips, guys. I saw on the baby channel on tv too that the NCT have a breastfeeding dvd so might check that out also.

Will also look at our Surestart and ask MW whether our hospital has any resources for breastfeeding support. Anything would be great but if not, the helplines from NCT and also La Leche will be utilised too...needs must eh.

Filo - will check out that pump at tescos, sounds like it is within my budget!

Another daft question - what do I need to get if I am breastfeeding but may want to express occasionally (i.e. NEW YEARS EVE!!)

haha, it seems a really daft question but I read all this stuff about sterilisers, bottles, warmers etc and I am not sure what applies to me in the above situation.

I bought this 3 pack of bottles that have tops moulded to replicate (or I suppose be as similar as poss) to nipples but that is all I have lol. It seems crazy to have one of those massive steriliser things for the odd occasion, can you manually sterilise yourself if is only in small quantities?

I was saying to hubby that I would right like us to be able to have a bottle of champagne together on NYE but not sure logistically how to make this work (sounds so trivial but it isn't to me after all this time! I stopped drinking at the beginning of the year to prep body for conception so am hanging OUT for a bellini!!)

I know there may be other instances too so not sure what I need to supplement my (completely oversized and driving me crazy already lol) breasts!

if you want to express on ocassions you wont need loads of bottles. prob about 3 bottles, bottle brush and choice of teats. i had a cold water sterilser but could also be used in the microwave if needed. doesnt need to be that massive either.
warmer may not be necessary i never used one because i warmed bottle at home using baottle standing in boiling water and when out asked restaurant for same(most are obliging).
if you but a breast pump normally comes with a couple of bottles anyway. so may need to see if bottles are compatible with that.
Filo x

thanks for further info! Bottle brush is something else I didn't know about xxx

My last antenatal class was all about breast feeding and my midwife said that you prob wont be able to breastfeed for the first 4 - 6 weeks until your milk becomes established - which is a shame because i was hoping that i would be able to express for NYE too! after 9 / 10 months of not drinking a drop i was hoping for at least one or two glassess of champers on NYE! that is if i am awake to see in the new year! x

its not recommended however i did for a party and didnt cause any problems. cant see how expressing is any different than a baby sucking at your boob. baby may not take much feed that way but alcohol if you dont drink loads will be ok after couple of hours anyway.
Filo x