'Let's talk about Milk baby, let's talk about Formula Feed.' A little bit of advice

DISCLIAMER: I am obviously not an expert and advise you always consult your Midwife or Health Visitor with any decisions or issues you have regarding feeding. This is just what worked for us.

Feeding babies. Oooooh what a hot topic. Yes we all know breast is best. But what, if like me your boobies are not up to the task? Mama's Boobies tried, but they weren't fit for purpose. Mini Me and Me's feeding journey started with my 34K Breasts and a tiny 6.5lbs baby, and ended with us feeding her what she needed with a bottle. Maybe if my boobies were smaller and she was bigger we would have had more success, but they weighed more than she did and were twice the size of her tiny, perfect head. Not only did pregnancy engorge them to an obscene size, it also desensitised them so apart from not being able to see if she was latched on, I couldn't feel if she was either. I was devastated. I tried and tried and tried again, but even the midwives accepted that the size of my breasts and the size of my baby were not a match made in feeding Heaven. I was so sad and felt like I'd let her down, but after 11 hours when that first bottle touched her lips and I could see my tiny baby feeding and knew exactly what she was taking in, my heart began to soar and a lead weight lifted from my shoulders. Did I wallow in shame and guilt and grief and felt like I'd let my baby down? Yes, yes I did. Did I let it consume me. No, absolutely not. Would I recommend you do the same? HELL NO. You get on the internet, do some research and find out what Formula is going to be best for you to nurture your tiny Human so that you see them thrive. AND YOU DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES PUNISH YOURSELF. Don't do it ok. Or you'll have me to answer to. And here's the new mantra you repeat to yourself every damn day: FED IS BEST. And I'll hear no more about it.

Now I hate to be that Mum, but I'd like to offer some unsolicited advice about Formula Feeding. As I've said above, I am no expert, but during my foray into this previously unknown world, I feel as if I'm able to offer at least a little insight, tips and tricks that mini me and I have found helpful over these last 7 weeks. So here we go, a little bit of advice to help you Formula Feeding Mamas out there.

Finding your Formula (screw algebra, why did they not teach us about this?):

As I've said, unfortunately I was unable to breast feed, but being convinced throughout my entire pregnancy that I was going to, meant I did absolute no research on Formula. So boobies not working and baby needing to be fed, the Midwife reeled off a list of options they had available to feed Mini Me, I just went with the one I had heard of - SMA. We fed her the powdered version of this for 3 weeks and it did no sit well in her little tummy. AT ALL. Come the evening, she was having so much gastro pain she was curled into a tiny ball crying her little eyes out. And it ripped through my very heart and soul to see her in so much pain - I had to do something, anything to help my little girl. Infacol and Gripe Water did nothing to help her tiny digestive system so after a lot of research, I decided to change her milk to Aptamil 1 First Milk. This is considered to be the closest substitute to breast milk on the Market. Health Visitors and Midwives will tell you that all Formula is the same, but as a Mother you spend day in and day out with your baby, and when you finally decide to switch Formula after doing your research and see the change it has on their little tummy, like me, you will be inclined to disagree. We started with the Powdered version at first and the change was almost instantaneous. Come the evening, she was still in a bit of discomfort (which is totally normal due to babies being born with immature digestive systems and them not being fully matured until around 3 months of age) but nothing compared to how she was before.

I did however decide to switch from the powdered version to the ready made version; Aptamil 1 First Milk 1 Litre Ready to Feed Liquid. I decided to abandon powdered formula for 2 reasons;

1. The sheer faff of it. I know that is ridiculously lazy, but when you have to get up in he middle of the night multiple times and go though the rigmarole of boiling, cooling, preparing and hoping you get it done before your tiny person is screaming their head off for food, you will do ANYTHING to get that bottle to them quicker. It also keeps your sleep as uninterrupted as possible - bonus points x 1000. Switching to ready made

formula was a game changer for me. It just made everything so. much. easier. And we're all happy as Larry!

2. No air bubbles! Powdered Formula creates so many air bubbles they were causing havoc with her tiny tummy. I wind her 3 times during every feed, but they were still trapped in there and causing the above mentioned end of day 'ouchy-Mummy-my-teeny-weeny-tummy-still-has-naughty-trapped-bubbles-in-it-and-it-hurts' meltdown. We did massage, bicycle legs, over the shoulder winding, on the chest winding, on the leg winding, had her sat upright and it helped a little, but not a lot. Switching to the ready made milk helped A LOT. She now gets next to no digestive discomfort which almost every newborn suffers with. Yes it's more money, but I couldn't care less. I would do anything to stop her tiny tears, least of all spend £3.70 on her meals every 2 days. Happy Baby, happy Mum and there is nothing I wouldn't do to ensure her happiness. So ready made formula it is!

It's all about that bot, 'bout that bot, that bottle...

We started off with the Phillips Avent Bottles that came with our steriliser which were absolutely fine, but I knew that we could do better. I knew we needed a bottle specifically designed to help aid digestion and through research and word of mouth, I was led to Dr. Brown’s Natural Flow® Original Bottles. My advice? DO NOT SPEND YOUR MONEY ON ANY OTHER BOTTLES. They are magical. Three years in a row Dr. Brown’s has won the BabyCentre Mums’ Picks award for Best Baby Bottle for 2015, 2016 and 2017. They are BPA free (BPA is an industrial chemical used to make certain plastics), they offer vacuum-free feeding which aids in digestion and reduces wind and colic and are proven in helping preserve bottle milk's nutrients. Again they have a slightly higher retail price, but they are worth every single penny. As soon as we made the switch (along with the milk above) our little Princess and her tiny digestive system were as content as can be. And that, is priceless.

So there we have it, a little bit of advice to help you find your formula, find your bottles and find your feeding routine. It will take some time, it will take some trial and error, but you'll eventually find your flow.