Did you take bottle to the hospital?

I am planning on breastfeeding my twins and it just occured to me, that I am not sure if I need to take bottles with us to the hospital? I BF my son and he was full term so latching was not a problem. Knowing these babies might not have sucking down, I am now trying to decide how this works. Hopefully some of you whom have been there can share.

My questions:
I am taking my pump, and will pump if they have a hard time latching. Will the hospital store the milk and use it as the babies need it? I know every hospital is different, but based on your experiences?

What if they are in the NICU, how does that work with BFing moms?

If I should take bottles, how many per baby?

Will they wash the bottles?

I know this can change depending on how long they stay, if they are not released with me, so let's assume they come home with me.

Thanks for any advice!!

 

Great questions!

I would ask if there will be a pump available for you to use at the hospital. That was the case for me. There was a hospital grade pump for my use in my room. I never brought any bottles with me, but I never had to deal with NICU. I breastfed and it is generally recommended not to introduce a bottle until 6 weeks. Be an advocate for your babies. They don't need much those first few days. Please visit us in the breastfeeding forum (link in my siggie) if you need any advice or support!! There are a lot of very helpful ladies there that will help!

 

You won't need to take any bottles because the hospital will provide them if needed. I didn't bring any bottles at all, mainly because I didn't think I would need them.

I would ask about the pump. My hospital provided a pump and the kit that went with it. I did have a non-latcher (for the first 4 days), and I pumped but couldn't anything at all until the last day when I got a tiny bit. I gave him bottles of formula, and the nurses gave him a few syringe feedings.

 

Maybe I should have posted this in the Bfing forume. Is this something I can move? If not, can someone do it for me?

 

I tried really hard to BF DD who was born at 34 weeks. They brought a pump and accessories kit to my room and they also had a pumping room up in the NICU for when I was up visiting DD (I just brought the accessories kit with me.) Although I never pumped much milk, they stored it for me in the NICU and we would bring it with us when I was released from the hospital. I wouldn't worry about bringing your own bottles, they are totally prepared for that!

We had a lot of BFing support in the NICU. Even if I pumped a syringe full they made me feel like that was an accomplishment! They were more than happy to let me attepmt to BF while DD was there. The lactation nurses were always available and very encouraging. Ultimately I never produced enough to feed DD and ended up using formula mixed with my milk- at least she was getting something!