breastfeeding and working mums and dads

hi everyone


we expecting our first baby in late feb and just helping set up things at home for my wife.. she has the standard two months off work. will try to follow and contented little baby book by gina ford and see how we go.. she will try to breastfeed as long as she can.


questions re breastfeeding


expressing - understand that its very personal. we were thinking of medela pump. any practical advice re this and best place to buy?


Practically if she expresses into a storage bag this needs to be thawed before use and then transferred to a bottle. so it may sound like an obvious question but it seems to me that a mixture of expressed milk into bags which we can thaw at home, then expressed milk into feeding bottles which i can bring with me when i head out without mum and formula on standy? am i on the right track here?


appreciate any advice.


enjoy the long weekend!

I've sent you a message:-)

Encourage your partner to contact La Leche League HK for information. They will be able to help with any breastfeeding problems after baby comes along too.

I agree. Contact the La Leache League. They are a lifesaver if you want to breastfeed successfully. I've lost count with the number of emails and calls I've given them. They are truly amazing!


I pumped exclusively for my first for 10 months and my second is now 1 and I've only just stopped pumping at work (although she's still breastfeeding whenever I'm home with her).


If you go out with baby, I would put the breastbags into a thermal bag and bring along an empty bottle. I have this special baby hot water flask that when you turn the cover upside down, you could put a whole bottle in it. You can pour hot water into a container/the upside down flask, then heat up the breast bags that you take out with you. The breast bags thaw quickly. Then pour it into the empty bottle. If the milk is not warm enough in the bottle, you could stand the bottle in hot water again.


I don't thaw the breastmilk at home because once you do that, you'll have to let baby drink it within the hour. Alternatively, if you take it out from the freezer, you could let it thaw in the fridge first. Then pour into a bottle. You could warm the bottle outside by taking a hot water flask with you. The reason why I don't like to thaw the bags in the fridge first and then pouring out in the bottle (when it is still cold), is because the fats get stuck onto the breastbags.


If I put the whole breast bag in hot water to let it stand, I could give the breast bag a gentle shake and then pour it out for baby to drink.


Note: Breastmilk separates into two... the top layer is the fat and the bottom's more liquified.


Hope this makes sense.


The above isn't what the La Leache League said, though. Just what I did with my first (and then second before my baby went on bottle strike after two months).