Do I need a bottle warmer for breast milk?

[bostonmama]

I am a first time expectant mom who intends to breastfeed & use a pump so that dad can get some quality feeding time in too. Excuse my ignorance, but I haven't done too much research on breastfeeding yet. Do you need a bottle warmer to warm up refrigerated/frozen breast milk?

[egoldber]

Do you want to warm it or thaw it? To thaw frozen milk you can leave it out an hour or so before feeding (the high fat content makes it unthaw pretty quickly at room temp), put in refrigerator the night before, or run it under warm water if you need to thaw quickly. Some folks have had good luck thawing it in a warmer, but some have said that there may still be icy parts using this method, so be alert.

If you want to warm the milk after thawing, you don't necessarily need a bottle warmer but they can be quite convenient. Many people warm a bottle just by putting it in very warm water for a few minutes. And my baby, from day one, would take a bottle cold from the refrigerator, so I have never warmed her bottles.

HTH,

[stampmom]

I'd also just like to add that you should wait several weeks, until your breastfeeding relationship is *well* established, before you start introducing a bottle. Even the "low-flow" bottles with nipples designed to mimic breastfeeding are still easier for the baby to drink from, so you run the risk of nipple confusion/bottle preference. In the meantime, I'm sure your DH will find lots of ways to spend quality time with the baby, without it being feeding time!

Dawn
Mommy to Adam 6/98
Jeremy(?) expected 7/02

[Melanie]

First off I want to second the recommendation to wait a few weeks before introducing the bottle, and also to use a wide neck bottle. We introduced at about two weeks with a regular and spend the next 3 months regretting it. Our lactation consultant said a good rule of thumb is to wait until you have had 3 successful weeks of exclusive breastfeeding.

Now, about your real question: =)

I like to warm my son's milk a bit (even though he will take it cold). When he's hungry he did not want to wait for the 10+ minutes to use a bowl of warm water. We bought the First Years Quick Serve Bottle warmer. It make take a few tries to figure out what amount of water works for you, but then after that it's great. Cheap too.


Mommy to Little Jonah born 11-6-2001