We have put together a guide to help you decide which items, in our view, you will need to purchase when making decisions about the way you are planning to feed your new baby.

The items are in order of necessity, and you may need to purchase the main items from both sections to give flexibility for those first few days.

It is very hard, when you have a fretful baby, to stop and think - as soon as baby cries the hormones whiz through your body causing an almost panic mode - this you have no control over - as you may find out a few months later, when you are calm and cool about the feeding of your baby and a friend has a crying newborn and your body reacts to their infant!!

Breast Feeding

The first item you need for breast feeding is a belief it can work for you and your baby, but this may not be today, or tomorrow it maybe up to 5 days before you are both able to cope with this way of feeding. So many new mums give up because the first feeds were not comfortable between the two of them - relax - have patience and use another feeding alternative to get you by.

My baby was born at 32 weeks, far too small to breast feed, my milk arrived some 10 days later, and this was first introduced to her by tube up her nose - not the ideal vision of breast-feeding! But once she was strong enough to feed she was slowly introduced to the breast and away she went, leaving hospital after just 2 weeks.

Breast Feeding Accessories

Nursing Bras

You will need to have at least two day time and one night time feeding bras, to start with I would recommend soft and comfortable, then when feeding has become established purchase prettier and more discreet versions.

The Emma Jane sports-back bras have high cotton content and few seams, they are inexpensive and will get you off to a comfortable start, they have a simple drop cup and would be suitable for night time use throughout.

Feeding & Gliding Chairs

A warm comfortable place set aside to practice for the first couple of weeks, after this you will become accustomed to feeding baby, anytime almost anywhere but at first that seems impossible and a long way off.

If you have the space and resources a feeding chair is wonderful, as soon as you sit down the gliding action will relax your whole body this will help the let down of your milk, baby will get an instant reward of free flowing milk and the boost of feel good hormones will soon be passing between you.

Support & Nursing Cushions

If a gliding feeding chair is not a possibility, choose a comfortable place where your feet and legs can be supported and invest in a breast feeding cushion, the ideal choice could be a Theraline Cushion - these are filled with mini polystyrene beads which fits around your body supporting your back, then coming around your side to the front giving baby a place to lie comfortable without you having to support their weight on your arm which could cause you to be tense in the shoulders and arm.

Breast Pumps

Having a breast pump will become useful whether breast feeding works out for you or not, it can give you the opportunity to bottle feed your baby with the best possible milk for your baby - breast milk, all breast milk is slightly different, perfectly formulated for your baby's requirements at this time.

The breast pump I would recommend is the Medela Swing Breast Pump as this is comfortable, quiet, and mimics the feeding action of baby.

If you are planning to return to work, the Swing can be purchased with a kit to carry to work for discreet expression during the day complete with storage and cool pack all built into a handy backpack.

Baby Bottles

You will need a way of feeding baby the milk, either expressed milk, formula, or a combination of both, while your milk becomes established. There are a number of ways to do this without confusing baby, the Haberman feeder, or Mam feeding bottles both have systems that allow the milk to flow by means of a 'squeeze' action the same natural action as is needed with the breast, - most other teats require a sucking action.

When buying the Haberman or the Mam bottles they will be supplied with the teats necessary for your newborn.

Baby Bottle Sterilisers

Once you introduce any feeding accessory you will need to sterilise that item, a simple basic starter steriliser is all that is needed, if you have a microwave the microwave sterilise bags are ideal for the breast pump parts and the few bottles you will use. The time taken to sterilise is short so you won't need to purchase bottle spares. Otherwise a cold water system will work well - but you will need to get the items rinsed and into the solution reasonably quickly to give enough time to sterilize and be ready for the next feed.

Breast Pads

Breast pads will be required to absorb any excess milk and to keep your breast dry and comfortable. These can either be disposable or alternatively a soft cotton that can be washed with your baby laundry and re-used.

Milk collection shells can be useful in the first weeks of feeding or expressing as often both breasts will let down at the same time. The shell will collect the milk and this can then be stored (in storage bags or bottles, chilled) and fed to baby at a later feed - maybe a night feed by Dad!

Nipple Shields & Cream

Occasionally nipples can become sore, this is not something that always happens, but if it does then it is handy to have nipple shields to hand, these will need to be sterilised first and then placed over the nipple. Your baby is then able feed through the paper thin silicon giving your nipples protection and also giving them time to recover. Nipple shields should not be used unless your nipples have become sore.

Nipple cream can be applied at any time and will not affect your baby, the Medela nipple cream will heal any small cracks very quickly and I would recommend having a tube handy.

Bottle Feeding

This way of feeding will have a reasonably low expense with the initial outlay, but the costs will be ongoing throughout the first 18 months with the costs of formula, additional teat sizes, brushes and larger bottles.

Baby Bottles & Styles

You will find many bottles on the market, all doing various different things to make baby more comfortable while feeding and trying to cope with the air that is ingested while taking milk in this way.

Mam have a system with each bottle having holes in the bottom covered by a rubber valve. Dr Brown has a small tube running down the centre of the bottle moving the air away from the teat and the baby. On the other hand Avent have a skirt on the teat to relive the pressure.

All these systems will need further investigation for you to decide which is going to be the best way for you and your baby, be flexible and don't overbuy, as you may well need to make changes as your baby's demands change.

Bottle Teats & Nipples

Most bottles are supplied with newborn teats, some will be latex rubber others will be silicon and your baby will take one or the other, they seldom seem to change from one to the other, latex teats is a brown colour and the silicon teats are clear.

The number and size of the holes will increase as baby needs to take more milk, so if your baby is getting tired or bored before the feed has finished it may be an indication that the teat may need changing.

Bottle & Teat Brush

This will be required, as milk must be completely removed from the bottles and teats before sterilisation. Mam bottles have a different system- with the whole bottom unscrewing making them much easier to clean.

Baby Equipment Sterilizers

There are a number of ways of sterilising baby equipment. The traditional sterilising method is a tank containing cold water to which a sterilizing tablet is added, the items must stay in the solution for a minimum of 1 hour, after this you may use the equipment straight from the tank.

Steam sterilizers use a small amount of water to produce hot steam and so sterilise without any chemicals, units are available to purchase that can be plugged into the mains or alternatively use the microwave to provide the power- many microwave sterilizers can double-up as coldwater systems.

Thermal Bottle Bags

Once you start going out and about you will need to find ways of keeping milk cool or alternatively warm, so thermal bags will be needed. Another way if you are planning to be out for a long period is to take the water and milk separately, a milk powder dispenser will carry several pre measured amounts of formula for you to mix as required with water you have taken with you.

Bottle Warmers

These will give you the chance to warm bottles easily without having to wait for the kettle to boil, the bottle to sit in the water and warm, these clever little units are invaluable for night time feeds eliminating the need to be up wandering the house preparing bottles.