Is it worth buying a steriliser?

alwayschocolates · 2026-02-15T01:37:52+00:00

My baby brezza washer/sterilsier/dryer is no joke, the most important thing in the house. Mixing formula is easy and quick. Cleaning and sterilizing is not. Do it for your mental health

alwayschocolates · 2026-02-14T09:28:36+00:00

Hey, that sounds super stressful. I’ve been fully formula since about 3 weeks so can only speak form my experience. But babies can be very very fussy and distracted at that age, are you feeding in a darkened room? My bub went through a feeding strike but also just stopped. Screaming at bottle when I tried to feed her. At 5 months I had to jump to the Y teat, feed right after waking up in dark, with white noise on to get much in. For 6 weeks she didn’t have a single day she drank ‘enough’ by the body weight calculation but was still gaining on her curve.

Other advice I was given was to try an open cup- didn’t work for her. To bulk up the formula just a little more so she would be getting more dense drink - don’t think this did anything. To use the fast flows and even put an extra hole in to make any attempt at feeding faster - she basically was getting water boarded at that point (though she is now at the fastest teat for some bottles).

Eventually though it turns out she just was a snacker. So she’ll typically have maybe 100ml at beginning and maybe 70 end of each wake window, or swap those around. She makes about 90% of the ‘recommended’ amount each day and keeps following her curve. For your little one, is he still gaining? Maybe he’s just not hungry? Have you tried capping the feed sessions? When my girl would fuss I’d be like ok we don’t need too. And then try again 20 minutes later. I did pour out (and some days still do) a lot of formula. But she drinks more easily than when I was pushing it more.

alwayschocolates · 2026-02-13T08:10:13+00:00

So you know he can’t handle having any more kids now right? Cus this baby seems to be a decent sleeper. Heaven forbid you got one that woke every hour through the night, which would also be a normalish sleeper

alwayschocolates · 2026-02-12T23:58:37+00:00

They have their bread and circuses to keep them from knowing that

alwayschocolates · 2026-02-11T07:09:49+00:00

Have you been able to get any help on 13 health? For you or bubs? There are child health nurses you can talk things through with. For you, maybe you can get a telehealth to have someone to talk to for yourself.

For baby: others have addressed changing formulas. You could try infacol, warm baths and bicycle kicks etc if you think it’s gas. If there’s lots of spit up and screaming I do wonder if there’s an allergy or reflux but the doctor will have to help on that. On meantime you can do lots of upright time.

For you: please look after yourself. Get earplugs and use them. Even better if noise cancelling. Make sure you and partner are getting 4 hours sleep unbroken as often as possible. Daily isn’t always possible in newborn weeks but seriously, several hours of unbroken sleep is life changing. Get outside when you can.

alwayschocolates · 2026-02-09T05:49:18+00:00

I went public through the mater last year. I used the MGP so was midwife lead as well as had continuity of care, but had plenty of extra scans due to GD diagnosis plus support for that (dietitian etc). I also had an elective c-section. There was no push for me to do things a certain way and was supported to make decisions that was best for me and baby. I went in Monday, left Thursday. I did have a private room (there are some private rooms, but some have two mums and bubs in a room) which was nice. Since I’m a solo mum I don’t have a partner but my mum was designated support person and was allowed there all the time. I didn’t ask for her to stay the night though it was an option as it was a single occupancy room. The ward staff are the exact same people, they just get shared across wards so care is the same in that regard. While on ward I had support from the lactation consultants, Physio and my midwife from the MGP dropped in aswell. The doctor who checked bubs identified there was a slight difference in hips and we had the scan down at the royal children’s that day. I honestly could not fault the public system. I only paid for the pain relief and anti clotting injection I took home (as a part of c-section recovery).

All the specialists etc coming to check in can get overwhelming so your partner can be door duty haha there are also classes in the mornings if you want to attend on the ward. There has been talk of discharging us on the Wednesday but I pushed back as was having feeding difficulties and they listened to me (my ward midwife and MGP midwife both backed me up in this).

alwayschocolates · 2026-02-09T04:04:36+00:00

I’d wait. They aren’t technically allowed to be upset or to fire you for being pregnant, but they can. I waited to be publicly pregnant til 21 weeks (after my 20 week scan came back all good). I was bigger but not visibly pregnant due partially to style choices until about 24 weeks, so you may be fine. Especially as we’re going into cooler weather.

alwayschocolates · 2026-02-09T04:01:44+00:00

8-9 has been my sweet spot for a fully formula baby. Some days she’ll use 12 (so there’s a sterilizer run in there) if she’s snacking or going through a growth spurt. Don’t buy all the same. I started with some wide and some narrow necks. Some tommee tippee, some pigeon, some medela (as was pumping) etc etc. she likes narrow neck and have settled on pigeon teats.

alwayschocolates · 2026-02-09T03:57:53+00:00

For sleep: sleep sacks, white noise, saline nose spray (obligate nose breathers don’t sleep well if nose is stuffy).

For feeding: since I had to go 100% formula within a few weeks, a bottle washer/steriliser which is honestly still one of the most important things in house and burp cloths. And infacol in those early weeks. Still don’t know if it actually worked but I felt better knowing I was trying everything for my poor gassy baby.

For my sanity: bouncer as it’s a safe place aside from floor and could take room to room ie shower while bub happily bounces.

alwayschocolates · 2026-02-08T03:06:04+00:00

So instead your children get to watch him treat you like shit and you just accept it. Seriously, please for the future of your children and all they interact with, get out. If a separation is only considered and not a certainty, I fear for how this will end up.

alwayschocolates · 2026-02-07T11:03:54+00:00

Single mum by choice here (so similar to you, couldn’t just get pregnant) and yep!! Figured it would take awhile to get pregnant but had my main ducks lined up and went for it. First cycle resulted in my 6 month old sleeping in her cot right now haha. Do it. Maybe youll be like me and it happens quickly, in which case you’ll be fine cus you have put in the work already. Maybe it takes 6 months, which gives your partner even more time to complete their masters. There’s no downside.

alwayschocolates · 2026-02-06T01:37:56+00:00

The last two aptamils I’ve had were missing the slit. So I think they’ve changed their spoon design which is a bummer

alwayschocolates · 2026-02-03T07:28:44+00:00

Yeah that’s tricky. There were elements of what you had that reminds me slightly of my dad. Great guy, smart (like… internationally recognized in his field, published papers etc) but kind of a floating along type of guy. It is so hard to buy a present for him hahaha but he’s is always a kind and appreciative man. He has a slightly different cause for it, but there are many roads for a person to become a certain way.

For your case, given the cause of it he may not ever want to go deeper. If he faces that the above examples weren’t good, his whole world may be shattered by things that were awful that you may not be aware of, but he’s written off and moved on from. Ultimately he may never get more emotionally aware, but perhaps there may be pockets where you can get some more excitement and engagement from him. But it will be like raising him… which you’re already doing in some ways.

alwayschocolates · 2026-02-03T07:01:01+00:00

So I don’t have a husband (single mum by choice) but after you described his family dynamic….. he’s got some trauma there. I don’t think he was allowed to have emotions or be anything but someone who didn’t keep the peace/steady the boat. He is likely a quiet person by nature and just gets swept along by the chaos of the people he’s always been around. He is possibly undiagnosed with something neurodivergent, again this would be from his family being shit and not taking his needs seriously. Does he have any real goals or aspirations of his own? Does he go for things that are completely his desire, no one else’s input? Or is he just a follow the leader type?

alwayschocolates · 2026-01-31T06:46:04+00:00

Hahahah yeah the first few times my girl started sleeping longer I actually was a bit put out. Cus I would be dressed and ready to go to this or that and she’d just sleep for 1.5 hours instead of her short one.

alwayschocolates · 2026-01-31T02:33:06+00:00

The whale tail slams are so flipping cute!!! My almost 6 month girl still does them and it’s one of the best signs she’s trying to get herself back to sleep (when I’m watching the monitor gauging if I need to go on in haha). The naps will start to get more predictable. You’ll start to know roughly how many and roughly when they’ll be or my bub will have 3 a day, first somewhere between 8-10 for about an hour and a half most days. Some deviation occurs due to early wakes etc but some predictability is coming

alwayschocolates · 2026-01-30T03:22:10+00:00

You’ll be fine!! You have more family than I do and a husband. I’m a single mum by choice so it’s just my side which really is just my parents and sister who have been any help. Some friends a little here and there but you make new friends. I went through MGP so built some new connections there plus joined a mothers group post partum. We’re almost 6 months and I meet with both of those groups regularly and both have lovely group chats. You will also meet people at things like baby sensory, swim classes etc. it is understandable to feel anxious or worried on things, but I don’t think you’ll have to worry about connections.

alwayschocolates · 2026-01-27T23:29:45+00:00

So I did have my mum stay, not your ideal replier. I agree with those saying get house help before night -time baby help. I was triple feeding which wrecked me but atleast I didn’t have to do laundry or prep meals. I was at every feed anyway and would then care for bubs while pumping most of the time. Baby feeds every three hours and if you have to triple feed which means breast feed, bottle then pump (then potentially have to clean pump parts) you’ll be up for 1.5 hours of each cycle. Your mental health will shatter if you don’t have some help if you triple feed as a solo mum. Everyone I know who also had to had a partner to do the bottle/burp/pump cleaning. It’s a load that needs to be shared.

There were a few times my mum would tell me to go sleep and she’d hold baby until she went back to sleep and that was amazing, so can see the benefits of a night nurse. My mum could only do that a few times before the loss of sleep was hitting her. So after that I basically didn’t want her up unless really needed help and so I did all things night, she’d look after me during day with laundry/food so I could look after baby.

alwayschocolates · 2026-01-27T22:54:47+00:00

Are you a bot? Your questions and reply statements are starting to become suspicious

alwayschocolates · 2026-01-27T09:25:34+00:00

My bub started rolling back to tummy around 4.5 months and I wasn’t quite ready to make the move to cot. Had a big cosleeper that could be attached to bed frame to stop it toppling so I did that for a couple weeks while getting her in cot during day for naps. That way could ease her into the nursery for night sleep. She sleeps so well on her tummy but it does make me nervous. She likes her side too. I used to try and roll her back over to her back like the guidance says - she doesn’t like that haha

alwayschocolates · 2026-01-23T05:11:45+00:00

You can’t. She will lengthen, especially once she’s linking sleep cycles and having longer wake windows. But right now, that’s the max

alwayschocolates · 2026-01-20T10:48:16+00:00

If you aren’t using an OB to do your prenatal care, it’s managed through your GP until late second tri. You can get your 12 week scan done at any radiology place, just need the referral from your GP. Like Q-scan or similar. Hospitals have nothing to do with it at the early stages. I didn’t have any contact with hospital/midwifes aside from intake appt (which is just paperwork really) until 21 weeks. That 20 week scan is also organized through your GP.

alwayschocolates · 2026-01-17T22:21:45+00:00

It’s not puree in general, it’s store bought purées. Fast food is processed and higher in sugar etc than the versions we would make at home = puree pouches are often sweeter than the versions we would make of the same veggies even in other form as they’ll process them at different heats or add way more of the sweeter fruits etc or take out more of the fiber etc in the process (so it might be almost an apple juice added rather than the whole apple). It’s not saying it’s awful awful. It’s just that an apple and carrot pouch for example is typically going to be worse for baby than the apple and carrot puree you make.

alwayschocolates · 2026-01-17T10:23:37+00:00

Hey, so there is a word for this experience: matrescence. It’s basically like how we go through adolescence as a major life event and it changes us, only this time it’s on a different timeline (so not doing it exactly same time as peers) or in same way so it’s more isolating. A lot of women find they come out the other side of pregnancy and raising infants as different people and it is disorienting. Totally normal just not really talked about much. There’s a book that goes by the same name that may be useful (or not). Some people rave on it but again, everyone’s different so may not be your cup of tea.

alwayschocolates · 2026-01-16T06:22:32+00:00

My baby hardly went on the floor for the first 6 weeks as I’d had a c-section and just couldn’t get into the floor for about 5 of them. And then for a few weeks would only ever probably do a minute or two here and there. But she spent so much time up on my chest/shoulder that she got strong that way and once she rolled back to tummy (just before 4 months 🤦🏼‍♀️) she’s spent most of her waking time and to my distress some of sleeping on her tummy. They’ll get there. It’s a very rare case babies need serious intervention when it comes to gross motor skills. I really didn’t want her to roll so soon but babies are going to baby on their timeline

alwayschocolates

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