Getting DD (4months) to switch from exclusive BF to bottle/ Doidy cup?

[SushiMama]

I need to get my DD (4 months) ready for nursery in 4 weeks as I have to return to work . She is currently fully breast-fed (on demand).

I am reluctant to use bottles as I was hoping to go directly from fully breast-fed to a cup (like the Doidy) for EBM at 6 months.

She does take EBM from the Doidy from DH, but doesn't seem to get a full feed and will feed from the breast after. (But maybe it's cos she knows I am -lurking- around)

Since the deadline is rather soon, I have come around to using a bottle - given that it will probably be easier for the nursery staff to give her sufficient milk. But I still have some concerns about this.

Firstly, which bottles are best for reducing trapped wind?- or is this a moot point given that she is older now and less likely to swallow air/ able to burp. I have read about Dr Brown's, MAM- which I am keen on, any comments?

Secondly how do I know how much EBM to give the nursery as I don't know how much DD takes during the day? I have tried to see how often she feeds, but she is very erratic. Sometimes feeding 2 hourly, and sometimes not for stretches of 4-5 hours. Does this mean I should give formula while she is at the nursery? (not keen on this at all)

Thirdly, if I do give EBM to the nursery, how do they know how often to feed her? Or will it make sense for them to stick to a schedule?

I am secretly hoping that someone will tell me that they fed EBM using a Doidy with success at nursery. But am open to any suggestions?

[thisisyesterday]

if you go with bottles I don't personally think any one type is best.
some babies find the avent teats quite hard though, so perhaps something a little softer?

I am sure she would be ok with the doidy cup though, I think quite often children behave very differently at nursery than at home.
different people, no mummy to booby feed them etc etc, they just accept that that's how things work at nursery

may I ask why you have to return to work so soon? I thought everyone got 9 months mat leave these days?

[SushiMama]

Thanks thisisyesterday.

Did you use the Doidy cup too? It's supposed to be suitable from 3 months (or even birth) without bottles/ training cups, but I don't seem to know many people who have used them. I get lots of raised eyebrows when I say that I plan to go straight from breast to cup!

Forgot to consider teats even. But maybe you're right about her accepting things as they are in nursery. Just rather flustered as obviously this has come up sooner than I expected. Thought I wouldn't go back to work at all after the birth!

Am classed as self-employed so no mat leave nor mat pay

Maybe someone else will have more tips regarding the EBM?

[IShaggedInVictorianSqualor]

I gave DS1 EBM at nursery when he was 8months old and he had been EBF up until then.
He was a right fussy bleeder at home but fine with nursery, using a cup quite happily, but he was a bit older.

With DS2 if I ever need to use bottles (which is rare tbh) I use the tommee tippee closer to nature ones. They have a hole in the teat which helps stop baby getting too much wind, are made from really soft materials so they aren't like hard plastic in baby's mouth, plus they elongate like the nipple does during sucking. I think they're great, until I used these bottles DS2 would not take anything except breast.

As for how much milk, well, A takes about 4/5 oz a feed, and would feed about every three hours if I used bottles, when I leave him with MiL, I leave him bottles of 6oz, 1 for every 3 hours, that way I know he has enough.

You can always explain to the nursery staff that as it is breastmilk, if it isn't used at one feed, he can use it next time. It doesn't have to be thrown out like formula.

Have a look here on kellymom for a rough guide to expressing. It also explains here how long milk can be kept for and at what temperature.

You could also print this pdf to give to the nursery about storage.

One thing I would suggest is try making the milk you feed her a tad warmer. It comes out of the breast pretty toasty and once we warmed it more A was much happier.

[thisisyesterday]

yes, have used the doidy cup with ds2. I have to admit that we don't use it regularly, mostly just at mealtimes with him, but he drinks really nicely out of it now.
we started at about 6 months though, when he was weaned

[SushiMama]

VS- Thanks for your advice, and the links which were very helpful. Got a question about the mix of EBM if fed to the baby, as opposed to him taking just what he needs directly from the breast. Will he then just get a constant mixture, as opposed to more foremilk when he is only thirsty and not hungry? IYSWIM

Also when you say to warm the milk, you did mean just to body temperature, right? Or did you mean warmer than that? And it is ok to just refrigerate what is then unused, right?

thisisyesterday- how old is ds2 now? I was(maybe irrationally) afraid that DD would get addicted to a bottle, that's why I was keen for her to use a cup reasonably well ASAP. But then on the other hand, now that she is here, I just want to keep her as my baby for as long as I can, so relenting on the bottle usage.

[IShaggedInVictorianSqualor]

I assume it would be a mix yes, if you leave a bottle when it separates you can see the fore/hind milk and then you mix it back together so there would be both in there. Don't think it would make too much difference to baby but I'm sure someone else knows more than me.

It is fine to store milk in the fridge, it's even fine to keep milk out on the side, at room temperature for a few hours.

I always warm it slightly higher than body temperature.

[SushiMama]

Thanks very much VS!
Will keep you updated on the progress