combining bf with expressed bottles

[takeoffmummyschoos]

DD is 9 days old and has taken to breastfeeding beautifully. I'm very reluctant to risk how well things are going by introducing bottles, however, I will be going back to work on a part time basis in November. I'd like DD to be comfortable with taking expressed milk from a bottle by this time. It is better to do this sooner or later? I'm quite tempted to introduce the odd bottle over the next couple of weeks so that she has chance to get used to them - or is doing this likely to make her reject the breast? Your experiences would be appreciated!

Having been terrified by the NCT that if I introduced a bootle before 6 weeks my baby would never return to the breast I can now quite happily say this is utter rubbish. My daughter would not BF for her first three days so expressing and formula top ups via a bootle were life saving. She is now two weeks old and about 80% EBF - we are just offering formula top-ups as she has had a few weight gain issues but she rarely takes them. The trick with managing a bootle is to always offer the breast first so baby has to 'work' while they are hungry and then offer the bootle afterwards. I think after a while your baby will get used to both as mine has. Don't stress about all this breast rejection rubbish - it's pedalled by people who milatent about breast feeding to the point of risking babies' lives in my opinion. Congrats on your DD.

thanks Zimm - that's really reassuring! great tip too, I'll definitely give that a go.

My DS has been taking a bottle of expressed milk off my DP since he was just under 2 weeks.

My MW said that the 'nipple confusion' you hear about with introducing bottles to BF babies was only an issue where babies had poor latch or were otherwise struggling at the breast. I think the idea is that they find the bottle easier, as they don't have to work as hard to get milk, and so start fussing and refusing the breast.

However! my DS like your DD took to BF-ing perfectly happily, we had no latch issues etc - and my MW said it was actually vital to introduce a bottle before 6 weeks if you wanted the option of using one later. She also advised giving them a go on the bottle once a day to keep them reminded of how to use it. Some parents apparently use a bottle once in the 1st few weeks - their baby takes to it fine - so they think, 'oh, not a problem', but when they try again 2 months later, the baby doesn't want to know and won't take it.

I'm not an expert, just sharing my experiences and the advice of my (wonderful) MW. Like Zimm, I'm aware there is a school of thought among pro-BF-ers which discourages ALL bottle use. We have experienced no problems at all. My baby has been fed 100 percent breastmilk since birth (6 weeks now). Being able to express breastmilk, and have my DP feed my DS a nightfeed while I get some desperately needed sleep has been an absolute godsend. I've also noticed quite a few threads on here from mums having a very hard time getting their older BF babies to take a bottle, so I think you are very wise to get this underway sooner rather than later.

I personally did not introduce a bottle until a couple of days before I went back to work. Earliest was 12 weeks. I just started a breastfeed and then slipped baby off and bottle in. Baby took EBM fine. The danger is that you put a baby off by persistently persevering with a bottle on a daily basis. You also need confidence. A baby will not choose to starve and will take from a bottle if hungry, when you are not there. My babies only got a bottle when I was not there. My DH was confident in giving it.

My LO was on roughly on a EBM bottle from 3 weeks, as had to return 1 day a week from 1 month and full time at 4 months.

Also had the advice from the MW to do before 6 weeks if it was something you wanted to do. I know of a LO was had a few bottle before 6 weeks and then none, when they tried to give bottles again at 3 months, she wouldn't take it and they tried everything, so I think it's worth keeping up every other day or so.

I'd recommend looking up how to bottle feed a BF baby, as our culture of trying to get them to take all of it, can lead to problems and overfeeding. The only time we had problems was when she had bottles for 12 hours. I knew it bottle related as she would stop crying the moment the teat touched her mouth. At that point, I stopped giving her bottles and rode it out. A week later, I reintroduced a bottle. I didn't know about how to bottle feed her, and had left her with my mum who had FF. So if you look it up, make sure to brief your carer.

Also explain to them that BF only have about 25oz (after 6 weeks) regardless of age, otherwise they might think your starving her and try to persuade her to take more IYSWIM. Don't stress if she only takes 1-2oz at first and don't compare amounts to FF babies otherwise your scare yourself something silly

Kellymom, naturally has a good expressing section, including a how much will my baby need calculator and information on storing BF

hth

Sorry one more thing.

One of the down sides of expressing, is you naturally want to store the milk. This makes it tempting to give bottles when they're going through growth spurts or a natural fussy stage, which can then make you start to doubt yourself and wonder if it's the start of a bottle preference. My advice would be to only express to give for one feed. If you end up with some more, then to pour it away (as heart breaking as that may be). Express to order and maybe just 6 oz in the freezer for emergencies.

While i generally think the advice is good, I have to disagree about not storing milk. My ds has always been bf with a bottle of ebm (from the beginning - but he was a prem so he was tube fed to start with). However when he is being fussy giving a bottle of ebm is my lifesaver. If I didn't have that option he would have had formula long ago as I cannot bear to hear him hungry but not eating. I only ever have milk for one more feed than I am planning to give but without it he would have had formula long ago.

I would be cautious when introducing bottles that you stick to doing it one time of day only and not here-there-and-everywhere as babies can develop a preference for the bottle. DS did this and would scream when breastfeeding when the flow slowed a bit - he had got used to the constant flow from a bottle. It is very hard to get over this.

Yes, I concur with the advice to introduce a bottle sooner rather than later, and to keep giving it. My GP told me to do this, and so I introduced the bottle at 2 weeks and my DD took it no problem.

She's now 4 weeks old and has one expressed bottle feed a day (given by DH). It's the early morning feed and gives me some extra sleep so it's very welcome.

Rememebr though expressing can make a busy new mum's life harder if done too early. I really wouldn't encourage expressing before 3 weeks as your body is adjusting to provide the milk your baby needs. For some women, expressing is easy (like me). For others it can be hard and then puts a strain on a new mother who may then think she does not have enough milk. Although I did not introduce a bottle very early, I expressed milk and stored it for going back to work. I leaked quite a bit when feeding so I collected the drip milk and froze that too. No effort required for that.

hilda raises a good point, if your baby does become fussy and a difficult to feed, how you handle it will depend on your temperament. I was always confident in her ability to BF and knew in the long run it was better for her. This enabled me to handle the 3 days of crying without feeling guilty. Even if it meant she didn't feed properly in this time. For other people, with different issues, this might not be the case (I'm also incredibly stubborn which helps)

As mears has said, it's not unusual for women to not be able to express a lot. Also you may need two expresses to get a feed if it's not something you do regularly.

Thanks for all of your thoughts ladies, this really is useful.

DD is still taking very well to the breast, and so I think she will make the switch to a combination of breast and expressed bottles well in a couple of weeks.

Some great suggestions here which I will definitely try.