BF, expressing and bottles

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It's theoretical ATM, but if bubs arrives safely over next couple of weeks and BFing works out well again, I would like to express and bottle feed occasionally (during the day, so DH and I could, theoretically, spend more than 2 hours together ) - something I've never managed with my other 2 babies, who were breast obsessed.

So, how do you do it? Introduce a bottle of EBM?

Expressing has been fine in the past - had a whole freezer full, the bubbles just wouldn't drink it out of a bottle OR a sippy cup, or a regular cup. How do you get them to drink EBM?

Does someone who's not lactating need to feed them? Are there any special tricks?

I think if you start early enough it just works. DS has always taken a bottle fine and he is 10 weeks and has probably only had 4 or 5 bottles of expressed milk in that time. I do try and offer one about once a week in the hope he won't forget somehow. He even takes the bottle from me but I have heard getting someone else to try is better.

Because we had difficulties in the beginning DS had was fed EBM from a cup and a tube from day one. The tube was attached to the side of DH's finger (with a plaster) and DS just sucked the milk from the bottle through the tube.

we introduced a bottle of EBM at about 8 weeks (didn't want to do it sooner as we wanted to make sure BF was established). He took it fine but went through a stage of refusing for couple of weeks when he was about 4 months old. We persevered and he went back to taking them fine.

I'm a maternity nurse and work with many mothers who use expressed milk from a bottle.

Most of the mothers I've worked with have chosen to express and give one bottle within two weeks of birth.

Most mothers have used the Medela Swing.

Most successful bottles to use have been the MAM, Nuk, Born Free and Medela. I've had two babies that have had issues with Avent.

I usually recomend the Mum expresses after the first feed of the day.

Usually for first EBM feed I(or Mum, Dad, grandparents, siblings etc) will offer the milk that has just been freshly expressed. I've always had babies that like their milk quite warm and all have been fine going up to a larger teat size and keep BFing.

mrswishywashy, , my ds3 hated avent although my eldest two were fine with them. I think some bf babies find the Avent teats very hard. I always wondered if my breasts were getting softer as the years went on, which meant by the time ds3 came along, latex was the only thing he would drink from!

I had so much trouble with ds3 that after ds4 was 2 weeks old, I expressed every other night and gave him the previously expressed milk in a Playtex bottle. He was fine. Having said that ds1 and ds2 were rarely ever given a bottle before they were 4 months old and they were fine too. It has emerged since that ds3 is in fact the most headstrong person in the world and that you can't make him do anything he doesn't want to do.

Thanks for the information and advice - watch this space to see if all ends well, ho ho ho...

I was using AVENT bottles....

My dd has had problems with NUK teat, the dental ones, she sucks and sucks and can't get anythign out of the, (they are definitely the right way up!).

I have an Ameda lactaline double electric pump and it's fab. DH gave at first but now i do sometimes to give my nipples a rest, I just prefer if he does bottles and I do breast.

think all babies are different but I started with an occasional bottle in first couple of weeks and now dd is happy to take either bottle or breast.

If I can just add one thing... although you say the other two where breast obsessed, your soon to arrive bub is a different person with different like / dislikes. I got into a bit of a tiz when 2nd didn't do things like 1st. Was trying to compare and that wasn't fair on me or her. So, just to say that this may be a whole different story.
Good luck

ascouser - Yes, I agree - I'm hoping this one will skip the collic, but still sleep as well as the other 2 (after 6 months...) and manage to take the odd bottle.

Poor dc2 (well, my poor parents, who were looking after him) spent 6 hours refusing feeds when DH and I went to a wedding - locally thank goodness. He was quite vocal about it...

Mum tried everything, even hiding the bottle in her bra, but he just wouldn't accept anything but the real thing - we had to leave before the fantastic pudding we'd been promised at the wedding breakfast and missed the main drinking dancing