My DS is 4 and a half months old and has been EBF. I enjoy BF and my baby is happy and healthy.
After much deliberation I have decided to introduce one bottle feed a day, not because I feel he needs it or because of any problems with my milk supply, but purely because I feel it's time to encourage a bit more flexibility in our lives. I would like him to be able to take feeds from other people, thus allowing me to be parted from him for more than 3 hours at a time. I'm also going to have to think about going back to work within the next few months, and I don't want the bottle to be an entirely unfamiliar concept to him. All of his other feeds will continue to be from the breast.
I know full well that he is quite old for me to be introducing a bottle feed and was expecting the worst earlier today when I offered him a bottle of Aptamil. I waited until we were getting close to his usual feed time, but didn't wait until he was baying for food. I didn't get any of the writhing and crying I was half-expecting - he studied the bottle, tried to hold it, experimented with the teat in his mouth, had a good lick, but it didn't seem to occur to him that sucking might be an option at all! After about 20 minutes of this he stated getting a bit frustrated and I gave him his usual feed. I used a Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature bottle with a No. 2 teat, but as the milk appeared to be leaking from this teat without any help from my ds I think I'll try downsizing to No. 1 tomorrow and see if this helps.
I know that this is going to take time and patience and am prepared to keep offering a bottle every day until he gets the hang of it (or not, as the case may be). But if any of you have some tried and tested tips for encouraging him to try feeding I'd really appreciate hearing them. Or have I just left it way too late?