When to introduce EBM from a bottle? Do I need to!?

[LauraB83]

My DD is 4wks, and I think we are getting the hang of this BF business and are really enjoying it. However somehow I would feel better knowing she would take EBM from a bottle, and was wondering if there is a best time to introduce it so as not to interupt BF? It's silly maybe, but I worry she would suffer if I couldn't be there to feed her for any reason. It would also be nice for my DH to give her the occassional feed of expressed milk.

I want to EBF her as long as she wants, and don't want to switch her to formula (which was the assumption of my MIL when I mentioned it. I then struggled to explain my reasoning). I'm just a bit overwhelmed with the desire to look after, and would be reassured to know feeding wouldn't be a problem in my absence.

Am I alone in this? Any advice would be much appreciated. x

we started trying at about 4-5 weeks. 11 months later she still hasnt successfully taken a bottle! I have never actually needed to BUT I dont go anywhere without her and DH has never really needed to feed her, there are times it would have been nice but it hasnt been too much of a hassle. On one occasion I was out at the school when she was 4 months, she had some expressed milk from a beaker with satisfied her just long enough for me to get home (2 hours or so). I think in an emergency she would have taken a bottle tbh (i.e if I had been too ill or something to feed her) by 9 months she was happily having drinks from a beaker as well as breastfeeding.

Others here give expressed feeds from bottles so hopefully they will have better advice than me!

Laura there is some information here on Bottle feeding a BF baby. If you ask at your local Bfing Support Group or talk to a Bfing Counsellor they should be able to tell you when is the best time to start expressing, how often and how to get DD to take a bottle.

Hope it works for you.

Just realised that I didn't address the question in your thread. No, you don't need to. DS is 7 and survived very well without ever having taken a bottle.

If you are returning to work before a year though, it might be helpful to get DD to take some ebm although this doesn't have to be from a bottle.

I gave my dd an ounce or 2 of ebm from a bottle every couple of weeks from around 6 weeks. I too remember feeling a slight obsession about needing to know that she should take a bottle, and I did this so that she could practice.

I always put her straight on the boob to finish her feed though, as I was also terrified that by giving her a bottle she would somehow forget how to bf.

From around 6/7 months we introduced a free flow beaker. I can't really remember now why I was so worried about the whole 'taking a bottle' issue! If I needed to give ebm or formula for any reason now (8 months), it would be from her beaker anyway!

Fwiw, whilst DD would happily take either breast or bottle and switch between the 2, my nephew would never go anywhere near a bottle and never did. I think it's just the luck of the draw tbh :)

sorry that should say 'know she would take a bottle' not 'know she should take a bottle'

Hiya Laura
I started to try my ds1 on a bottle from about 7 weeks. He always refused a bottle until I stopped breastfeeding when he was 15 months old. I wanted him to take a bottle so I could "get my life back" as lots of people told me I needed to do. It didn't happen and really, I wasn't unhappy about it because I didn't want to get away from my lo.
This time around I made a conscious decision that I could not be arsed. I have no time pressure to introduce a bottle as not planning a quick return to work. It has made life a lot easier as really, if you want your baby to reliably accept a bottle you need to give one pretty much every day. If this is not in order to go back to work but just for a night out every few weeks, is it really worth it?
I'm not saying deciding not to express is the best or easiest option for everyone. But for me, deciding not to bother really took the pressure off. I've really enjoyed just focusing on being with my ds2, rather than on how to get away from him, and in actual fact I've got out just as much as I did first time round. We just take him with us, or pop out for a couple of hours after he has gone to sleep.

DS used to take EBM from bottle after 4 weeks of birth, but stopped at 4 months. I started working when he was 5 months old and he completely refused to drink milk - Initially I worked 1/2 days and came back to feed him. However, putting two fingers on his cheek while feeding him with the bottle helped and he finally started drinking from bottle from then until he was 12 months old. He is now 14 months and has refused to drink from bottle for last 2 months (throws the bottle away when offered). He waits until I get home from work to BF - his choice and works very well for us. In short, kids change, flex and adapt - why bother starting before you need to? Expressing is loads of effort!

Tried with older DD from about 8 weeks, she never managed. Younger DD (now 4 weeks) has had one every few evenings since she was just over 2 weeks and no problems so far.

You don't have to at all, but it can make life easier. I'm out every evening at meetings, so our life would be very difficult if DD refused bottles.