How do i get newborn on to a bottle straight away?

[mamaLou13]

I have got to go back to uni no more than three weeks after giving birth and my last baby is nearly two and still breastfed. She never took to a bottle. This time it is vital that baby takes it so much so that she will have to go on purley expressed breastmilk and formula if there are any problems. How do i go about doing this? Do i breastfeed her straight away as normal and then introduce the bottle the next day... or how long should i wait? Also i am worried that maybe she will not drink formula if she needs it (due to not making enough milk etc) because it tastes different to breast milk. I am very confused and worried about how thid is going to work? It seems such a faff expressing and storing / freezing etc and even making up the bottles. I can't imagine having to do all that. I would ideally like to breastfeed through the night and bottle in the day for convenience. What do you think?

Well I am no expert but can tell you that my DTS fed from boob from day 1 but then bottle from day 3 due to excessive weight loss in hospital (his not mine!). DTD fed from a tube, then a bottle on day 4, then boob on day 6/7. Both still happily switch between boob and bottle now at 7.5 months. So personally I don't 'believe' in nipple confusion!

Oh and my two have never refused formula, EBM or boob. I used to heat the formula or EBM to about boob temperature ie 37 degrees, I don't do that anymore though

My little one bf initially, then had 2 days of tube feeds, then ebm or formula by bottle (occasional breast) for 4 weeks and then switched to all breast (bar an evening feed for DH to do). She's had no problems going from one to the other and takes ebm or formula.

I'm not sure about the following days but I would definately offer her the breast asap after delivery. She'll get the colostrum (sp?) and the feeding will help your uterus contract down and the skin to skin contact is really important for both of you.

Northenlurker I am aware of all of the beefits my dd has been breastfed for two years and nevr been given formula etc. Thank you for the advice though. I am glad to hear that ceeveebee and dicdinurse have had no problems with switching. It gives me abit of hope that things will work out well. Thanks again for the replies.

Oh one other tip, I often used to mix EBM with readymade formula in same bottle. SCBU were happy with this but midwives said they preferred not to do this in case bottle didn't get finished as you'd waste the EBM. But after a few weeks you will know how many oz you need to offer for each feed. Makes the formula taste of EBM! Also I used aptamil.

Thanks so much for the advice ceevee It had really put my mind at ease i think it will be ok, just all seem so daunting at the moment! Fear of the unknown!

has*

Best of luck with it all

I think your preference for FF in the daytime & BF at night should be perfectly achievable. I would get the BF established & then have a go with EBM from the bottle. However all babies are different so don't beat yourself up if it doesn't go smoothly.

My twins were 11 weeks early so I had no BM to offer them; we ended up with doing FF & BF both at once. IIRC they had two bottles of formula per day & I BF them the rest of the time all evening in fact until the littlest was a year old.

I wasn't very good at breast feeding or expressing so we did mixed feeding from about 5 weeks (a little later than you will need to I know) DS never once had a problem switching between the two and never rejected formula, we used Cow and Gate.

Good luck with the baby and with your studies

I used to do the same as ceebeevee and mix the ebm and formula.