Am I being naive re leaving ebf DD

[KD0706]

DD is 26 weeks old, but was 8 weeks prem so many of her feeding patterns , development etc is more like a four month old.

She usually feeds every 2.5 hours in the day.
We're offering her solids as the medical advice is to do so six months from her birth regardless of prematurity. But at the moment I really don't think she's ready.

I've been offered a short term contract which will start in five weeks time. My mum will have DD for me and I'll be away from her for about three hours once a week.

I'm just thinking I can express milk and mum can try a bottle, she might be taking a bit of solids by then, my mum can probably gee her along a bit when I'm away etc.

But DH thinks we should be introducing a bottle now so we know she'll take it, and generally we should have more of a plan.

Taking this contract out of the equation I didn't otherwise intend using bottles at all.

Three hours will be fine I'm sure, if she feeds every two and a half usually. Offer both sides twice before you go out, maybe? Then perhaps your mum can give her something when you're due back in half an hour? Solids then try a bottle? I guess by the way you say she feeds that often during the day she goes longer at night already?

(DD was 8 weeks premature and although we started solids at 6 months, like you are, she only really started eating at about 9 months actual, so 7 corrected. I remember, she used to have about a third of an ice cube of pureed vegetable a day, and I'd be so pleased! Ha!)

Oh and, you might want to see how much you can express now. In case things have changed since expressing at hospital.

Oh! Wait! Or of course you could bypass bottles and go straight to a cup!

Either way, I'm sure it'll work out Ok! :)

I would go straight to a cup tbh. DD would never accept a bottle, but would drink expressed from a basic tommee tippee free flow cup from fairly early. I started it with her at 4 months and she was reasonably competent with it by 6 months. Start offering it asap so she can get the hang of it. If a free flow cup is hard for her, you could try a doidy cup - a friend of mine had more success with this style with her DD.

My DD was slow to take up solids (she was 3 weeks early, so not technically premature but was small at birth and her physical milestones have come at the later end of normal). She did like the revolting baby cereals though, especially Cow & Gate fruity porridge (which is probably nutritionally useless, and it smells vile - of rotting banana but might be worth a try if your mum gets desperate!)