how long can I do this???

[bluebear]

Help -am trying to persuade bf dd to take a bottle of EBM - it has taken me ages to express it (a grand 2 oz), and she is not amused. How long can I keep this warm EBM before the microbes take over and it has to be chucked away???
Also, please send cyber-thought-control messages to dd for me 'You will take the bottle...You will take the bottle...'
Ta. BB

Oooh -lots of sympathy - been there and thought dd would never ever drink from the bottle, but she now is a champion (and still bfeeding too) Have a search through the threads here - you'll find lots of help and tips.

In answer to your question - I think an hour at room temperature is the recommended maximum time before chucking the milk. Don't try re-heating it or artificially keeping it warm.

Totally echo Pidge. Don't despair!!!!!!

If your dd has a dummy, you could try a cheapo silicone teat - the only sort dd2 would initially take.

Actually, a lot of sources would say fresh EBM should last up to 8 hours at room temperature; any freshly expressed milk has anti-bacterial qualities (DID YOU know?). But once the baby gets her mouth on the teat, her germs may start other things growing... so if it were me, I'd go with 2 hours max.

still no luck - thanks for all replies - have got her to the point of not screaming when she has the teat in her mouth, but not sucking. A couple of times she has gagged so I'm wondering if a different teat shape may help... She doesn't have a dummy - tends to use the mummy dummy AKA boobs
Will persevere for a bit longer I guess.....

hmmm...dd fell asleep - s'pose I'll give up for now then

How old is she? Mine took soft spouts from pretty young (sort of worked at 2 months, but worked for sure by 4 months).

zebra - I've heard this too and I think you're right. I had been told it's different if you've actively warmed the milk, e.g. after taking it from the fridge. Don't know if that's true?

Bluebear ... have a look at this link (and I'm sure there are lots of others that may be useful on this site). Do not despair, it can be done!

Oh yeah, that makes sense. Because in heating the milk you might destroy the anti-bacterial components. I was only talking about milk in the first hour or two after you expressed it, and presuming it hasn't been chilled or heated again or anything. Some people say you shouldn't even shake it!

Like the others, I went through this too. It took me AGES to get my daughter to really drink anything substantial from a bottle. You didn't say how old yours is but in my experience they seem to try if you attempt it quite early (2 months) and then after that it gets v. hard til they're about 8-10 months old. Good luck!

thanks all, dd is 12 weeks, I meant to offer her a bottle sooner but various things got in the way (toddler ds being the main one). Today's milk got chucked but I'll keep trying... and maybe explore the different teat/cup approach.
When I had ds he took EBM, one bottle each evening, from 2 weeks to 10 weeks then refused for a horrific 6 weeks (I imagined he was going to be attached to my boob forever), then suddenly gave in and became a good bottle feeder... so I know it can be done.. just so traumatic seeing that precious milk going down the plughole!

bluebear, after three horrific days when dd decided not to take a bottle at nursery, she has now done so and is scoffing between 7 and 10oz of EBM a day. All I have to do is express the stuff fast enough to keep up...
Easier said than done I know, but is there any way you can time your dd's expressed feed to coincide with someone else administering the bottle? Dd would never take one from me and probably still won't.
I have learnt so much from various posters over the past few days about keeping EBM safe and that has made me more confident about keeping the supply going. Mumsnet is so fantastic at times like these. Thanks all esp Zebra, Pidge, Mears and MI!
Good luck with getting her to take the bottle.

I expressed for my twins for 9 months - so I had a lot of experience of EBM !

I kept milk out of the fridge at room temperature for up to 12 hours, in a sterile, sealed bottle. I did this because I think it is better not to refridgerate, and reheat. My babies were happy to drink it at room temperature. I couldn't face reheating and then throwing it away if they didn't take it !

Try decanting some of it into another bottle to feed, that way you are not rsiking contaminating all of it.

Apparently it is better to swirl than kshake when remixing breast milk - something to do with breaking the protein chains.

Rather than chucking anything away, freeze it, and use it to make porridge, or something when they are weaning.

I thought I would go mad getting dd2 to take a bottle, especially since her dad kept saying we had ages and ages and why was I so worried. I did get there in the end. Even if she isn't a dummy-freak, try the latex (sorry it's latex not silicone) sort, which is softer, and in orthodontic shape, to see if that's ANY better.

Hugs and commiserations.

Dear Bluebear - just to add to messages of support. I started ds on bottles a couple of weeks ago and was horrified when at first he spat it out as if I was trying to feed him something horrendous and then wailed his head off in protest. We found that warming the teat with a bit of boiled water seemed to help. It also helped (like Marina says) if my husband fed him while I wasn't around in the room as he seemed to object to be being around and not using my breasts for what he thinks they were intended! Having said that, he soon came around to taking a bottle from me - another one of those phases that feel like they're lasting for ever when you are going through them but which seem much more blip like when you look back...Hope your blip is soon resolved - good luck