2 questions about giving a bottle of EBM to BF baby

[abigboydidit]

Hi - DD is 8 weeks old & am trying to introduce the occasional bottle as I have a 22 month old DS and would appreciate being able to share some feeds with DH. She is starting to get used to a bottle but takes ages and ages to drink and I have no idea what's normal. I am using Avent bottles with the 1-3 month teats and tonight she took about 45 mins to drink 100mls. Does this mean I am using the wrong teat or is that pretty usual? Afraid I only know her BF takes about 15 mins total so was worried I should be using a different teat. Another related issue is that she only likes the milk when it is really warm, so I have to keep re-heating it as she starts spitting it out as it cools. Is it OK to re-warm already warmed milk (I do it by putting the bottle in a jug of warm water) or should I be chucking it and starting with a new batch every time? I've looked on Kellymom but could only find info on reusing milk generally, with no mention of whether it had been heated. Thanks in advance.

Don't think you should be re-heating the milk, no - makes it a breeding ground for bacteria. If the bottle feeds are taking so long, I'd ask whether you are actually gaining anything against bf-ing just now. If not, maybe give it another few weeks and start again.

Not sure what's normal but DS2 6 weeks takes about the same for his bedtime bottle of BM and is probably done in about 10 mins.

Thanks. I wonder if I should look into changing teats then? I have no clue about these things.. The urgency re the bottle at the moment is because my oldest and dearest friend turns 40 this weekend and I really would like to be able to celebrate it with her with a few cocktails. Totally selfish, I will admit. I shall have a quick google re teats..

It's not about the teats it's the milk itself.

Intriguing! Am listening... All advice appreciated as DS never had bottles.

Hi, I regularly gave DS EBM from about 2 or 3 months old and exclusively expressed for about 2 months as he was suffering from SR and the bottles seemed to help. He is 2 now and my NB only 4 weeks so not tried her with bottle yet. So I don't remember exactly how long it took DS to drink 100ml at that age but I am sure that the teat is too small for your baby. One of the reasons I started giving DS a bottle was that he was drinking the milk a lot quicker and easier than from the breast. So 45 min is way too long for a bottle feed. 15 min is more realistic. By 6 months old DS was taking up to 300ml in 2 min - we timed him and he really was that quick, he didn't even pause!!! You might want to consider anti-colic bottles like MAM or Dr Browns as they will reduce the amount of air your baby swallows with the milk. We used MAM. If you get a bigger sized teat then hopefully you won't have the milk heating problem. Persevere - expressing is a good way of letting you have a bit of time to yourself whilst your baby still gets to have your milk. Enjoy the cocktails!

Thanks rj2kids & congrats on your new DD! I have 3 month + teats in the house which I think are anti-colic so will check and give them a go. I was wondering if I should try a vari flow teat - the ones with the slit in them rather than holes? Why does it all have to be so confusing