Is there an ideal time to introduce bottles?

[NoTeaForMe]

I have a 2 week old baby. At the moment she is totally breastfed but I would like her to have an occasional bottle, I have a pump so am hoping to express. You hear of so many babies refusing bottles, I'd really like to avoid that. Is there an ideal time to introduce a bottle so that she'll take it but won't damage the breastfeeding. My first was a nightmare and she was having some formula by around 3-4 weeks old. I didn't think about nipple-teat confusion I just did what I had to do and luckily it never bothered her.

This time breastfeeding is going well and I don't want to mess that up, but would like her to have the odd bottle or st least the option of a bottle in the future.

Thanks

Congrats on your new baby :) That's great news that BF is going well.

There's no guarantee that introducing a bottle early will mean that your baby will take well to it, and introducing a bottle too early (before around 6 weeks) can negatively affect breastfeeding. Not all babies get nipple confusion but some do; it's whether or not you are happy with the risk.

Some babies can take well to a bottle and then refuse it later on, some babies never take one and go straight on to sippy cups etc. They are all different. There are things you can try to encourage a baby to take a bottle, but there's no ideal time to do it.

There are other ways to supplement a baby apart from bottles. If you're going back to work when your baby is a few months old then you might consider cup feeding. If your newborn needs supplementing then syringe or finger feeding are options.

IME it's less important exactly when you introduce the first bottle and more important that you do it consistently after you've introduced it. I think it's a bit unrealistic to want your DD to have 'the odd bottle'. The best way to avoid a bottle refuser is to introduce a bottle (agree with EauRouge that around 6 weeks is a good time to aim for) once a day and stick to it as part of your daily routine. It's up to you whether the hassle of expressing, sterilising etc every day is worth it to have a baby who takes a bottle!

Actually even the "you must do it every day and make it part of your routine or it won't work" isn't consistently true for all babies - my DS1 quite happily had "the odd bottle". Once he got the hang of it (around 13 weeks) he'd have one once a week, maybe less frequently, and frankly would probably have drunk EBM out of an old sock if it was offered. DS2, on the other hand, spurned all bottles from about 4 months but will now drink EBM from a cup.

I think it's one of those questions where the answer is "it depends on the baby". Though a lot of people think there's a right answer. :)

Leedy that's what I was thinking really. Technically my DD1 should hve had nipple/teat confusion, we introduced bottles from aroun 3-4 weeks and it wasn't consistent until around 6 weeks when we got into a sort of routine as to what feeds would be bottle and which would be breast. But she took it fine and it didn't effect her not great anyway breastfeeding. Like yours I think she'd have had it from any old container!

A friend of mines daughter would never take a bottle and it was a real bind for her, I'm keen to avoid that. I'll leave it until 6 weeks and then I'll think about expressing then!

Thanks

My first wasnt confused she was just sure she prefered the bottle! as she had toungetie and it was easier so she refsed me at 3 weeks old. this time i didnt try a bottle till yesturday 9 weeks. i really woul wait till you feel bf is established it took me 8 weeks not 6 before i felt it was really established . and make sure u express WHILE ur little one is feeding from a bottle so ur supply doesnt drop x

Dunno but I've always figured lunchtime. Your hopefully chilled. Bad times either early in day or late. Baby's already been fed and will be fed later so a bottle around 12 ish doesn't 'hurt' anything.

If you mean by age, then I'd go for 5-6 mths as u prepare to wean.

Agree with others. Establishing ur own is paramount first. Also it's unlikely you find you want to give baby up much before 5-6 mths which really.

My two have been quite happy with an odd bottle too.

It definitely doesn't make a difference whether you introduce it early/regularly/etc - short of bottlefeeding exclusively nothing is going to deter a bottle refuser. (IME the one thing that does help is the old fashioned brown latex teats - BF babies seem to prefer them)

I only gave DS a bottle occasionally (ie when I was away from him) and he was fine with it. In fact he would only ever take calpol from a bottle mixed with juice until he was about 3 (terrible I know but when he was in pain and refusing to take the stuff I got desperate!)

I disagree. DS1 accepted a bottle a day happily for several months on end, so I got complacent and stopped bothering. Then when I tried again after a break of a few weeks he refused it - and never accepted one again. I should have carried on with doing it regularly.

But that was your DS1 - mine didn't need a daily bottle to keep the habit, and would happily go a couple of weeks without a bottle without refusing. Offering this as cast-iron advice for all babies ("I disagree, you need to do this or your plan is unrealistic") doesn't make sense. And there's nothing to say your son wouldn't have refused anyway: I have a few friends whose babies just started refusing a bottle (usually around four months) after glugging down daily bottles since tiny babyhood.

Babies, they are awkward wee beasts.

OP as you can tell, every baby is different. My DD is now 10wks old and she's my second and BFing has been a dream. DS didn't take to BFing at all and ended up on formula only by 6 weeks.

This time round I was advised by the HV to try around 2-3 weeks with a bottle of expressed milk, once a day. I think she advised it that early as DD was obviously coping well with BFing but if we were struggling I got the impression I should have left it later.

Anyway, we attempted one bottle a day of expressed milk (only 1-2oz, whatever I could express) every day since then and it's been fine. She did struggle from the second to third week of trying but then I tried warming it up a bit more and she has been much happier since then. DH has given the bottle to her 80% of the time.

There are lots of options but I didn't want a bottle refuser on my hands either and this has worked for us fingers crossed it lasts! without any impact on my milk.

Mine had a bottle after every BF from 5 days old. Now he's a year old and has bottles and boobs and sippy cups too.

Leedy, my 'I disagree' was in response to the previous post 'it definitely doesn't make a difference...'. I agree all babies are different.

Mines happy with the odd bottle too :) we introduced at about 8 weeks or so I'd say

Yes, I agree there are lots of babies who will accept the odd bottle. And others who won't. I think it's unrealistic to expect your baby to be in the former group. I stand beside my wording!

Ok, as I thought-no right or wrong here. As much as I don't want a bottle-refuser I also don't want it to impact on breastfeeding. Maybe I'll wait a few weeks and see how we get on. Then I'll be back for advice on expressing!

I don't think there is a right or wrong - we started very early with the 'odd bottle' of expressed milk, c. 4 weeks - baby took it fine on each, quite rare, occassion til 3 months and then suddenly started refusing it and now, at 6 months, won't have milk other than from the breast. I also wish I'd kept going with a more regular bottle say once a day, but then again, that would have been a daily hassle of expressing and sterilising etc, just to have the option of leaving him for more than a couple of hours.