When to start giving bottles of expressed bm ?

[curlyclaz13]

ds is one month old and so far ebf and has been going well. occasionally fusses and takes a while to latch. OH is keen to be more involved and would like to be able to feed him as well. I have ordered a pump but am unsure about giving bottles yet as I am worried he will prefer them to me. I know I will have to express and use bottles at some point when I return to work. so is it better to get him used to them now or wait a bit longer before offering a bottle ? would only be once a day if that.

With DD1 we started a daily bottle at 6 weeks and it was fine. I know people who waited until 4 months or so whose DCs refused the bottle but DD1 never had a problem.

I'm at the same stage and my hv recommended trying the bottle ASAP as if I wait much longer she may refuse it- I want a bit of a social life eventually. Haven't got a pump yet but she took 1oz of expressed milk yesterday at first try.

We started learner bottles at 7mo but they are still mainly ebf as I'm almost always there 24/7.

They have expreased bottles at meals but on breast every other time unless I'm not there. I don't think he'll prefer on or the other just yet but if you wanted you could try a bottle once a day.

thanks, the idea is one bottle a day as he always wants a feed while cooking dinner ! so either then or so dad can do bedtime or overnight at weekends so I can get a bit more sleep.

I want to try some bottles as well. I have some expressed milk in the freezer. What is the best way to defrost/heat it? What about expressed milk from the fridge?

Want to try it out this week so DH can do some feeds as well and it will give me a chance to spend some time with my friends too.

we introduced a bottle at 4 weeks I don't think he will prefer it to you, DS always rubs his nose on my nipple and strokes my breast the feed after the bottle as if he is saying thank goodness its really boobie

i had to give my son a bottle at 1 week as he had a bad night and wouldn't take the boob for over an hour and really upset himself! i didn't want him to develop a negative association to the breast. he is 3 weeks now and i haven't given him a bottle all week but its nice to know i have expressing to fall back on, my health visitor said it was ok.

I gave both my dc a bottle of ebm when they were a week old. First time as my nipples were sooo sore. I think it's better to give them a botte sooner rather than later as I've known a few babies who refused any bottles whatsoever and would only bf.

DBXMermaid I would defrost your milk by just leaving the bags in a bowl a room temp, then pop them in the fridge till you're ready to use. Then heat them by placing the bag in a bowl of warm water, then pour into bottle