When to introduce the bottle?

[gertrudestein]

Just that really - have heard lots of conflicting advice

I have a 6 day old ds and want to ebf for a few months. But I would like to express so Dh can do the odd feed and so I can be bridesmaid at my friend's wedding when he is 6 weeks old. .

I heard that you shouldn't introduce a bottle before 3 weeks and also that you must introduce it before 3 weeks! I know it's possible to do breast and bottle - but when did you introduce the bottle? And do you have any other tips?

Thank you!

It's definitely wrong that you must introduce a bottle before 3 weeks!
General advice would be to leave expressing / feeding expressed milk until 6-7 weeks at least, unless there's a need, by which time your supply will be well established.

I went against general advice and started expressing within first week or so. Never had any trouble with DS1- he would switch between breast and bottle quite happily. 10wo DS2 however is another story he still gets in a pickle with bottles even now!

ours was given at 5 days due to weight issues.and going back to hospital, he's 5 weeks now and combi fed, still takes the boob every feed

Hmmm. I suspect you will get a lot of mixed advice. I was told you shouldn't do it before six weeks, mostly because your milk supply doesn't 'settle' until then and if you introduce a bottle too soon you can end up with a reduced supply (as you are effectively dropping one breast feed for every bottle, so telling your body it doesn't need to make milk for those feeds any more). Apparently after six weeks of EBF the supply is less affected by variations in demand and therefore the odd bottle doesn't make a difference.

I really struggled with BF and had supply issues, possibly because of being told to supplement with bottles too early (at about three weeks, actually), so the six week mark is something I will be heeding when DC2 arrives in the Autumn.

I would have thought you could find a way to be a bridesmaid and still EBF? Even if your dress is a bit awkward and you feel like you can't do it very publicly, you could take yourself off every couple of hours discretely with your DP for company and assistance? With such a tiny baby I'm sure the bride would be OK with you having to disappear now and again during the day.

kellymom.com has lots of useful breastfeeding information, about expressing and storing milk etc - and mix feeding - worth a look :)

It's a while until the wedding, see how it goes over the next few weeks and see how you feel. If your DH and DS will be at the wedding, you might also be able to find a quiet place to slip out of your dress and feed a few times - which might be more comfortable in terms of you leaking or feeling uncomfortably full of milk - or that might not be an issue for you and feeding expressed milk might work fine. You'll have a better idea in a month or so, either way.

Thanks everyone - so far (and I know it's very early days!) Bf has been fine. I don't want to rock the boat because it's all working perfectly at the moment. But I am a bit concerned about missing any 'window' of ease for switching between breast and bottle.

My friend has been very helpful about the bridesmaid thing and I have a dress I can feed in, so I can always slip away and feed when necessary. I suppose the only time I won't be able to is during the ceremony, which should only last half an hour or so.

Does the six week rule apply if you are expressing? Or does expressing mess with your supply as well?

Gertrude, I was told it's best not to express until after six weeks as it might interfere with establishing BF and it's better to just feed baby on demand until the supply settles. However, I know lots of people who've done it before this point (some who have had to due to premmies for example) and if there's been an issue like tongue tie or something which meant baby couldn't latch. From memory some have had amazing supplies in spite of (or maybe because of!) this. I'd look at the kellymom site mentioned before as it usually has pretty definitive advice.

If BF is going well though, it really is a gift and something to be celebrated -I'm really happy for you. I had difficulties, as did many of my friends, so at this stage I would say if it aint broke, don't fix it. AFAIK there is no window after which a baby won't take a bottle, it seems to depend on the individual baby - some take to it fine, some will simply refuse. Not something you need to worry about at the moment.

I waited until 8 weeks to introduce a bottle for expressed milk but my DS absolutely refused to have anything to do with it, whether me, DH, DM or DMIL tried. He just cried and turned away. Eventually we gave up as it was too stress for us all; he has never taken a bottle.

DC2 is due in 6 weeks and I'm planning to introduce a bottle much earlier this time so I can have more than an hour at a time away from the baby.

We introduced a bottle of EBM at 2 weeks 6 days. I was on my knees with tiredness and it bought me an hour's kip (I had to express any way because I used nipple shields. From then on we did a bottle a day - express in the morning. Bottle in the evening. My supply hasn't been affected because basically she takes in the bottle what I produce, just at a different time. If I get any extra off I freeze it (she'll only take 3oz most days). I think formula messes with supply more, main concern with bottles and EBM is nipple confusion but we were ok with this.

I have three boys, all breastfed, the first two tried a bottle at around three weeks and were fine. Baby no.3 was just after 6 weeks and never drank from one. My personal experience is that somewhere between 3-6 weeks is the ideal.