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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

Why did you start introducing bottles?

61 replies

Writerwannabe83 · 04/06/2014 10:14

I'm just after some stories please as to why you introduced bottles to your breast fed baby's feeding regime. This can be either bottles of expressed milk or bottles of formula.

Did it have the desired affect or were there any negatives?

I have a 10 week old DS who is EBF and a few people have told me to give bottles (for various reasons) but I really don't want to. I'm not anti-bottles or anything like that, it's just because as far as I can see I have no reason to.

Just interested in other people's experiences and reasoning.

OP posts:

ThinkIveBeenHacked · 04/06/2014 10:17

Because I wanted to.

That shoupd be the only reason. Please dont bow to external pressure. Do what works for you and baby.

Salmonspringroll · 04/06/2014 10:25

I'd like to know too! I'm EBF my 11 day old but would like to eventually add a bottle in of expressed breast milk. Is it too early? I just want others to be able to feed her and not have her too dependent on me. S

josephine1986 · 04/06/2014 10:31

No need if you dont want to. As your baby starts to go longer between feeds you get the chance for an hour or two alone without needing to feed.

Personally i think the whole.business is about selling bottles pumps and formula, but then im a cynic...

luckiestgirlintheworld · 04/06/2014 13:47

At about 8 or 10 weeks I gave expressed milk so I could go out for the evening. DH would give one bottle at bedtime so I could have an evening free once in a while. But if you don't fancy that then there's no need to feel pressured.

katemeister · 04/06/2014 16:11

Feeding was taking an hour and I was having to feed every two hours (prem baby, prolonged jaundice) so we introduced a bottle to top up and then to do the odd feed give me a little more sleep. We kept doing the odd bottle here and there until my DD started refusing a bottle around 12 weeks. Now at 7 months she still refuses but goes longer between feeds and sleeps through so I can go out of an evening (but it still would be nice if DH could give her a feed so I could have just one lie in!).

Do what works for you, bottles can be a faff but can also give you a much needed break that enables you to BF for longer, in the long run.

Original poster

Writerwannabe83 · 04/06/2014 16:17

I'm fortunate in that DS only feeds 6-7 times in a 24 hour period.
He sleeps well overnight and goes from 9pm-4.30am without a feed.

So it's not exactly like I'm shattered and need a break from it.
I'd understand why people would be happy to suggest it if I was on my last legs - but I'm not.

One of my friends was genuinely surprised that I haven't started giving bottles yet her attitude implied that it's something every mom should do

OP posts:

BertieBotts · 04/06/2014 16:19

I gave a bottle (well, someone else did of course!) when I wasn't around my baby for longer than he could go between feeds. Once at 10 weeks, once at about 4 months, once at about 8 months. Never needed to again.

There's no reason to if you don't want to. :)

There's a bit of a myth that if you don't get them used to bottles, they won't take one. I think it's just luck though - some babies refuse bottles at around 4 months old and never take one, but it doesn't seem to be related to whether they've had one before or not. Obviously fully bottle fed babies don't refuse, but that seems a bit drastic.

beatingwings · 04/06/2014 16:25

Ther is an assumption in your question that everyone eventually uses bottles ( a bit like "When did you stop beating your wife?")

There is no need to ever use bottles if you choose not to.

My children never had a single bottle of formula of ebm.

Maybe I'm just lazy- just didn't want to go down all thet faffy path.
One of the big positives about breastfeeding is not having to clean and sterilise.

mawbroon · 04/06/2014 16:29

I didn't.

You don't have to introduce bottles unless you want to.

whereisshe · 04/06/2014 16:37

We did because I'm going back to work after 6 months of mat leave and I don't want DD to starve. Hence we tried bottles early on (6 weeks or so) to get her used to it. Didn't work, she's now 5 months and a bottle refuser and we're going straight to a cup. Hey ho, it was worth a try I suppose ...

Notso · 04/06/2014 16:39

The Health Visitor told me I would get PND if I continued to BF DD exclusively because I was a teenager. I still got PND.

DS1 was never happy after a breast feed and would projectile vomit after every feed. I was exhausted and miserable so decided to give him formula which he drained and kept down so I switched.

With DS2 and DS3 I wanted them to have a bottle as I wanted to have a night off after 8 months of breast feeding. I never had any desire to breast feed past weaning.

I think it is totally your choice. If you are happy to continue with EBF go for it.

eagle2010 · 04/06/2014 19:14

Agree that this is totally your choice.

I never gave a bottle and now that DS is 8mo, he's using a sippy cup for water. So he'll never have a bottle.

My MIL was horrified that I didn't introduce a bottle but to me it just seemed like more of a faff and something else I'd have to eventually get rid of.

Many people say that a baby "won't" take a bottle but as with a lot of things with babies, it's about perseverance. I thought DS would never drink water but after (what felt like) the 100th try, he sipped away and that was that.

whereisshe · 04/06/2014 19:29

eagle Trust me, we've been persistent with trying to get DD to take a bottle. So. Bloody. Persistent. Would you like to come and try "perseverance" yourself and see if you have more success???

I think people who have children who do what they're supposed to do (sleep, take a bottle, toilet train, whatever) should refrain from assuming that children who don't do what they're supposed to are behaving that way due to a failure by the parents.

DancingtheTittyTango · 04/06/2014 19:59

If you don't want to then don't! I did because I didn't want her to be a bottle refuser which tbh if you leave them too long the majority do become! I wanted the option to do a bit of work or go out occasionally without her.

She now has a bottle once a day at bedtime. She takes 9.5oz at 8pm and sleeps through to about 5ish.

It works for us :)

fledermaus · 04/06/2014 20:20

DC1 had an occasional bottle from about 4 weeks I think, if I wanted to go out for longer than a couple of hours. Then from 4 months have a bottle feed at 11pm so I could get a longer sleep.

DC2 had a bottle from 8 weeks, at the moment just occasionally so I can go out or get an early night but I am thinking of making it a permanent 11pm feature for sleep.

Sunflower1985 · 04/06/2014 20:43

I mix fed my ds. Because of early bf issues. Wouldn't have given bottles otherwise as I've not found any benefits beyond just getting enough calories in him, in terms of sleep, me getting a break etc

Each baby is different

beatingwings · 04/06/2014 20:49

"Each baby is different" Are they? Isn't it more to do with the mother's choice- which I fully respect btw.

fledermaus · 04/06/2014 20:54

Most mothers don't choose to have breastfeeding issues

beatingwings · 04/06/2014 21:01

Yes- and that's my point. Babies are not born to prefer bottles.

callamia · 04/06/2014 21:05

Mine started in bottles because he was in nicu. I worked hard to get breastfeeding going when he was discharged, and so I avoided bottles until I started working again at four months. He had one bottle a week while I worked an afternon. At seven months, he seems to prefer a soft-spout cup while I am at work, but I think really he still prefers breastfeeding (hurrah for that at 1, 3 and 5am).

BertieBotts · 04/06/2014 21:11

There's a lot of veiled judginess on this thread

There's nothing wrong with introducing a bottle if you want to.

There's nothing wrong with not using bottles.

You don't have to do it just because some people assume that you will (they probably assume you'll stop BF before a year is all).

You don't have to do it to prevent bottle refusal.

If you do decide to, it's not a hand grenade into your breastfeeding relationship.

If you need to for whatever reason, that's not a failure.

Jeez Louise

TheNumberfaker · 04/06/2014 21:19

We gave DD1 a bottle of expressed milk before bed from 12 weeks. She took an hour and a half to feed so I felt like I was constantly breastfeeding. She had been sleeping 4 hours between feeds at night so we decided to try a bottle of expressed milk. It worked for us and within a week or so she was sleeping 10 hours.
The other reason was so DH could do that one feed at night. It was so lovely to be able to share that with him!

TheNumberfaker · 04/06/2014 21:25

Sorry, I meant to say that DD1 had been sleeping 4 hours between feeds and then went down to an hour/ hour and a half!
Introducing the bottle of expressed milk made no difference to breastfeeding. We still made it to 12.5 months, of which 25 weeks was exclusive.

TheresLotsOfFarmyardAnimals · 04/06/2014 21:29

I did from 3 weeks so I could feed in public. I was too shy to bf when in public. Dh then started giving one bottle in the evening so I could rest before the night shift started.

It was too early really. Ds fed so well from a bottle I gave up completely at 6 weeks

Secondtimesally · 04/06/2014 21:39

My DS was on top-up bottles (formula and expressed) from 3 days due to dropping 14% of his body's weight after birth. We ended up with EBF all feeds except the 11pm one that DH did. It was great for as it meant I could get to bed by 8 or 9pm and sleep till 3am. Never had any nipple confusion - he was happy with either. I BFd until 8 months when DS decided to give up.
So never too early to start bottles I would say.

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