How best to get baby to breastfeed but also take occasional bottle?

[ThePartyArtist]

Hello, can anyone advise me on feeding as I am expecting a first baby in a few months and don't really know where to begin. I would like to try to breast feed. However I think it'd also be really useful to try to get the baby to take a bottle when needed, e.g. if I want to go out (already have one outing planned which will be about 8 weeks after the due date). I am not sure how best to try to do things so that the baby is most likely to be happy to take a bottle of formula or expressed milk. I think expressed would be better health wise - but what is the best technique? Should we try the bottle from day 1 (as well as breast feeding) or establish breast feeding before introducing it? Any advice v welcome!

Ok.

My usual advice is how important is breastfeeding to you?

Some babies will happily switch between bottles and breast. Some will refuse a bottle. Some will refuse the breast once they are introduced to bottles and formula.

Problem is, there's no way to tell which one you have.

If you really want to bf, especially long term, get it fully and properly established before introducing bottles. Expressing is a pita, stressful, it can mess with your supply, and undermine your confidence. It can be a slippery slope.

If you just want to give it a go, and aren't bothered if you end up formula feeding, give it a go when you feel ready.

I can give you my experience but as the previous poster says it really depends on your baby
DS1 had his first bottle of ready made formula at about 3 weeks. He went between breast and bottle no problem. He didn't have loads of formula but I struggled to express so used the ready mixed. He probably had 3/4 bottles a month when I went out. He'd take the bottle from DP or grandparents but never from me. I bf him till 18 months.
With DS2 I was more prepared for the constant feeding so I just went with it. I had an electric pump this time so when he was 3 months we tried a bottle with expressed milk. He would not take it. Not from me, DP, grandparents. Not warm or cold. Not if you held him, put him in bouncer, put him in pushchair. We tried a fair few times with different bottles but he refused. It was a bit harder to go out but just had to time it right so things like feed, hairdressers, feed. He went onto a sippy cup instead. He's 16 months now and still bf.
So from my experience earlier worked out better.

Apparently, the optimum time to get a breastfed baby used to a bottle is between 6 to 10 weeks old, however as has been said, it's not guaranteed!

My girls spent 16 weeks in NICU and once they were big enough to graduate from tube feeds, had a bottle of EBM for all night feeds for about 4 weeks (12 to 16 weeks old). However, as soon as I got them on the breast all the time at 16 weeks old, they turned into bottle refusers!

DS1 wasn't a brilliant feeder, and never got the hang of bottles, he seemed to just hate the feeling because he wasn't interested in dummies either (I just commented on another thread - he went straight to straw cup) - but then I could never express either, so that worked out just fine.

DS2 gave up breast milk almost the moment he tried real food, and TBH after DS1 he was so easy to feed that I just didn't need to even try him on bottles at any point (or bother with expressing again), and he went straight to a real cup (and also couldn't be doing with dummies)

I'm afraid there's no magic bullet - you've just got to see what your baby is up for!