When to introduce a bottle

[Hedgehog80]

Ds3 is 3 weeks. From what I’ve read it’s ok to introduce a bottle at 4 weeks?
I ebf my others so a bit unsure.
Will be using expressed breastmilk and starting with just one feed a day so he’s used to a bottle
Is there anything else I should do/need to know? Is 4 weeks def ok to start ? Really want the option of him accepting a bottle

My midwife advised 6 weeks, why not check with your health visitor? It took DS a little while to take a bottle so try different times of day, different temperatures etc.

I would do it from 4 weeks. I left it til 6 weeks and it was too late - DS refused a bottle until recently at 7.5 months!!!

And I did it fromm about weeks, it was fine for a while then about 4 months, having not needed to for a week or two, he decided to refuse when i was out leading to an upset DS and DH

Ahem About 5 weeks

I introduced a bottle at 4 weeks. In the early days I didn't bottle feed every day, but I think it worked out to be 3 or 4 times a week which was enough to keep up the familiarity. Around 10 weeks it went to 1 bottle a day & didn't have any impact on breastfeeding.

I’ll try from 4 weeks then. Just want him to take 1 bottle of expresses milk a day and hoping to get him to accept a dummy too.
I’ve learnt from my others that it’s a good idea to try and get these things in place early as none of them would accept bottle or dummy and I need the flexibility it would offer

With ds1 he had a bottle of expressed milk from a week old, if there’s no feeding issues it’ll say no harm trying him now. The longer you leave it the harder it’ll be generally.

He seems to bf fine the mw and hv said he has a bad tongue tie.... I can see it but he’s had no issues whatsoever so I don’t think it would affect him
Tbh he feeds so well I don’t need to give him a bottle but due to family circumstances it’s better he accepts one in case he needs to be looked after by someone else so I was going to freeze some breastmilk, get him usedto a bottle and it’s then an option should we need it
I wonder if I could start now then as he’s 3 weeks

All mine have had tt too, they took closer to nature bottles best - not sure if it’s relevant.. The key is giving regularly as pp’s have said. When ds1 was around 3 months he didn’t get one for 2-3 weeks and he refused to take it after that.

I’ll try those bottles then thanks id been looking at minbie ones too

If you feel he's doing ok at breast feeding then start now.
I combined breast and bottle feeding with my son for a year. It is completely possible to do both for a long time and gives you so much more flexibility. I would recommend it as a feeding method to anyone.