Nipple confusion: advice/experiences?

[Fingerbobs]

I'm wondering whether to start expressing one feed's worth of breastmilk daily to allow my partner to give the last feed, and me to sleep for a bit in the early evening. My baby's two weeks old and we've b/f exclusively and it's going well. The midwives are very very against giving the baby a bottle until 6 weeks; however friends and family have said that if I wait that long, my baby might not accept a bottle at all.
Has anyone's baby actually experienced nipple confusion? Can my baby forget what he's doing if he's given a bottle?
What to do??

I'd recommend b/f for longer before giving a bottle, to ensure it's properly established, as otherwise you will run the risk that your baby will reject the breast. I think it happens because milk flows differently from a teat and they have to work harder to get it from the breast - I'm sure someone will post why..

I introduced a bottle for EBM at about 6 weeks for DS with no problems, so that my husband could give the occasional feed. With DD1 I left it until she was 3 months old, and I have to say it was quite hard to get her to take a bottle at that age - so I would recommend that if you do want to be able to give a bottle then somewhere around the 6 weeks to 2 months age is probably best.

Message withdrawn

I introduced a bottle of ebm at night from about 2 weeks. baby had no problem switching from breast to bottle - and still doesn't - now four months.

I think most BF counsellors would recommend waiting until 6 weeks or so, when BF is established. I think it is unlikely that waiting until 6 weeks would make your DS refuse a bottle in the long run. These people who are telling you to do it now or risk your DS never taking a bottle - did they actually BF themselves for any substantial period of time? A lot of people will give advice about BF babies having never BF themselves and sometimes it can be quite inaccurate/unhelpful.

One of my friends was recommended by her SIL to give a FF last thing at night to give her a break and let her get some sleep. Unfortunately this led to engorgement and feeding problems then loss of supply and BF was over in a few weeks. Then SIL revealed she had only BF for 8 days!

If you do decide to express it might be quite an effort to express anywhere near enough for a full feed but based on the above I really would not be tempted to replace with FF.

I completely understand your need for rest at the moment but these few weeks will pass very quickly - it just may feel very loooooong

Thanks for the advice - I think I'll leave it a bit longer (based on the fact that he slept for 4 hours! twice! overnight and I feel significantly less exhausted...)