When is the best time to introduce a bottle?

[MeadowHay]

Hi, I'm currently breastfeeding my one week old. It's going well except for pain and nipple trauma on my part although I hesitatingly will say I think the last 24hrs I have seen some improvement in this. Ultimately I plan to combi-feed to some degree and I need my little one to take a bottle. With my first, I introduced the bottle around 2 weeks and we had no problems with breastfeeding/nipple confusion until the proportion of bottles to breastfeeds eventually became 50:50 about 10 weeks later.

I know breastfeeding groups/NHS says to wait until 4-6 weeks but I'm worried if I do this that the might not take the bottle, and I really need them to! Is it risky to wait this long? When did you do it ans how did it go?

With my first I introduced a bottle at 3 weeks and he never took it. My second had both bottle & breast from the start and has been fine. I would introduce one bottle a day now.

Introducing a bottle with formula before six weeks will likely result in low breastmilk supply. It can become a bit of a trap because you naturally give baby more and more formula to make sure they’re not hungry whilst also reducing time at the breast thus reducing production.
I personally introduced a bottle with expressed breast milk at one week. Look up paced feeding and ensure you are using a newborn/slow flow test.

Sorry, I actually am planning for the bottle to be expressed breastmilk not formula, at least before the 6 week mark. If I can tolerate EBF that long anyway...! It was more advice about when to introduce the bottle teat I am after if you see what I mean. And yes re paced feeding, we did that with my first but will deffo need to brush up on technique again. Well, DH will as it will be him giving him the bottle in the hope that one night I can sleep for longer than a 3hr stretch...bliss

With my LO I gave him a dummy from the brand of bottle I planned on using from 5 weeks (they say to wait til 6 for a dummy too but I was at my wits end with him always wanting a boob in his mouth) and I just ensured I only used it for short times like when I couldn't offer boob right away I'd give him the dummy for a few moments then the boob right after. This allowed me to a) see if he'd take to something that wasn't a nipple and b) see if it would cause any issues with BF. It didn't cause any problems and LO would happily take the boob straight after the dummy etc so no signs of nipple confusion. Then at 9 weeks I introduced a bottle of EBM (I was planning on introducing one at some point anyways but at 9 weeks we got put on a feeding plan as he wasn't gaining weight so needed to top up anyways) and I made sure it was the same brand of bottle as the dummies so they're similar shapes (we're using the tommee tippee closer to nature). It went very well, he took it straight away, I'm careful to pace feed though as I don't want him to have a preference. I've also made sure to use the extra slow flow teats to make sure it's as close to breastfeeding as possible. Weirdly enough he actually wouldn't take the bottle from his dad at first, only me. I think maybe because he only associates me with food? Who knows hahaha. But after the first few days he does now take a bottle from DP and also he's taken one from my mum too which is great.

Hi, I have been combi feeding my 3 week old baby from her being 2 weeks old and she has taken to a bottle with no issues alongside breastfeeding. I decided this was best for us for a number of issues we've encountered with exclusively breastfeeding. Good luck!

Just wanted to add that it's been expressed milk in a bottle we've introduced alongside breastfeeding

We’ve been doing a bottle or two a week of expressed breast milk since 4 weeks, doing paced feeding with bottle. Only at 7 weeks now but it’s been going well and no nipple confusion issues.

I waited til 6 weeks as per advice, and my baby never took a bottle and it was very, very hard work. I would echo PPs and start now

Have you had latch checked by an IBCLC? Issues with latch or tongue tie could be causing the nipple trauma. Tongue ties often get missed by doctors and midwives.

Agree with PP, start now. If you've got a good latch and it's going well then there should be confusion. My DS lost weight after birth, I BF but had to do mini top ups with formula as I just couldn't express (stress i imagine!). This was from 5 days old, boob and bottle. I'd do the same again. You're doing so well

@MsFrog

I waited til 6 weeks as per advice, and my baby never took a bottle and it was very, very hard work. I would echo PPs and start now

Same for me.

If I have another baby, I'd be looking to introduce a bottle straight away.

Thanks everyone - I got the replies I expected to be honest re: people with earlier bottle introductions saying it went fine and those with later ones struggling.

Re: breastfeeding - midwife x2 agree no tongue tie and his latch has been checked by a few different midwives and maternity support worker and they all agree it looks good. I had terrible pain and nipple trauma feeding DC1 and had tons of support (various midwives, health visitor and breastfeeding peer supporters) and again everyone agreed latch looked good and no tongue tie but it didn't solve my issues. I haven't sought as much support this time given it all ultimately ended up a bit pointless last time. However I would say I'm in slightly less pain as time is going on this time. If things get worse/don't get better soon I do have details of a local midwife who is s tongue tie/infant feeding specialist and has previously been an IBLC lactation consultant, in the private sector so we would go and see her.

Re: bottle - got DH to do a night feed the other night with 90ml bottle expressed breast milk and that went well. DS took to it straight away and drank the entire thing over about an hour period (paced feeding) with a nappy change during that time too. He didn't fall asleep on the bottle so he had a dummy in his bed after to drop him off. He has had the dummy a few times now, he took to that straight away. We are using Tommee Tippee dummies and bottles. The only issue is that he didn't wake for the next feed, I tried to wake him and failed and only managed to get him to dream feed off one side for a few mins. I then had to get up and pump off the other side for a few mins cos I was engorged and uncomfortable as I'd effectively missed two feeds then. So I'm thinking 90ml must be a lot more than he normally takes at at a breastfeed. But I don't want to offer too small bottles and risk him being hungry or having to offer breast after, as the whole point of giving the bottle is for me to sleep. What amount do you all recommend?

We had to top up our newborn from around a week old due to weight loss. We offered 70ml but breastfed first. That was enough to constitute a full feed - 90ml is a lot for a week old.

I pumped when a bottle was being offered - pumping during the night bottle feed won’t give you extra sleep but will maintain your supply. I was told to pump frequently in the first two weeks to make sure supply didn’t dwindle, especially at night. That’s probably the biggest risk with introducing a bottle imo. My supply was low due to stress/impact of the emergency section I had, so I pumped every time we offered a bottle.

We’re now maintaining at least one bottle a day (DS is 4 weeks old now) and have introduced a dummy because his silent reflux is so bad that he needs to suck without milk sometimes. He still seems to love the boob though, definitely his first choice.

I’m having a totally different experience this time around - with DC1 I breastfed exclusively, no bottle or dummy, until she was 2.5 years old!

I'm not too worried about my supply, I'd say I have an oversupply if anything and was the same with DD initially. I am going to add/increase the bottle feeds very gradually - aiming for 2 this week - and I'm pumping once a day too whilst he feeds to try and build up a small fridge/freezer supply for the bottle feeds. So supply should sort itself out really. Ultimately we will likely use formula for the bottle feed(s) as doubt I will be able to pump large enough quantities for him easily when he gets bigger snd I don't feel strongly enough about it to get up in the night for more pumping or anything. If I could do 6 weeks before we introduce formula I'd be really happy with that, I managed that with DD so it would be good to do the ssme this time. But there are more demand on me this time with two of them so will just try my best really and see how it goes.

When was your baby weighed to check? DS was.weighed on day 5 by the midwife and had lost 3 per cent of his birth weight which she said was fine and so she told me he didn't need weighing again . I'm sure DD was weighed a few times in the first month of life by midwives and HV? She was a lot smaller than DS at birth but actually gained weight from the start hah.