DD is 2.5 weeks old - HV told me to start giving EBM in a bottle asap - what do you think?

[Caz10]

I mentioned to the HV today how pooped etc i am and asked when could i give EBM in a bottle so that e.g. DH could do night feeds, I expected her to say 6-8wks or similar, but she said right away, start now, get her used to bottle etc. I'm terrified that she might take one bottle then not go back on the breast - is this likely?

Seems very early . Could interfere with b'feeding if it is already confidently established although can understand temptation.

If you are terrified then why risk it? Your HV is wrong if she thinks that now is the only time to introduce the bottle. With your DD only 2.5 weeks old you have surely got better things to do than faff about with expressing, sterilising bottles etc. If you are shattered then how is that going to help? In the early days of expressing it is sometmes quite a lot of work to express enough for just one feed.

You could just as easily wait until BF is well established and you are (hopefully!) getting a bit more rest and introduce a bottle of EBM at around 6 - 8 weeks. The you won't have the nipple confusion worries so much.

My advice is to seek advice from the experts on each subject and HV are seldom BF experts. You will find a lot more expertise here. Congratulations on your DD

Caz10 - my HV told me the same. I didn't do it. My feeling is that babies are often breast feeding for comfort, not for nutrition and so the bottle does not comfort them for long.

It's normal for the baby to feed all day and all night at this stage - I would try and get through it just feeding at the breast and get your DH to do other supportive things - food, cleaning etc.

My hv suggested to try a bottle before 6 weeks (this was at 4 weeks) f I wanted ds to take ebm from a bottle as some study had shown that leaving it longer might mean baby will refuse the bottle.

I didn't find ds had any confusion between breast or bottle. But he took to bf extremely well and we probably had it very well established by 4 weeks. I didn't give ebm till 6 weeks though.

I think 2.5 weeks does seem a bit young though IMO.

tutu100 that is my other worry! I'm going back to work fairly soon, REALLy want DD to be able to take EBM from a bottle when I do, also think it will give me a wee bit of life back if I am not the sole feeder! So it is a balance really I'm looking for I suppose.

Caz10 your other problem might be that if you replace a night feed with EBM so soon, you could become uncomfortably full of milk in the meantime and also risk supply problems longer term as night is when your milky hormones are at their highest (hence babies feed so much at night in the early days).

Caz, My ds1 and ds2 hardly ever had a bottle before they were 4 months old but happily took bottles when I went back to work. Ds3 had bottles of EBM from birth ( he was prem) had regular bottles, at least twice a week when we were home, and he was the one who refused bottles from about 5 months! I think it depends on the personality of the child, not the age you introduce a bottle.

Just had a thought - if it was really so difficult to get a BF baby to have a bottle, what would happen to all those babies whose mothers give up BF and start FF (ie a large amount)? Not saying people don't have difficulties, but YSWIM.

I was advised to wait until 6 weeks or so until b/feeding (and supply) is established and to ensure no confusion for ds. He took a bottle quite happily at the first time of asking.

I understand your concern but think it would be highly unlikely that a baby would prefer a plastic teat to a lovely warm cuddle with mummy.

Thanks all. I think I will go with my instinct that it is too soon at the moment, but also as HV said I am no use to DD if I am exhausted and wiped out, so if EBM in a bottle helps me get a little sleep then so be it. Somehow I have this notion that I will be "failing" in my BF if I give EBM in a bottle but I know that is silly.

chipmonkey I think you are right, I am looking for someone to give me the exact ideal time to introduce a bottle, when in fact it is just an individual thing isn't it?

My local BF support group thing starts in a week so I will aim to BF till then and ask the experts. (sorry, the other experts, apart from you guys! )

Have to say that I cannot see how faffing around with expressing (hard work and quite time consuming), sterilising pump, bottles, teats etc can be any less work than simply feeding your baby.
Also missing a feed at night when your prolcatin levels are highest can muck up your supply.
If this is your first baby then sleeping when the baby sleeps is a much easier way of cathing up on some kip.
Sleeping with the baby at night is another easy way to get some rest.

We were advised 6-8 weeks at our antenatal classes, I actually started giving EBM at 4 weeks to my (8 wks today) dd. She took the bottle first time and still feeds from me very happily, no confusion I have been aware of. I express one bottle ( about 3-4 oz) in the3 morning when I'm feeling very full and when she does her cluster feeding thing in the afternoon/evening (wants to feed about every hour from about 5pm - 8pm) I (or dh) give her the bottle then as my boobs feel much emptier by then and it seems to fill her up quite well before she goes to bed.

I felt bf was well established for me by 4 wks and I had had no real probs with it (other than the initial pain!). This system works well for us though I did feel a bit emotional first time dh gave her the EBM, I felt it was something only I oculd do for her and now others could do it too. But it gives me a bit of a break if I'm feeling knackered, dh loves being involved in the feeding.

4 weeks was fine for us but every baby different I guess so go with your instincts. HVs/mws etc all seem to have conflicting advice sometimes so go with what feels right for you and your baby.

With my first I gave a bottle of EBM a couple of times at 5 weeks and she was fine with it. So I assumed that she would always would be and as expressing is a faff I didn't bother trying again until she was 8 weeks. She then refused the bottle and it took nearly 2 months of trying nearly every night to get her to take one again. Nightmare. So although 2 1/2 weeks may be too early (seems so to me), don't assume you can leave it as long as 8 weeks if a bottle is important to you. You might be fine but we weren't! My second dd is now 6 weeks old and I have been giving a bottle of EBM every night for the last week no problems and this time I'm going to stick with it!

Every thread on breastfeeding I have ever read has suggested waiting 6-8 weeks to start expressing unless it is necessary.

It takes a while for your body to get used to how much to produce and when, if you're desperate for a full nights sleep how about expressing a bottle or two and getting dh to do one night a week, that way it won't likely interfere as much as it would if you were going to skip all night feeds iyswim.

And I don't find exressing/sterilising massively time-consuming, I express my 3-4 oz in about 10 minutes while sitting in bed in the morning. Same for the sterilising, chuck it all in the microwave steriliser and it's done in a few minutes while I make a cup of tea.

Annainnz, with some people, I knwo I was one of them expressing 3-4ozs takes a bloody long time when you've just started bfing!

I'm convinced that some babies take to the bottle easily, others don't. And it makes bugger all difference when you introduce it - my DS was exclusively bf until 6.5 months and has never ever had a problem with a bottle.

I would have a look at kellymom - I think they say it takes a while to get your bfing fully established and I'd think 2.5 weeks is too early and you might risk interfering with your supply.

And I hate to say this but all new mothers are knackered - I'm not convinced that expressing for the odd night feed will really help you that much. It gets better really quickly but the first couple of weeks are hard work. Congratulations

I expressed from very early on - earlier than 2 wks old, and ds always took the bottle or the breast happily.

I used to pump at about 9 pm and then DH could feed ds at about 10.30 pm and I could have an early night. I wasn't 'skipping' a feed so there was no problem with my supply.

IMHO it's a myth to say you have to wait until 6 wks to start expressing - anything that stimulates your breasts and removes milk from them will stimulate your supply, although a baby is generally more effective at this than a pump.

I found it a godsend to be able to have an early night or the odd afternoon off, and it was also fab for father / son bonding!! For that reason alone I'd say, give it a go if you want to. It was also a relief to know that when I returned to work, bottle feeding wouldn't be problem.

Babies that refuse a bottle do exist, and, again, IMHO, the sooner you start the better.

Sorry if that confuses the issue more - do what feels right for you. But please don't feel like you are doing anything wrong if you want to give it a go - you're not!!

Babies don't just want milk, they want comfort too. After 9 months in the womb, they don't want to be away from mother much at all yet. If you are tired, rest during the day and get dh to do chores, not feed baby.

Re bottle: there is a risk it will interfere with bf, but also a possibility that it won't. If you don't introduce a bottle before about 6 weeks, there is less chance that the baby will ever take one. For me, that didn't matter because I was quite happy to wait until baby went on to solids and could take water in a lidded cup.

Of course you feel tired - every one does, with a small baby. This stage, where the baby needs round the clock attention, is relatively short-lived whatever you do. Even if you become a long term breastfeeder, by 6 months or so the baby will not be totally dependent on your milk when solids are introduced.

I wish hvs did not feel the need to fix every feeling expressed by a new mum.

There's no real reason to be dogmatic about the age at which a baby can have/should have/shouldn't have a bottle. The oft-quoted 'not before 6 weeks' has no more going for it than any other arbitrary date, and there is no evidence at all that babies must have a bottle before x weeks or y weeks or z weeks otherwise they will 'never' take one, or even that there is less chance the baby will ever take one.

Expressing is a useful skill for some families, but it's not compulsory! It doesn't always save time or energy and in some cases, it actually creates anxiety and even problems - there are lots of ways of supporting a tired new mother than giving expressed breastmilk. It's only one of a number of options

Thank you for all your sensible advice! I am now in terrible pain from a bad latch on one side - spoken to BF counsellor who was so nice she made me cry - coming out to see me tomorrow to try to help, I am so chuffed. She reckons it's nerve compression in my nipple - whatever it is the pain is keeping me awake on the odd occasion I do get a chance to snooze . I'm pretty sure a pump would hurt just as much as DD at this point!!
Got the pump and steriliser out to look at - it all looked so complicated I just put it back!! So will keep going and maybe give it a try when pain gone - will keep you posted x

Caz - do you have a comfortable sleep-bra? I can remember the pain in between feeds stopping me sleeping, and the sleep bra made all the difference.

Tiktok is probably right about bottles; I had no evidence for my assertion but was just remembering what my gp said to me when I said I hadn't introduced a bottle at the 6 week check. She said, it's probably too late now. I just believed her because she had Dr in front of her name, was older than me and had 4 children of her own.

Caz, are you feeding lying down, esp at night? Is your baby sharing your room, or bed or in a separate room?

feeding lying down and roomsharing and bedsharing greatly helps everyone get more sleep.

just read your latest post about possible nerve compression. when you see the bfc, it will help to discuss feeding lying down and getting tips to make it possible/easier for you.

congrats caz on your dd. i introduced a bottle of formula to my dd on day 3!! this was out of desperation as she was really hungry and i felt that i couldn't feed her any more that day. i top up now every day (slow weight gain) and my dd has no problem whatsoever switching between breast and bottle. i do feel that she much prefers the breast though. i believe that each child is indivdual and some will be happy with both bottle and breast and some won't. bf is so much easier though. sleeping with the baby also makes my life easier as we all get a good nights sleep and the night feeds are a breeze. good luck with it all.