Do I ^need^ to express/introduce bottles by 6 weeks if I am going to at all...?

[claireybee]

DS is now 5 weeks old and has only been breastfed. Have had minimal problems (a bit of fussing, a lot of wind) and so far I am happy just breastfeeding. However I also know that I probably am going to want to give bottles at some point, and don't really want a battle when I come to do so.

Is the six week thing set in stone? When I do give a bottle I'd want it to be ebm rather than formula if possible so should I start expressing sooner rather than later? I just can't be bothered! I have the pumps, bottles and steriliser in the cupboard from when I had dd but just can't be arsed to get them out, much less use them!

Part of me is thinking to just go with breastfeeding as long as I am happy to and worry about the bottles when the time comes, but I also don't want to struggle to get him to take a bottle and for me to resent breastfeeding him

DD had a bottle a day from very early on and had her first bottle at 3 days so never had issues moving beween breast and bottle. DH has also said he'd like to be able to feed DS sometimes but I know that if I start giving a regular bottle (which I would have to wouldn't I for there to be any point in it?!) I'll have to make a commitment to express daily to have anything to put in the bottle and I'm not sure I'm ready to do that.

Incidentally there are two timeslots in the day where I could express-around lunchtime and in the evening, both after both babies are in bed asleep, but do I really want to use my only free time for expressing? Also both of these times are after big cluster feeding sessions from DS so not sure how that would work...

Sorry long ramble...any thoughts??

I found expressing really took it out of me and now DD is 7 months old wish I had spent the time more constructivly...like lying down! HOWEVER... giving her a bottle of expressed milk a few time a week did mean that now she is moving onto bottle feeding very easily. I didn't know I would want to stop breastfeeding at 7 months but now I do I'm glad I have the choice.

But who knows?She might have just taken the bottle at 7 months anyway though and I could have saved myself alot of hassle.

I shall be watching this thread with avid interest as my DS2 is now 8 weeks and I'm in the same boat as you CB in that DS1 took the bottle easily from an early age. DS@ is haivng a hard time of it so have given up on the bottle so far, but am worried that he will never take it and I really don't want to breast feed forever and DH also wants to be involved.

People love to come up with these deadlines for doing things- for me, my health visitor said I had to get a bottle introduced by 12 weeks- not 6! In fact, they said not to express until bf established at around 6 weeks. Well, I was far too busy to be bothered with a regular bottle/the faff of expressing so I left it and used only the occasional bottle. We did have a bit of a panic when she was about 4 months old when I had got a job to start when she was 5.5m old, and discovered she wasn't keen on bottles. 2 weeks of daily persistance and she now takes a bottle fine when she is at nursery/with dad. During this time I was a bit annoyed that I hadn't tried bottles earlier- but she got it in the end. And I watched all the other mums in my NCT group who also hadn't introduced an early bottle sail through the experience. I think I would do similar with any future children.

In terms of if/when you express- once the feeding has settled down and the cluster feeding calms down you will have more of an idea- I did some at lunchtime and some in the evenings.

DH is involved with DD but just in different ways other than feeding- he does bathtime and loves it!

That was my experience- hope it helps you

Sorry, not sure if that is clear- what I mean is that I think I would wait to introduce a bottle with any future LOs (despite the difficulty getting her to take a bottle age 4 months)and not spend the first few weeks of my child's life expressing- especially with 2 to look after.

with dd I believed this and gave a bottle before 6 weeks. then I gave occasional bottles and she ended up being bottle fed by 5 months.

I decided I wouldn't make the same mistake with ds1 so I didn't give a bottle until he was 6 months. but he wouldn't take it. ever.

ds2 didn't have a bottle until 6 months either, but he will take one when he needs to and is still part breastfed at 17 months

the first 2 are the two worst case scenarios really. in hindsight I think it's better to have a baby that won't take a bottle than a baby who won't breastfeed. and your dh can do cuddles without feeding can't he? (mind you an occasional bottle after the first 3 or 4 months won't do any harm imo)

Mine were both breastfed with the occasionally bottle. DS from week 3 (bottle, DH would do one or 2 nightfeeds with EBM) went on bottlestrike at week 13 and took a long time again before he went back on bottle.

DD refused point blank but waited for the 6 weeks mark as suggested by HV! We tried so many different bottles, even a breastshaped one to no avail! She took to a bottle when she was 8 months!

Expressing has always been easy for me so not soo much timewaste (5 minutes for a 100mlish)but a lot of sheer frustration when they dont drink it!

I couldn't be arsed until about 12 weeks then I tried expressing and giving it to dd in a bottle. I was all set to have to go out of the room and for dh to do it but as soon as I handed him the bottle dd went for it and snaffled the lot! She's had a couple of different types of bottle and been fine so I think a lot can be down to the individual baby but 6 weeks certainly isn't the be all and end all.

You only need to express a little bit, even an ounce, and give a bottle a few times a week so that the baby gets used to it, doesn't forget, but also doesn't get too comfy with it and prefer it!

I had HUGE problems trying to give DD2 a bottle. She took one when she was really tiny and then I didn't try again til she was about 3 months and I battled til she was 5 months to get her to take it again.

I used latex teats in the end, which are very, very soft, more like skin and she didn't seem to notice the difference as much.

That said, DD1 took a bottle at three months with no bother at all. Next time I will definitely introduce it earlier, though.

ds - introduced a bottle of ebm at 3 weeks, no problem - took the lot ... had a daily (nightly really) bottle of ebm until I switched entirely to ff at 8 months ...

dd - introduced a bottle of ebm at 3 weeks, with great difficulty ... she now (at 15 weeks) is a complete bottle refuser, and in fact screams if anybody even tried to give her a bottle - we're missing out the bottles completely, and are using a cup for the feeds when I'm not there ... I still have to express every day, as dd is on medication which I have to mix with her milk.

I used to think that people who said their child refused a bottle just hadn't tried enough - now I realise that it depends on the baby!

If you do start to express, stick with it - you'll express next to nothing at first, but the volume you get will quickly increase!