Newborn breastfeeding advice please

[Evie135]

Hi all. My little girl is now 2.5 weeks old and we are ebf. After a rocky start with tongue tie, we are definitely feeding much better. Still have cluster feeds but managing these now I know what to expect.
I would love advice for the next few weeks. I was told to introduce a bottle around 4-6 weeks so that we avoid baby not taking to the bottle. Am I right in this? Also I am keen to express/pump to give her bottles in the future, can I start this around 4 weeks?
I have quite a strong let down so using a milk collector (haaka ladybug) on the opposite breast and getting approx 1.5-2 Oz, this is usually if there’s been a longer period without feeding. I have read though that this milk is less ideal to give as most likely foremilk and not calorific/nutritious enough as a full feed once a day?
sorry for all the questions!

apparently babies might take bottle better if the non breastfeeding partner does the bottle feeds.
my baby was fine with bottle at first but once he got more proficient at breastfeed he went off bottle and as o wasn’t expressing enough to fill a bottle I stopped trying.
about to try cup weaning as I want to stop breastfeeding by about 8 months

The reason for not pumping before 6 weeks is because breastmilk is produced based on demand which then determines supply. The more you pump and feed the more milk you make and can lead to engorgement or mastitis. After 6 weeks your supply settles a bit and pumping is ok for most people.

the foremilk/hind milk theory has been debunked. But your milk has different hormones throughout the day. So night milk has hormones to help your baby sleep for example. So if you can label it day and night milk in the freezer. There’s amazing lactation consultants on Instagram worth following, have learnt so much!

well done feeding your little one!

Yes, the fore-milk will be less nutritious/less calorific than the actual milk. However it doesn't mean you can't give your baby that milk because its not the only milk she would be drinking, you're still breastfeeding so she'll not miss out on the fattier milk. You'll probably notice she's hungrier quicker if given just fore-milk.

For me I would say pump when you're ready. I wouldn't put a time frame on it. I really don't see a difference if you pump now or wait until 4-6 weeks. If you start producing more milk just freeze it. I started pumping 3 days after I gave birth. Never had an issue. Do it when you're ready.

fore and hind milk has been debunked in that there isn’t 2 types of milk, but rather the fat content changes throughout a feed. As the suction of a haaka isn’t as efficient as a pump/baby it does only catch the less fatty part of the milk. Ok in most cases but wouldn’t want to be giving it all the time.

Thanks girls. I’ll hold off a few weeks with my haaka then.
is there any general rules for length of feeds? She can vary from 10 to 30 mins, but there doesn’t seem to be a pattern. Is 10 mins long enough to fill her?

Well my mam was very strict with us and did 10 mins each side. I just go off what my baby wants. In the start he seemed to be on constantly! For hours it felt like. He’s a lot better at it now so can be on for about 5/10 mins (probably just snacking) or have a slightly longer feed if he’s hungrier.

I think it probably depends on the baby and possibly your flow as to how long they might feed for. When it’s a grow spurt mine tends to feed more often but for shorter periods. So maybe every hour for about 5 10 mins instead of every 2-4hrs as he now does (depends what we’re doing that day as to how often he wants to feed).

Like PP poster said, I went off what baby wants. Believe it or not their suction is strong and with their latching and suckling technique they can get a lot of milk in a short period of time.