When to mix bottle and breast

[swmum]

Have been reading in the baby whisperer book that it's best to start giving a bottle or dummy - a plastic teet basically - before baby is three weeks old as after that they won't want it and will be much harder to get them to take both breast and plastic (for lack of a better word!)
What do we think about this ladies? Due in 5 weeks so really thinking about all things feeding/sleeping now.
To be honest I don't think I want to exclusively bf so want to make sure I have options.
Also when can I start adding in formula - for say when we are out and about - without messing up milk flow?
Thanks!

swmum, the Baby Whisperer is one of the worst books when it comes to understanding and teaching about breastfeeding - truly. Of course a lot of people like it and find it works for them, but I would say that was a happy accident

If you are sure you prefer to mix feed, and have understood the options and their implications, then the later you intro bottles the better, because any formula impacts on your milk supply....as you say, it can mess with the milk flow. You're talking months, rather than weeks, to be sure you're in the clear - that's not to put you off, just to be honest about it ;)

I also did not like the baby whisperer..

you can give expressed milk in a bottle, but for the first few weeks, when your supply is getting established, baby should go to the breast as much as possible

even expressing does not stimulate the breast as well as a baby can

a baby who goes to the breast whenever he is hungry will stimulate the milk supply to match his demand

why not wait and see how breastfeeding goes, before you decide you don;t want to breastfeed exclusively?

i have in front of me the NHS, 'off to the best start' leaflet about breastfeeding, it says

'giving formula milk to a breastfed baby will reduce your breastmilk supply'

so a categorical answer there !

why can you not give a breast feed when you are out and about?

howbreastfeedingworks.com/tag/breastfeeding/

and

www.kellymom.com

are two excellent breastfeeding resources

I was very shy and frightened about breastfeeding in public, now I'll nurse anywhere

I started with a Boob tent which covered me and my DD whilst nursing and built up my confidence and then passed it onto another nervous mum, as I no longer needed it.

Breastfed babies are very portable and easy to feed out and about

To be honest I just don't want to breast feed all the time - does that make me a terrible person for saying that?!
I want my body back to myself a bit. Also I - and so many others I know - were fed excuslively on formula and it appears to have done us no harm whatsoever. So I just don't think it's that bad an option.
I've looked into all the research and while I'm sure there are benifits to breast feeding, I can also see benfits to formula - like getting in a routine. The thought of feeding on demand makes me feel quite terrible! I would absolutely hate to do that. Again that maybe makes me sound very selfish but it just doesn't appeal. That's why I love the baby whisperer - seems to give some hope to those of us who want some kind of routine back asap.

no , you are not a terrible person at all....

but you should be aware taht introducing formula too early can disrupt or stop succesful breastfeeding

also, re a routine: bottle fed babies still need feeding on demand,IME and IMO. a new born has a teeny tiny stomach, and cannot be left empty for long ... formula will not give you a baby that goes 4 hours between feeds from weeks old,unless you are very, very lucky!

with routines, you think you crack it, then baby gets a cold, or has immunisations,or a growth spurt, or cuts a tooth and it all goes up in the air.....

i have bottle fed two babies,and it has had its drawbacks

obviously you iwll do what you and your family are comfortable with, but i think with newborns, you have to accept they need to feed more, breast or bottle, than you can ever have thought possible!

Thanks for the advice and support Lulumama.
I guess with the bottle it just means I can pass some of the feeds on to dh - who will love taking his turn. I just know if I'm sat there with my boobs out all day I will go round the twist! I'm sure lots of women enjoy that experience but it's just not for me.
When I can start expressing? Then at least I'd be giving breast milk from the bottle.

It's good to be open-minded about things and see what feels right when it happens, swmum, and not to have fixed expectations of the baby or yourself

I think sometimes people think of 'demand' feeding (which is not 'demand' feeding at all but 'responsive' feeding, responding to the needs of your baby, and what's not to like about that? ) as being tyrannical...but a routine can be tyrannical as well, believe me. Feeling you have to feed/bath/play/relax in a certain sequence for a certain time and in a certain frequency is not necessarily easy at all - it can look fab on paper, but there are two human beings involved in it (at least!) and they cannot be 'programmed' to fit a routine, at least not without a lot of heartache and misery. You can wait 15 mins or 30 mins for your cup of tea or snack, but a baby doesn't know that he 'has' to wait, and learning can be distressing and unkind for him.

Just don't set the bar too high, that's all

Where's the idea you have to sit with your boobs out all day come from? ....I don't know anyone who has done that, truly!

You can express from any time. It's not always a picnic, expressing, have to say...but it can work well.

responsive feeding .. i like it

your DH cna get involved in soooo many other ways apart from feeding ..

something i did was to bottle feed like a breastfeeder,as it were, skin to skin, close, eye contact, concentrating on the feed and not watching telly etc whilst feeding whislt DD was a newborn, and i encouarged Dh to do the same...

you might love breastfeeding more than you think!!

anyway, i hope that whatever route you take, you enjoy new motherhood

I'm afraid I thought the Babywhisperer was awful on breastfeeding. I think alot of her advice is either out of date or maybe aimed at an American market?. She says stuff like "don't feed on both sides" as though we were still being recommended to feed 10 minutes one side and 10 the other. She is obsessed with snacking, as though a baby will feed the same way at 4 weeks as it will at 4 months unless you follow her instructions.

SWMUM, i felt exactly the same, and have now been breastfeeding exclusively for 5 weeks.

I think it really pays to have an open mind about feeding (as with pregnancy, as with labour!!).

I didn't think i would be able to BF, and thought i would hate it. DS and me got on well with BF straight away luckily, the midwife plonked him on as soon as he was born (with permission!), and, although i don't love it, i don't hate it so happily do it to give DS the best start.

I will start expressing soon i think as i'm not particularly confident about feeding in public still, and would like DP to help, esp at night, as would he. I think he's a bit jealous I'm the only one who can feed DS!