Expressed milk from a bottle

[starburst1234]

Hello! I have a question please. For those who have successfully managed to have their babies switch between boob and bottle, when did you introduce the bottle? The advice to not do it too soon or too late is quite confusing and I'd love to hear others experiences. Thank you!

We unfortunately didn’t have a choice as DD was in NICU for first 4 weeks. DH gave her a bottle from 3 days old after her being on ‘gut rest’ for 48hrs, and we continued to latch her 8 times a day to stimulate milk coming in. Now at 14 weeks she BFs 7-10 times a day, with 1 expressed 4oz bottle at 6am before DH goes to work. Seems to work quite well, even better since she had her tongue tie divided, and although she loves boobies and cuddles shes quite happy to take a bottle too.
I understand the guidance says wait a bit longer (but not too long?!) but it’s worked out for us. Hoping to have an evening out at a concert soon and feel confident she’ll be fine for 8hrs with a bottle from Nanny.

With my first I introduced the bottle at around 3ish weeks and worked very well.. initially did expressed milk in it and then moved onto combi feeding then gave up BF altogether

Second I did it from day 1 - and stopped BF at 6/7 weeks due to mastitis. My second also got a soother from day 1, however my first didn't get a soother until a few weeks in as I had heard not to introduce a soother too soon as it can be bad or something?

Anyway both took to bottle no problem! Used the MAM bottles

Listened to a bottle feeder who told me I should express after a few weeks. Shockingly awful idea.

Baby choked on bottle as the flow was so much faster, consumed loads more than breast, diarrhea pooed it out in spectacular fashion, and then screamed blue murder for hours because my breasts were exhausted and it took a while to refill....

4 - 6 months it worked like a dream and I had bags and bags of milk ready to defrost or dispense when required.

Recommend Mam bottles they are great.

@TheNorthernNurse what a journey for you, thanks for sharing. A rough start but turned out great, and I hope you get to enjoy your concert soon!

@coffeewithmilk thank you! Great that doing it early worked for you, and good about the MAM bottles too, I've got some of those ready!

@Imogenie that sounds so stressful for you, thanks for sharing, it's good to know the other side of peoples experiences! I'm glad it got better for you after a few months!

We started day 2 due to feeding issues in hospital. Worked a dream, 6wk old doesn't seem to mind if milk comes via boob or bottle now. He usually only has bottles at night as my DP does the night feeds but if I've pumped too much we'll occasionally give him a bottle during the day too. We use MAM bottles with a slow flow 0 teat with paced feeding which I believe replicates breastfeeding. Good luck! 🍼

@starburst1234 there's a very informative lactation consultant on Instagram called 'thenursingmama' and she has lots of highlights on BF/bottle feeding/combi feeding/bottle refusal etc etc

Best of luck

@brickbybrickbybrick so great this works for you! Thank you!

@coffeewithmilk that is so helpful- appreciate it!! X

We introduced a bottle of expressed milk at around 5 weeks contrary to the advice!

So now DP does the occasional night feed alongside me breastfeeding.

@starburst1234 sorry it's actually 'nursing mama.ie' on Instagram.. Katie mugan is her name

Hope you find her helpful x

As soon as my milk came in, we introduced a bottle. I think it was maybe day 5? I used a pump and only around 30-45ml came out of both breasts combined.
We put this in a MAM anti colic bottle and he took to it straight away. He also carried on feeding off my breasts too which was good!

I was desperate to share the feeding with my DH 😂 we still give him 2 bottles of expressed milk a day. Xx

We waited until week 8 because of the whole 'you don't want them to express a preference' and had bottle refusal. After trying daily for four weeks they eventually took a bottle but I'd definitely say start earlier if you want to use bottles

Similar to @MyBigFatGreekSalad we introduced one around 4-5 weeks I think? A bit earlier than recommended, but our baby took to it really well and now has a bottle every night before bed, generally without problems. She’s breastfed otherwise. I think our consistency in giving one every night has helped, plus our baby just loves her food, haha. For me, it’s great that DH can do some nights.

It’s only anecdote, but those in our NCT group who introduced later, or who introduced then stopped for a while, seem to have more trouble getting baby to take it consistently. If I were to have another I’d introduce on a similar timescale I think, if possible: breastfeed only for a few weeks, but introduce a bottle early enough to hopefully establish it.

Oh and we used Mam bottles as well, size 1 teat. We still used size 1 even though baby is approaching 5 months - I think the slow flow helps to prevent too much of a preference developing.

My eldest would switch between, we introduced the bottle around 4 weeks, and from 6 weeks he spent 1 day a week with DH (through necesserty), and fed fine. With youngest I didn't have the same commitments, so didn't try introducing bottle until a couple of months. She wasn't keen, so I think we missed the window.

Thank you all so much, I feel much more knowledgeable now!xx