Best bottle to use in early breastfeeding? Please help!

[Sal22]

I need to occasionally leave my husband with a bottle of expressed milk to feed our 4 and a half week old baby. I realise that ideally a bottle should not be used yet, but I don't have a choice.

I think (or thought) breastfeeding was well established, he definitely knows how to latch on and is picking up weight very well, but lately he's been getting a bit lazy with the sucking (clever little fellow ). So in the mornings he'll drink perfectly well from the breast while it's full, but late afternoon (after he's done an hour or two of almost constant drinking - with rests in between of course), when he has to actually suck for milk, he gets very frustrated and cross. I've checked, I've got milk, he just needs to suck, but I suspect it doesn't come easily enough and then he works himself up so much that he won't suck at all - from either breasts! As far as milk supply - I only express after his morning feed, so that's not why it's harder for him in the evenings.

Hmm - to come back to my original question - as I have to feed from a bottle (about once a day), and he seems to get a bit lazy while I use TT Closer to Nature bottles, is there anything else better suited? I doubt cups will really work (and he drinks loads - 150ml if very hungry!) - but what about the Medela special feeders? Or are they even easier? Medela Special needs feeder

Any tips will be appreciated! Thanks.

Please - anyone? I'm hoping to have a name to give to DH to buy on his way home tonight. Thanks.

You could try Breastflow from larger Mothercare stores - worth phoning the store first cos they dont all stock it.Funny design - a teet within a teet but seems to suit mine well. Advice is to try and get baby to latch`on as if bf rather then just suck... you do get some build up of milk between the two teets but the instructions tell you how to sort out. They are quite expensive (£7 per bottle) but they do sell them in singles so if it doesnt work you havent wasted too much of the hard earned.
Hope this helps

Hi, I have to top up ds2 with expressed milk at the 5pm feed aswell. DH also gives him a bottle of expressed milk at the 10pm feed so I can get to bed early. We've been doing it since he was 2 weeks old as I was advised to introduce the bottle between 2 and 3 weeks old. We use avent and i've been told the avent teats are one of the most realistic/similar to the nipple.

We found MAM teats to be the best. Baby has to 'chomp' them a bit like a real nipple to get milk and they get a good flow. The teat will fit both MAM and Avent bottles

MAM teats

Thanks for the advise. I've just gone through my drawers and found a MAM bottle & teat that I was given (but never tried, as I assumed the TT Closer to Nature would be, well, closest to nature . I guess it depends on the baby.

So I'll try that tonight and see how it goes, if not I'll try the others one by one until I get a fit - the breastflow ones look good and the reviews seem to like them.

I've also just read on the Kellymom site - I think I've been doing it wrong anyway - apparently baby's not supposed to lie down while taking a bottle feed, and whoever's feeding have to space the feed over the time to mimic a breast feed. (This little guy has just been guzzling it down!) Stupid first time mom!

Dont be so hard on yourself! Advice all very good in theory but you try telling a hungry 5 week old not to guzzle!! My ds gets more grumpy if we take it off him..frankly not worth the fuss and bother (unless Im very unhappy with dh).

Thanks for the kind words, Ivandljmum. I'm just so tired today, almost cried just now on reading your post (I blame hormones and sleep deprivation ).

I didn't know that about the lying down thing either Sal - mine is 3 wks (I am clueless 1st time mum)and I have been doing a mixture of breastfeeding and expressed bottle. I was very worried when I started with the bottle as she could eat 150ml and sometimes more which made me worry that she was starving and not getting enough from me. MW told me that it will always be a bit easier for them from a bottle and as she is still so little to go with the on demand thing regardless of breast or bottle and not worry.
I have been using TT Close to Nature, they seem to flow slower than Avent, but it is a personal choice. A friend of mine recommended Born Free glass bottles, which I might try as they also have anti-colic thing and are Bisphenol-A free.

Good to hear about on demand being ok with bottle too, CathyJo. I was worried I'm giving him too much when he's having a bottle, but I guess as long as he's not having it all in once (which is hard!) so that he's got time to realise he's full, it is ok then...

Boy, I thought I've read up and asked around enough while pregnant, but I'm still learning "on the job"!

I know - I thought labour was meant to be the hard bit, seems like a breeze in comparison to actually learning what to do with a baby. I figured that all weight gain is good at this stage and when my dd is full she starts dribbling everywhere or pulls away so I know when to stop. Also decided would rather have a greedy baby than one that doesn't eat !!

Just a little verse I came across, it helps me with the days when I seem to feed ds aged 10 weeks all day whilst juggling ds aged 18mths on my other knee. I look down on my baby's face as he suckles at my breast In which the nourishment of milk does give in my arms embrace. We gaze upon each other in Love's unspoken voice and share in this special bond we have I truly do rejoice. So come on all you mums out there and give it at least one go and share this special bond only you and your little one will know. So gaze upon your babys face and imprint it on your mind and keep it there forever or until the end of time

lovely verse... please try not to get too worried or be too hard on yourself. Im a second time mum- but the first is now 7 - and Ive forgotten so much its like starting again. The good thing is that I know that what is really worrying me today, wont even cross my mind in 2 weeks!Trust your instincts you really do know your own baby best..I think that we all have time to talk throu MN means we are all doing fabulously.. with my first I thought I`d done well if I was even dressed before Lunch!!!

I would recommend the medela haberman feeder as it is encourages baby to suck as on the breast, and baby gets a chance to rest as when baby stops sucking the milk stops flowing as with the breast and unlike other bottles, also as there is a valve involved baby much less likely to swallow air so less wind, it should stop baby becoming lazy on the breast. Goodluck.