Introducing a bottle.....

[CheekyGirl]

Please help!

My ds is 10wks old and breastfed. I will be going back to work when he is 6mths two twelve hour shifts a week and my dh will look after ds and dd. I really think I should get ds used to a bottle in preparation. I started giving him a bottle of ebm every evening when he was about 3wks old and it went well for a few weeks, but then I found that I couldn't express off enough for his needs (I could get about 3oz, and he was needing 4-5oz) so I stopped. I've tried expressing after feeds, and couldn't get anything, ds uses both breasts at a feed so can't express the one he doesn't use. Even expressing just before he's due a feed and then giving him that still only gets off 3oz. I don't really want him to have formula. I also could use my dh doing a feed in the evening as ds still wakes 3 hourly all night. I'm exhausted. Is this normal? Also, ds only feeds for around 10mins at a time usually. Is this normal? I bottlefed dd from 6wks, so this is a new experience for me!!

Thanks for reading!!

Message withdrawn

feeding for only 10mins and still feeding 3 hrly is totally normal, that's what ds was like when he was that age.

he started nursery at 4 months and I expressed. I found that I only got 3-4oz each time but since he was only in nursery 3 days a week it added up to enough over the whole week, I have never managed to express enough for one feed at a single time IYSWIM.
I couldn't manage to express while ds fed but it might be worth giving that a go.

Thanks for the advice!

re. expressing the other side while ds is feeding - what happens when ds wants to swap to that side, as he always takes both sides at each feed?

It's reassuring to hear that other babies are the same!! Everyone else seems to have a perfect baby they can feed anywhere and for at least 20mins or so. Ds just screams if I feed anywhere but a quiet room with nothing else going on!