when can i safely introduce a bottle to breastfeed infant?

[Mimsy2000]

is there a rule of thumb for when it's safe to introduce a bottle [of expressed milk] to a breastfed baby? i keep thinking 6 weeks but am really not sure. (am dying for full night of sleep.)

thanks in advance

mimsy - just so you know before you decide: with a tendency to mastitis and over-supply (as I see from your other thread) you'd be risking a bout of mastitis, or at the very least hugely uncomfortable breasts if you try to go all night without a direct breastfeed. Yes - you could get up to express to avoid this, while the baby was having the ebm, but this would rather defeat the object of the exercise, I think?

fair point. i think it is too early anyway. sigh....just need a goal of sorts iyswim.

My bf counsellor advised do it by 6 weeks as they get used to the bottle earlier without complications. To make it easier on your boobs just give a small amount at the begining of a feed and then feed as normal if you are worried about it. I have been giving an expressed bottle to my DD about twice a week since she was 5 weeks (now 12) she doesn't appear to care where she gets the milk from as long as she gets it.

I couldn't do it to replace one of the night feeds though as i would be in agony by the morning.

I've just introduced one to DS2 at 2 1/2 weeks with no problems.

I pump at about 9.30 pm and then go to bed. DH gets DS2 up at 10.30 pm and gives it to him. It means I can get a bit of sleep before the night feeds start - we're averaging 3 a night between midnight and 7 am at the moment and it's knackering. That early night is a godsend.

Hopefully it won't cause a problem with my supply as I'm not skipping a feed as such, just pumping an hour earlier than I would be feeding anyway. I did a similar thing with DS1 and everything was fine.

thanks for the info. i think i will wait for 6 weeks+ and then try it from there. will defo have to be careful with the overproduction issue but if i can get something like 3 or 4 hours of sleep as opposed to 1 or 2, that would be fantastic!

my DD1 and DD2 both had a bottle of EBM at 3wks as their dad wanted a shot of feeding them

have been much too lazy to express for bottle for DD3 and she was about 6wks!

its not a regular thing but mine were all fine with it