new baby - should i express from the start?

[BabyBaby123]

i am expecting my third baby next month - 1st was bottle fed, 2nd breast fed for a year, with this one I'm keen to let dp share feeds, at least one a day - maybe him doing the evening one. Is it a good idea to express from the beginning and get the baby into the routine or will it create nipple confusion? just after an opinion on this as no one I know breastfed so can't really ask anyone! If I gave formula for one feed a day so dp can feed baby would that effect my milk supply?

I would express from 3 days onwards. Allow the colostrum to be taken form the nipple and this will help baby bond with you.

Then you can express once a day, in the morning after a good breakfast.
This can be the evening bottle.

You will have to keep it routine as it may affect your supply.

There will be no need fro frezing. Just express then store in fridge till later.

Your body will get used to it this way. Use a bottle such as MAM or tommee tippee which help baby adjust straight away to the teat.

i thought they got nipple confusion if you gave them a bottle before six weeks

My dd was fine. The MAM bottles are designed for this reason. There teats are like none ive seen before and are brill.

thanks for that. i've been reading a book (don't know if we are allowed to mention it!!) which says a bottle should be introduced early but wasn't sure = i don't want to do anything which is going to make successful breastfeeding less likely but i would like my dp to be able to do one feed a day as obviously he's going to be at work all day so i thought it might be bonding for them and give me a bit of a break. I have a couple of little NUK bottles but not sure about them - they have the standard latex teats - will look at the MAM ones.

And the MAM are BPA free too.

The official advice is to wait unitl 6 weeks to give a bottle to avoid nipple confusion. It doesn't always happen, but I wouldn't risk it personally. A baby with nipple confusion is not a good place to be if you're trying to breastfeed.

Also, your milk supply stabilises after 6 weeks, if you express too much at the beginning you might end up over-producing and then that can lead to mastitis.

What's BPA?

With my ds we used MAM dummies (I'm presuming it's the same sort of teat) and he loved them and wouldn't take any others. I bf for a while and it didn't seem to interfere, although we didn't get on with it too well. I managed it for about 6 weeks though - maybe it was the dummies that meant we never quite clicked with it ....

Bf dd for 4 months though and she also had a dummy (was a long time ago) I only stopped then as I weaned her and didn't want to bf when she was also eating. (I was v young then!)

So what happens to the babies in SCBU? If mom expresses and baby doesnt get the feel of the nipple, does that mean she cant BF at all?

BPA is the chemical in the pastic that can be dangerous if the bottle gets scratched /heated at high temp.

my dd wouldnt take any other dummy but MAM either. They are orthadontic and so help shape the palate.

I was BF in hospital but when dd went down to NICU the nurse gave her a bottle of formula. She got so confused poor thing. But as soon as I expressed milk into a MAM bottle she was fine and we mixed fed for 3 months and she weaned easily onto the bottle aftr that.

BabyBaby - I have a week-old DS and have (for reasons advised by midwife) been expressing alongside BF, giving NUK bottle after breast. All going fine for the moment, baby showing no signs of confusion, just signs of greed

that sounds encouraging. I admit I'm a bit confused now after some of the posts - really don't want to mess up breastfeeding. Thinking maybe we should wait until after 6 weeks but I suppose I'll just have to wait and see how it goes. Thanks again everyone.

Why do you want him to share feeds?

If there's no immediate rush, I'd give yourself and baby six weeks to settle into it all. Expressing is a faf and you never know with tiny babies - the minute you express they suddenly want feeding!!
If you give it a few weeks until you are both establsihed then introduce the bottle - there will be less to worry about.

I was the same with my first and like the idea of letting my dp to a couple of feeds. But it doesn't exactly relieve you of much! It's more for them to have a lovely cuddly feed with their newborn offspring.

As is often the case though - all good plans go out the window once baby is born. You'll probably know instinctively what's right for you when the time comes. Throw the book out!

yes, I think you are right.

I can't be bothered with the book tbh and baby isn't even here yet!!

I wanted to give him a chance to feed the baby because he's not going to get much time with her at all by the time he's in from work and stuff - but maybe I'll let him to nappies instead, lol

thanks all.

He can spend plenty of time with her, burp-jiggling, floor-pacing, bathing, nappy-changing, making faces at her so she laughs - all lovely and bonding and none with any kind of health implication for her or you.

(Usual disclaimer, etc)

Good luck with it all

Thank you

My opinion and experience FWIW:

i started expressing early on, (within first two weeks) to try and give us flexibility and options. DD was absolutely happy with bottle or boob at this age - no nipple confusion in sight.

When she was a month/five weeks old, we went for a two week tour to visit relatives all over the place and, as we were on the move did not bother expressing and using bottle during this time. A few days after we got back I tried a bottle again and ..... NADA. She wouldn't take it.

She is now 16 weeks and feeding almost constantly. I am exhausted and we cannot get her to take expressed milk from a bottle (on a good day she might take 1 fl oz and then refuse/cry, on a bad day she will go red faced and scream the second the teat goes near her mouth.)

I see "nipple confusion" now that I didn't see when she was just a few weeks old (she will have teat in her mouth but not give it a proper sucking action, just tongue the end of it and push it out of the side of her mouth), plus a more determined and wilful baby who now knows what she wants and what she doesnt...and she does not want a bottle!

We have tried avent, medela, tommy tippee and .... I've forgotten the name, but some "breast mimic" type, with none any more successful than the others. (thought tommy tippee closer to nature wax working, but it was first time luck).

I will try the MAM ones though as we have not tried them yet but I am afraid I am not confident.

So - at risk of going against the official advice, if I had another baby I would do bottle and breast continually from the start (unless someone could convince me better tht this nipple confusion occurs at that age more commonly and my experience was unusual coincidence), as I didn't and now I am stuck, exhausted, knackered etc. I suppose I don't know for sure that she would not have stopped taking bottles if we had not hd that break but its a big coincidence, and as i have said she was fine with both from being a week old.

I expressed from the beginning and suffered constantly from mastitus and blocked ducts. I wouldn´t go there again personally for the sake of dh being able to give a bottle once a day...

I'm really interested to read your post SausageRoleModel.

My DS now 10 days old and the expressing I've been doing on midwives' advice has been successful in building milk supply to help DS put on some weight. At today's midwife visit she suggested I ditched the expressing (for all the reasons discussed in this thread). However, my instinct (someone on this thread makes reference to instinct) is to express something each day and bottle feed a little, partly because I'd like my DH to be able to do a bit (and so would he) and partly for the reasons you mention (someone else I know had similar problem with bottles later). If I got mastitis or other nasties, well, I'd have to think again but for now the Medela remains in the on position I think.

My gut reaction MrsB, would be the same as yours - if it ain't broke, don't fix it. He is currently getting fed exclusively breast milk from both breast and bottle very happily, I can't imagine why the status quo would suddenly change for him, whereas if you take the bottle away you might find it hard to reintroduce it and BELIEVE ME you need some time off, especially if you end up with a hungry baby.

Personally, I think the "official advice" is over-egged to get the best result from the maximum number of people, rather than because it is specifically relevent for individuals. What I mean by that is that everyone would prefer more mums to BF for longer, so no-one wants to give any advice that involves bottles where not strictly necessary (slippery slope etc), but for the well educated parent that knows the reasons why BFing is important it is less of an issue, as they are less likely to resort to bottles for ease. HVs and MWs do not want to give conflicting advice, so the advice is that one size fits all, and therefore must be addressed to the lowest common denominator. I think we all get strung up by the official advice - yes education is important, but sometimes for people already well-educated, the rules become a source of anxiety and remove or undermine the parent if it clashes with their basic instincts.

sorry, long post! Let us know what you decide to do.