Introducing my 6-week old to the bottle

[littlestar]

I want to start giving my 6-week-old ds the occasional bottle of EBM but I haven't a clue how to get started. Is this a good age to start trying, and can anyone give me any tips?

Yep, a good age to start.

Don't start with copious amounts of EBM (an ounce or two is plenty to start with - you don't want to throw too much away if your baby refuses it - and they often do!). I am assuming you have a breastpump and bottles?

Heat the breastmilk up to body temperature (which is pretty hot, but obviously not scalding!), then gently stroke the teat against your baby's cheek. The rooting reflex should kick in, but if not, dribble a little bit of the EBM onto your baby's lips (squeeze the teat a little bit if you have to).

Be prepared to try every day for a little while - it took about four days before DS realised there was milk in the bottle.

And if your baby won't take the milk from someone else, do try yourself - DS would only take a bottle from me to begin with (totally defeating the object of getting him to take a blinking bottle - lol!). He used to look at DH as if he was mental - he knew that daddies didn't do feeding by then

Good luck!

let the baby play with the teeth so it becomes familiar, my ds took a dislike for awhile...

The teeth, herm????

Maybe she meant "teat"?

er, yes, I know....but thought I wuld get a laugh, anyway

tiktok as i wrote teeth i was thinking this isnt how you spell it!!! har har

we did at 6 weeks, worked well after first mishap

obviously teat is easier to suck than breast and milk comes out quicker, so DS gulped it down and then promptly vomited - so just make sure that you regulate the flow and try not to let it come out too fast

Thanks for the advice. This is a stupid question, but when should I express the milk so as not to mess with my supply?

littlestar - prior to a feed, as mears told me there ll always be enough for baby

Does anyone know how long a bottle of emb would last for out of the fridge. i'm planning to give my DD (ooh, 1st time i've used that term } the odd bottle of EBM as of next week when she'll be just over 4 weeks old. Are the cooler boxes or flasks any good?

Obviously I mean EBM, not EMB

i've never heated milk for my girls

DelGirl, at room temp it lasts 6 hours, in a cooler bag with icepacks would almost be the same as a fridge. In a fridge it lasts 3-5 days.

Littlestar ...
If your baby doesn't seem to like taking a bottle then experiment with different bottles and teats. DD couldn't take Avent teats when I had to leave her on the rare occasion ... but when I tried the NUK brand of teats she would drink it. NUK are shaped more like a nipple would be in the mouth.
She was happy with Avent teats later though, when she was a bit bigger.