bottle after 6m?

[StealthPolarBear]

I'll be leaving 28 week old DD for a couple of hours next week, and want to leave some milk for if shes desperate - hopefully they won't need it.
She's never had a bottle - will it be any easier than them cup feeding her the milk? I used to leave bottles for ds but he had had the odd bottle from being tiny so it worked for him, to comfort him iyswim.
Anyone been in the same position? Am happy to leavr bottles but not if it'll be just something new for her to learn and tbh could do without the faff!

bump, spoken to DH and we've said probably best just to leave a cup of milk, but would be interested to hear if anyone else has done the same? I'd leave a bottle if I thought she'd find it easier to drink from, or feel comforted by it but I don't think she'll make that association.

Well I'd have thought that a bottle wouldn't have a comfort association if she hasn't had one before.

I'd look on it as leaving milk in case she's hungry/thirsty. Leave a bottle and a cup as receptacles and see what she prefers.

Scratch that - if you don't actuia;ly have any bottles, then a cup should be fine.

No, we have bottles, left over from DS
It's just that I was hoping to leave them all made up in the fridge, which would mean washing the steriliser and bottles, getting them ready to sterilise in the morning, assembling etc, and then leaving milk in both - so which to try first?
Suppose I don't need to sterilise the bottles really.

And I'm leaving her with mum - she might think she has to get her to take the bottle, that she's doing me a favour iyswim. When actually I don't plan on leaving her again for ages so I don't care as long as she has milk when she needs it.
Wish DH was off.
Maybe I'm overthinking this - it's on;y going to be a couple of hours!

I first left DS at 6 ish months for a morning and expressed some milk which DH gave him in a cup. We never bothered with bottles and he was fine with the cup then and thereafter as I went back to work when he was 7.5 months.

thanks saz!

I wouldn't bother with sterilising TBH. A good wash in hot water and then air drying should be sufficient.

TBH if only for a short time, I'd leave some milk with a cup and an empty clean bottle. That way your mum can see which your dd prefers.

But if you feed her just before you go, and maybe leave something solid (as an alternative/plaything) then shoiuld be fine I'd have thought.

DS2 is about the same age as your dd and I can leave him for a couple of hours if I feed him before I go. He has a dummy though, and so can leave a comfort source. More often than not though, he just gets on with it, enjoying being played with or kipping on my mum or DH.