When can I try a bottle?

[MrsGravy]

First of all, thanks for all the replies to my sleepy baby post last week. Things are going really well with breastfeeding - my baby is 1 week old today and has piled on a slightly scary 12ozs!! Obviously I know it's a bit early yet to be trying a bottle, I don't want to ruin things with nipple confusion. I was just wondering when would be a good time? I can't remember when we tried it with my other 2 but DH liked to give me a night off once a week or so and give them a bottle of EBM.

Thanks

I started at about 3 weeks with my DD and never had any probs with either supply or latching on. I know some places recommend waiting until 6 weeks but I know people who have done this and then the baby has refused the bottle. So I would say give it another week or two. Good luck.

The advice is to wait until 6-8 weeks.

Thanks both. I'll give it a few more weeks at least and play it by ear from there. I'll see how I cope once DH is back at work - I need to make sure I'm getting enough sleep to cope with school runs etc

i second the notion of trying earlier than 6/8 weeks as some babies refuse the bottle.

i gave a bottle at 4 weeks and it went brilliantly.

Some peoiple will recommend you start right away to get baby used to bottles, whilst others will say to wait 6-8 weeks to give you a chance to properly establish breast feeding. In the early days its important to feed on demand to increase your supply.

I gave DD bottle after 6 weeks and she took it well. By this time we seemed to be fully established with breastfeeding.

It sounds like you're confident enough to know when is right for you anyway, but just sticking my oar in to say I really don't think there is a right or wrong time to try. The 'must try by x weeks or they'll refuse' thing just ain't true for every babe, as with most things. I do bf peer support and I've heard of babies doing just about everything including refusing a bottle at 6 weeks but not at 6 months, vice versa, babies who start to refuse the breast, babies who scream bloody murder at the sight of a bottle, and everything in between. Establishing breastfeeding is, of course, very important, but you'll know when you feel like you've both settled into it.