Giving my breastfed baby a regular bottle

[Newmummy9]

I have a 3 month old baby who I am breastfeeding. I would like him to be able to take a bottle so I can leave him for short periods.

I have been expressing every evening to build up a freezer stash and I have been successfully giving him a bottle every couple of days. Do you think it is necessary to give him one this often to keep him used to the bottle or can I do it less frequently as it can be a bit of a faff to have to express at the same time as feeding him if I’m not going anywhere.

Basically, how often to feed a breastfed baby a bottle to make sure they will continue to accept one.

Hi Op,

I’m not sure there’s a ‘right’ answer to this as obviously each baby is different.

When my little one was that age I tried to give him at least one bottle a week (usually his dad gave it) to aid that familiarity and also to let me sleep sometimes!

But to be honest I’m sure there must have been weeks where that didn’t happen and others when he had more bottles

You could also try not giving him a whole feed with the bottle, just a couple of ounzes sometimes so as not to use up a whole feed maybe?

I'd keep it pretty regular tbh. If he takes it well you don't want to risk losing that! You could always try formula in the bottle? Just get some pre-made cartons if it's once a week.

Friend of mine gave her baby the odd bottle at the start, thought he’d cracked using both but then when she tried again after a gap (not sure how long) he flat out refused it.
We always did at least once a day but I reckon you could get away with a couple of times a week

I think it depends on the baby. Some will take both and some will refuse. I used to get calls from ex dp saying I had to come back the baby wouldn't take a bottle. I think he could've tried harder!! I've another baby now who will happily take both

Hi happily takes both at the moment and is 3 months. I need him to take a bottle when I go to a wedding in a months time but I won’t be leaving him before then. It sounds like I should give him a bottle every couple of days just to keep him happy with it, I don’t want him to go off it in the meantime!

I'd keep it up a few times a week. I didn't with mine and she stopped taking it. It wasn't a big deal for us as I wasn't leaving her until I was back at work and she was well started on solids, but it would make your life easier if you know he'll take a bottle.

A baby loses their suck reflex about 3 months. Before then, they will automatically suck anything. After then, they have to want to drink from the bottle

So if you want to have him doing it long term, definitely give him a few bottles a week to keep him drinking them!

Mine took them to start but we weren’t consistent enough and then she never took a bottle again

I mixed fed all of mine, no issues. As long as your baby is happy to take a bottle I can't see any reason why not.

I always think this is a bit of a myth TBH, DS1 never had a regular bottle and took one just fine when I left him which from memory was once at 4 months and once at 9 months (I didn't have a very supportive partner!)

Whereas DS2 had one every day from birth and then suddenly at 4 months he just didn't want it any more. Although he then took one fine several months later - perhaps he was having an off day/week!

I believe the shift happens when they go from just passively accepting it because it's an instinct triggered by something nipple-shaped being in their mouth to when they actually understand that it's something they can actively do to get milk (or not!)

So if they are solely bottle fed, then they aren't going to reject it because they don't know of any other way to get milk, but if they are partially/mostly/completely breastfed, then they do know there is another option but I don't think it really matters whether they have had a bottle regularly, occasionally or never - some babies just reject it and some don't.

I'm not aware of any research proving it either way, I know it's quite popular "folk knowledge" that if they have a regular bottle they are less likely to refuse, I just don't know if it's people jumping to conclusions based on a small sample size e.g. a few babies that they have known.

Mine gets an expressed bottle about once a week and there’s been no trouble with him taking it.

Can I suggest reading up on excess lipase and testing your freezer stash before building up too much. You’re probably fine but I had to chuck litres of milk after it all spoiled once defrosted 😭