Bottlefeeding Expressed Breastmilk

[sunnylove]

Anyone feed their little one expressed breastmilk via bottles? I hate that I have to (I would so rather be nursing!!) but my LO was born 3 months premature and it's hard for preemies to take much when they nurse and he needed more nutrition than what he was nursing from me. I have been pumping since he was born (so 4 months now!) and now that he's home from NICU I've found it's difficult to feed him every 3 hours and try to pump every 3 hours too. Has anyone done this exclusively? I am considering giving up on nursing because he still doesn't take a lot from me but it's difficult to pump all the time. He latches on fine and sucks great, but we mostly do it for pacification because he always seems hungry after 30 minutes of nursing.

 

[angelandbump]

You've done so well and should be proud of your self!
My first son was born at 34 weeks and had no sucking reflex and was severely jaundice so was a very sleepy baby so the hospital advised me to pump and bottle feed.

Sometimes it looks like your LO has finished eating but it is best to take baby away from he breast if they unlatch and burp them, then offer the boob back. I also found my latest LO was hunting for food again after 15mins and the midwife told me to do the above and now he feeds for a lot longer and when he refuses the boob, I know he is done.

Xx

 

[missbabes]

I've been expressing exclusively since DS was 5 days old. He's 3 weeks today (it's gone so quick already!), he takes really well from the bottle even if he does tend to not open his mouth wide enough to take it fully into his mouth at times (the main reason why we had so much trouble with breastfeeding along with positioning issues). We're using Tommee Tippee bottles, so hopefully will be able to go back to breast at some point.

 

[DianaB]

I exclusively pumped for my first DD until she was 14 months old. I won't lie it was definitely not easy at times and I often felt like there was no time in the day to do anything except pump and feed her but it got so much easier as time went on and it just became a routine part of my day.

 

[Disneygrl]

My lo is almost 4 weeks. I pump and feed her from the breast, but mostly pump. I pump anywhere between every two to five hrs. If I'm not "full" enough to really pump, then ill feed her from my boob. I get up twice during the night to pump, while my DH feeds her with a bottle. My lo likes to eat from the breast, but at night she was too hungry and anxious and I was dealing with oversupply. So I feed her from the bottle only at night. If I give her a bottle and she's still hungry, ill just place her on the breast. Once you get into a schedule, it will be alot easier.