Going out and leaving baby with partner when breastfeeding

[Wannabeam]

Hi

So this time round I have decided to breastfeed, no particular reason as bottle feeding worked well for me too, but this time I thought I'd give it a go. Last time I expressed into a bottle and also formula fed too.

I'm not the sort to go out more than once a month or even less than that to be honest. But it occurred to me that my friends who breastfeed manage to occassionally go out to see just us mummy friends. I was wondering if it's actually okay to leave DH with expressed milk and do an extra pump before leaving. Do I need to introduce the bottle alongside breast early on to do this?

What do u do?

 

[emeeorevan]

Curious, following. I will be going back to work at 4 weeks. DD will be 1 month! :'(
She will be with my sister at my house and I will be pumping while at work and bf at home. Curious as to when I should introduce a bottle of expressed milk in order to prepare her for someone else feeding her. I've already been pumping and freezing milk after feedings.

 

[Missyann]

Try a bottle now so that you will know if baby will take it, or if you need to try a few different nipple types. Once you have, make sure the baby stays familiar with it ( once a day or every few days) so that you know they will take it when they really need to. My boy was particular and I would have been out of luck if we had waited until the last minute to try the bottle.

 

[noon_child]

I think babies introduced to it early on (like when Mum goes back to work at a few weeks old) seem to take to it more than those who occasionally get a bottle here and there.

However I suppose it depends how hard you want to work at making sure LO gets used to a bottle on the off chance that you might want to go out every couple of months. The older a child is the less it matters if they miss a feed because they want you not the bottle, it is only really during those first few months where missing a feed would be a worry.

My LO had no issues with a bottle but it was still not really possible to leave her with anyone for any length of time till she was about 9months or so because she missed ME, not the boob specifically, just me as her main caregiver. Even then she had to already be asleep because no-one could put her down except me (not even Daddy).

In the end I thought a year or two putting her first was less stressful than worrying about how to 'train' her not to need me and to accept other people. Not saying it was easy, or that there weren't times I felt a bit stir crazy, but it was easier to go with the flow than fight her instinct to want to be comforted by me.

 

[horseybird]

Hi ya. I have a 2 week old and I ve been mainly breast feeding but she does get 1-2 bottles of expressed milk a day. This is to shàre night-feeds and to allow me to leave her with hubby so I can go check on my horse. I'm aware of nipple confusion but think you just have to trust your instincts sometimes.

 

[staralfur]

We introduced a bottle early because we combi-fed for the first few weeks, but I'm not sure it's necessary for a baby to take a bottle. I think a lot of it comes down to the baby. I have a friend who didn't give her LO a bottle until she was 3 months old and she takes one no problem. I have another friend who has been giving bottles since birth and at around 2 months her LO just started completely refusing them.

I wouldn't necessarily advise that you frequently give bottles just for the sake of it because it can affect your supply (especially early on). I would probably give it a try a few weeks before you're planning on going out and see how it goes. If there's a lot of resistance I'd try every few days, if they take to it easily then I'd probably aim to give only a couple of bottles between then and when you're going out.

It's worth noting that my LO's latch DID get worse after we introduced the bottle, so that's why I'm hesitant to say you should make it a regular thing if it's not necessary.

 

[mummytobe_93]

It depends how long you go out for. But if you go out for a while you might find your boobs get very engorgee. You can express before and give it in a bottle but just a heads up some breastfed babies refuse bottles x

 

[Wannabeam]

Very helpful replies. Thanks ladies

 

[AK89]

I tried my LO with a bottle at about 4 weeks 'cause I wanted to get her used to it. This went really well, but then at about 2.5 months she started to be really fussy with it. She would take it fine sometimes, and completely refuse it others. Not sure if this was because I didn't keep giving it her every day/every few days ('cause I was saving up milk) or just because she's realised she prefers the boob! I think it could be a combination of the two.. I would recommend trying it at 4 weeks, 'cause my LO took to it like a pro and we didn't have any issues with nipple confusion. But then I'd keep it up every day or so.. I started expressing at 2 weeks so I could start saving up/get the hang of it/get my supply up. This worked well for me.

At the moment we're trying her with a bottle a day.. she usually takes it fine at first, has about an ounce or two, and then starts crying (probably wind) and won't have the rest.. I usually leave it a while then just breastfeed it, but this isn't ideal as I now feel like I'm completely indispensable and can't go anywhere without her

 

[kajastarlight]

When my DS2 was one month old I introduced him to the bottle so he could go to visitation with his Dad (we split up when I was prego with DS2 so on visitation days he would take DS1 overnight and I would bring DS2 over to see him and stay through dinner so I could feed him but I would take DS2 home with me and then he would bring DS1 home the next day) . He didn't really want it much at all. I was really worried about that and told his Dad to call me if he wouldn't eat and I would come get him. He never had a problem. Then before I went back to work I tried bottle feeding DS2 again and he really wasn't interested! I told my cousin (his daycare provider) that if he didn't take a bottle after 4 hours to call me and I would come home - she never had a problem bottle feeding him! Turned out he would happily bottle feed if I wasn't there. If I was there then he wanted to nurse! I always pumped while I was away from him so we didn't have to suppliment with formula but had it on hand just in case.

 

[Wannabeam]

Makes sense kajastarlight.

AK89- don't worry. I remember with my first that even though she was bottle fed, sometimes she just refused or would barely drink any milk at all each feed meaning I constantly had a bottle out trying to feed her up. Couldn't go anywhere Felt like I was glued to her as she only really fed well with me. Babies go through strange phases, and a lot of the time it's something like wind that makes feeding times stressful. Maybe try a different style teat. It may be the beginning of teething (symptoms can start at 8weeks) so trying a different texture or softness teet may help.

 

[Amalee]

I was supposed to go back to work at 6 weeks, so I started introducing the bottle at 4 weeks. We gave about a bottle a day to keep him used to it, and we never had any problems!

 

[LadyAphrodity]

I introduced the tommee yippie closure to nature bottles at about a week to hell with night feedings. This gives my husband the chance to gelp and me get a tiny bit more sleep sometimes. She takes it great and no nipple confusion at all. It's been nice to still be able to go out and leave her with my husband to get grocery shopping done.

 

[c1403]

My DD is nearly five months and I started expressing/pumping at about 8 weeks and giving her a bottle every other day as I knew I would be returning to work when she was three months. She took well to the bottle and has never refused my breast either, however I only work six hours a day, twice a week so all other times she has the breast.
The problem I am now having is that I am just not getting enough out of my pump too feed her. She had 10oz on Monday and I only pumped five, so I am now pumping daily to build up her milk for when I work. I think if you try and implement one bottle into their daily routine it may help. I know a lot of people introduce it during night time but for me that's more hassle, I'd rather just feed her myself then we both fall asleep, plus I end up getting super engorged if we don't have the night feed. X