Help/opinions about expressing sometimes

[Brz04]

I have been EBF for the past 3 weeks (so not very long) but I am wanting to start introducing a bottle or two per day of expressed milk so that I can run errands sometimes without having to worry if LO will get hungry while I'm out and will have to rush home and also so that I can get longer than a two hour stretch of sleep (LO has nights and days mixed up which has resulted in very little sleep for me!). Also, DHs mom will be in town next week and we would love to have a dinner just the two of us while she watches LO...if he doesn't have the option to take a bottle if he gets hungry while we're out, there's no way I could enjoy our time and not feel guilty for being out!!

Any tips/experiences with introducing bottles of expressed milk or how to properly build up a good freezer stash?? I'm afraid to pump too often bc I'm afraid that I will HAVE to pump constantly then. I'm also a bit afraid that LO will refuse the breast after we introduce bottle and that we may be introducing too early (we were told in hospital to wait 3-4 wks before bottle). How much should I offer him in a bottle per feeding so as not to waste milk but get him enough? Any advice???

 

[lotuspetals]

Stalking this thread for exact same reasons. ..although my hospital said two weeks until introducing the bottle is fine.

 

[Dream.dream]

Usually your not supposed to introduce a bottle until 6 weeks when your breastfeeding is established and it's after the 3-4 week growth spurt

To build a stash depends on how much you need , but once you start pumping you will have to continue with the same schedule or you will have a few days of adjustment when you'll have too much milk .

With my first I would express first thing in the morning after lunch and before bed and I'd get 2-3 oz every time after a week, always express in between feeds so you don't end up pumping right before baby needs to eat .

When you make bags to freeze make them 2 oz each and about 2 oz is what I would offer at first as you can always warm up more after is baby is still hungry , keep in mind that breastfeeding babies don't need same amounts of milk as formula fed babies of the same age

I wouldn't offer a bottle too often as they are easier to eat from and babies can get lazy so I was told to always mimic breastfeeding with the bottle . Tickle babies lip with the bottle and wait until they open wide like they would when they latch before you put the bottle in their mouth , hold the bottle more horizontal isteAd of straight up so baby has to work for milk instead of it just pouring out ( Like with nursing) and get a very slow flow nipple that is more like the breast

 

[tekkitten]

I have been pumping and EBF from the start. I believe the first bottle I got someone to offer her was 3 weeks or 4 weeks in.

That said, I highly recommend the medela calma bottles. The nipple is such that the baby has to latch on and suck the milk out, so it mimics the breast well. Since then I have had my mom watches her one day a week, and she usually gives her 2-3 feedings. I pump 3 times a day and have a freezer stash built up, and it is going quite well!

We just experimented at first, and only gave her one bottle 1-2 times a week. That said, I can't say it will be the exact same experience for you, but that was my experience