Introducing a bottle - 6 days old

[mama2b]

I am struggling a bit with breastfeeding and am finding it quite painful, went to docs yesterday and have mastitis to make things worse

OH went and bought me the medela swing pump yesterday and its bloody brilliant, I love expressing I was thinking of giving Lucas a bottle of breast milk every evening but wasn't sure if this was to soon as I don't want to confuse him or give up on breast feeding altogether.

I have the tommee tippee bottles so if I were to use a bottle how much mik should I express for the evening feed ?

I am worried he is going to prefer the bottle to bf and although its hurting at the moment i don't want to give up altogether and just express.

 

[Pyrrhic]

Honestly, if you plan to keep BFing then I wouldn't introduce a bottle for the first 4 weeks. I gave Niamh a bottle at 5 days and we went through hell went she developed nipple confusion and very quickly refused to BF and my milk dried up.

If you are really struggling though, and have no other option then go ahead. BFing is hard, but you should do what you're happy with to be as stressfree as possible

 

[nataliecn]

It's a tough one hun. I was told no paci, and no bottle til 6 weeks when we both really have the hang of breastfeeding.
At a week, I gave in and got a paci - so glad I did. He had no issues, and he's a happy baby being able to comfort suck.
Yesterday - I decided to start combo feeding, and gave him his first bottle, he took to it wonderfully, and he went back on the boob with absolutely no issues.

I know some girls do both from basically the start. How well is he doing with his latch and what not? If he's doing good so far, as the other girls told me, he probably won't have much of an issue!

 

[nataliecn]

Another thing!
I was giving the ADIRI bottle - it's supposed to be very similar to the boob. It feels and looks much different than the average bottle.
Maybe it's worth giving that a go, instead of a normal bottle if you're really worried!

 

[lillysmum]

i agree that if there is problems with the breastfeeding then it could cause nipple confusion. they recommend introducing a bottle at 4 weeks but i have introduced it with both kids at 3 weeks with no problems, i suppose it does depend on the baby.

 

[MoonMuffin]

If you plan on continuing to BF try not to give a bottle. I had a c-section so my milk took a week+ to come in, so we had to supplement with formula (Kathryn was such a hungry girl). I tried to BF for a month but it was such a struggle cause with the bottle she could get more faster (it was a good shape for BF babies) and she did not want to BF since she was used to the easiness bottle already. I also wasn't producing very much so when I did try pumping I'd be on 15 min for each boobie and combined get get less then 1oz.

 

[mama2b]

Mmmmm think I will hold on for a few more weeks then,

At the moment I am storing breast milk and freezing, I seem to be producing a hell of a lot, If I don't express I leak loads. My oh bought me some avent nipple shells which collect the milk and just from sat down leaning over id filled half of it within about 20mins !

 

[mama2b]

Well I gave in last night !

He took the bottle (the medela one) no problems from my other half then i breastfed during the night much more successfully than have been.

Did the same thing again today with no problems

 

[babymama]

Good for you, do whatever works. BF was difficult for me too, LO latched on beautifully but I was so uncomfortable that at 2 1/2 weeks old I gave in and gave him a bottle. Now I give him 1 bottle at night and BF the rest of the time. With the bottle before bed, we all sleep a little longer which makes all of us much happier.

 

[lillysmum]

the midwives did say to me that when my milk came in and my breasts were engorged that expressing a small amount before feeding can help baby feed easier (obviously they probably meant by hand not by pump but i did express a little with my manual pump as its far easier than by hand) so maybe that helped Lucas feed better for you??