Some advice please?

[Clairikins]

Hi ladies

With my dd1 I struggled initially with breastfeeding and it probably took about three months before we were comfortable with it. I want her to be able to take the occasional bottle of breast milk and so I tried introducing a bottle at about 6 weeks which turned out to be an absolute FAIL! She never took a bottle and I breastfed her for a year until she moved across to a cup. This was absolutely fine once I accepted it as I did have a small blip of feeling trapped.

I don't really mind if the same happens again with dd2 but my ideal world would be that she is able to swap between the two and my husband is quite keen on being able to feed this one. My questions are for those that have successfully balanced breastfeeding and the occasional bottle.

How early did you introduce a bottle? How often did you give one? Is there a best time to give one, ie. morning, day, bedtime, night? How do you know how much to give?? Any recommendations on bottles/teats?

Appreciate any responses

 

[pcsoph2890]

Hey I combine ff, bf and expressed bm.
Just due go extremely sore nipples and being in that much pain. My daughter took very easily and quite happily combines the two with no issues.
I got Tommy tippee closer to nature (the one which claims is easier to combine breast and bottle) not sure whether that helps as have nothing to compare to being a ftm!!

 

[Popples1]

Hey I combine ff, bf and expressed bm.
Just due go extremely sore nipples and being in that much pain. My daughter took very easily and quite happily combines the two with no issues.
I got Tommy tippee closer to nature (the one which claims is easier to combine breast and bottle) not sure whether that helps as have nothing to compare to being a ftm!!

I'm doing the same and also using Tommy Tippee bottles, which the midwife recommended as the teats are more like real nipples.

 

[kung_pao mama]

We had quite a bit of trouble with nursing at the beginning due to poor latching and a very sleepy baby. We introduced a bottle within the first few days because he lost quite a bit of weight and just wasn't staying awake long enough to breastfeed properly. My son successfully went from breast to bottle for the first month or so. Then breastfeeding started going much more smoothly and we were able to nurse all the time, so we stopped giving bottles altogether for a few weeks. Now that i am back to work we have a lot of trouble getting him to take a bottle. So, my advice would be to routinely give one bottle everyday to keep your baby used to it.

And everyone is different, but my son takes a bottle quite happily in the early afternoon, but in the evenings right before bed, bottlefeeding is a nightmare.

 

[Clairikins]

Thanks ladies, and do you follow 'they'll have as much as they need' or the formula guidelines? x

 

[Popples1]

We've ignored the guidelines (which says he should be on 90ml) because breast milk is so much more nutritious. Sometimes he seems full with a 45/50ml expressed milk bottle, other times he'll happily guzzle down a ff top up of another 40ml! We're going by guesswork and his feeding cues. He gets weighed today so it'll be interesting to see how he's getting on.

 

[Pielette]

My baby has a bottle once a week when I go to the gym and happily takes it.

He has the medela calma bottle which is excellent because baby has to use the same action to get the milk as on the breast. We introduced it at around 5 weeks. I do think the timing can be critical. Waiting too long can mean they'll refuse.

 

[Popples1]

My baby has a bottle once a week when I go to the gym and happily takes it.

He has the medela calma bottle which is excellent because baby has to use the same action to get the milk as on the breast. We introduced it at around 5 weeks. I do think the timing can be critical. Waiting too long can mean they'll refuse.

I tried that bottle yesterday and he couldn't figure it out! He's struggled a bit to latch on the breast too so I guess it makes sense...