I want to breastfed, but want to know when to start my baby on a bottle.?

Question

I want to brest fed, but want to use a pump, and have my baby drink my milk from a bottle. When to start, and what are the best breast pumps, and bottles to use?

hes a newborn 1 week old.

Answer 1

I pumped when I went back to work, and this was a big question for me, too. :)

The general rule is not to start your baby on a bottle until nursing is really good and established, so as to avoid nipple confusion. Most experts say no younger than 4-6 weeks- although, you should be careful about looking for signs of nipple confusion when you start.

I started my daughter around 7 weeks, and she took the bottle just fine- but I have known some people who started later and had trouble getting the baby to take the bottle at all.

As for breast pumps and bottles- there are several good ones. I've used the Medela, and it's good for a portable pump. I've also used the Ameda hospital pump, and it was good as well. I can't tell you much about bottles since my husband uses them, and not me (which I assume will be the case with you as well).

Answer 2

I did both. if you plan to use a bottle you can start whenever but dont wait to long because they may refuse it or have a hard time getting used to it. I think i started when my son was a week or 2, This question depends a lot on why you want to put your baby on the bottle. if it is because of work you should start a week or two before you go back so your baby can be used to the bottle. and like someone else said if it is because you want to monitor how much your baby is eating they will let you know, if it is because you or your baby are having trouble don't worry you guys will get used to it, it took my son and i a little while to get the hang of it. if it is just because you want to, you could start whenever, I think that at night is is a lot easier for you to just nurse him, no bottles or pumps to worry about, you don't have to listen to him cry while you are waiting for the bottles to heat up, you don't have to worry which one is oldest, if it has gone bad or not. but during the day if you have to go somewhere you can just give him a bottle and not worry about finding a place to nurse him. and a bottle also gives you a much needed break during the first few weeks so you can get a little nap in. I used the medela pump, that worked great for me, and i use the Playtex ventaire, and the natural shape (not sure who makes those) hope this helps, sorry to take up so much spave

Answer 3

Breast pumps don't produce as much milk as ur baby can - ur body knows the difference. So, if ur saying u only want to pump & not breastfeed u won't have much luck. U'd have 2 add formula 2 ur milk 2 have enough. If ur wanting 2 breastfeed & bottle feed that's not a problem. U shouldn't introduce a bottle b4 6wks if u want the baby 2 be successful w/ breastfeeding. Eating from the breast takes more effort than eating from a bottle so if u introduce the bottle 2 soon they'll start refusing the breast wanting the easier bottle. I exclusivley breastfeed my son for 8wks. Once I went back 2 work he began taking a bottle when I was gone. I breastfed him for 9mos.

Answer 4

I'm a breast feeding mother and i dont use any pumps or bottles or anything like that m baby is 11 months old and she is healthy and happy She wont take the bottle though i have tried to give her the bottle many times with formula and with breast milk and she wont have anything to do with it my advice is if your gonna switch from the breast to the bottle do it early becasue they will know the difference when they get older

Answer 5

i breast feed and i do both and i started after she came home with the bottle because some time when she is sleep i need to pump so if she wakes up i can give her a bottle and i breast feed only at home or at family so i give her a bottle when we r out but u have to pump more than they will suck now because the baby will sleep a lot and i got evenflo breast pump it is really good. Get the automatic one. The hand pump hurts and takes longer good luck

Answer 6

I'm not sure why you would want to go to the hassle of expressing milk and then feeding from a bottle. Is it because you're having trouble feeding? If it is, hang in there! It took me a good six weeks to get the hang of feeding, and then it was so simple and easy. No bottles to be sterilised, no heating bottles in the middle of the night... who needs it?!?!?!
I was lucky that my baby would take my milk from a bottle if necessary - I used an Avent pump and bottles.
You can basically start your baby on a bottle whenever you like, just make sure you have the correct teat to ensure correct flow.
If you want to use a bottle to check how much milk your baby is getting - DON'T!! Babies will only drink until they are full, and they will soon let you know if they have not had enough!
Good luck with it all, persevere with breastfeeding and you'll be glad you did!

Answer 7

My wife breast fed our son until he was 1 year old. However, since she went back to work when he has 3 months old and he went to daycare, it was necessary that he took the bottle. We bought a nice breast pump and my wife used it when she was at work. We recommend the brand medela for breastpumps and bottles.

But my son had some problems taking the bottle. I think it would've been better if we started with the bottle earlier when he was 6 or 8 weeks old. Instead we started at three months and it was a little bit late.

Answer 8

You'll probably have difficulty keeping up milk production by constantly pumping. I would start out breast feeding for a couple of weeks until your milk supply is established. then you can start pumping it out

I think the best pump is the avent isis. it works great because it mimicks a baby's sucking. bottles....i like the Evenflo Comfi because it's angled to prevent air getting in and it's easier to get the milk out of the bottle

Answer 9

It is your choice as to put milk in a bottle or not, and I wish people would quit pushing breastfeeding down everyone's throat!! I had to pump for my son because he was a preemie and was on a feeding tube and he could not latch on. There is nothing wrong with feeding from a bottle. The best one that I found was Dr. Brown...they use these at Children's Hospital in Seattle. You want to start ASAP because if you wait too long he may refuse to take it. I used to babysit for a lady that never used a bottle and when I babysat for the first time she had not tried to get her to use one and she screamed bloody murder. I ended up having to put the milk in a medicine spoon to feed her!

Answer 10

As long as the baby can feed from the breast and your happy healthy and want to keep feeding the baby that is up to you. If you start one day with breast feeding and want to use a bottle the day its up to you. some find that there baby can not suck on the breast for what ever reason. There is no such time limit on this what ever makes you happy.