My daughter just had a darling baby boy and is exclusively breast feeding at this point. It's going smoothly.

Question

Although she loves breastfeeding, she does however, want to pump and introduce a bottle eventually so that she can leave him occasionally, maybe for one feeding a day. At what point should she do this?

Answer 1

When the baby is probably atleast 6 weeks. Once the baby has a taste of how easy it is from the bottle he will try to only bottle feed. Avoid using a bottle a lot if you want to continue to breastfeed.

Answer 2

I have gone and still am going thru the same thing. I have a 6 month old who is still breastfed and I still pump for times when he is with Daddy.
1. Make sure she has a good pump. The can be very expensive at first but I assure you this is money well spent. I opted for a cheap one at first and it was horrible. Check ebay. These will be used but you can clean and santize them.
2. It has been said that bottles should not be started until at least four weeks of age. This gives both mom and baby time to adjust to breastfeeding.
3. Nipples are key. You want to find something that is as close to breast as possible. This will help with nipple confusion. Some babies end up prefering one over the other and this can get really frustrating. I reccomend the playtex nursers. They make nipples with a slow flow and a wide tip. This makes baby open his mouth up more to get the whole thing in his mouth and also makes him work harder to get milk out. It is most like the breast. I used these for my son and never had a problem switching back and forth.
4. Introduce one bottle a day for a week or so to get him used to it. It may take sometime or he may go right for it. Be patient. I found with my son, it didn't matter how he got fed, as long as he got food. I used to joke that he would drink from a cup if offered.
5. Have different people offer the bottle. At first mine wouldn't take a bottle from me because he knew who had the breast. My husband would feed him one with no problems. Eventually, he would take from anyone offering, even me!
Good luck and congrats on the new grandbaby!

Answer 3

How long is she willing to exclusively breastfeed? I plan to do so until I introduce solids at 5 or 6 months, which is when I was told that it's safe. Then, I'll still breastfeed, but some of the feedings will be replaced with baby food. That will be when I can leave the baby with gramma. I don't want to deal with weaning her off BOTH the breast and the bottle. If she wants to pump, I've had great success with the Medela brand breast pumps

Answer 4

When looking for breastfeeding success, most obstetricians, pediatricians, and lactation consultants, as well as experienced mothers, recommend waiting until nursing is well established before offering any sort of artificial nipple. The reason for this is because it is MUCH easier for a baby to suck from a bottle nipple than it is to nurse. Think of it this way, if you tilt a bottle upside down, milk drips out. If you lean over, even though breasts sometimes leak, they won't constantly drip milk. Babies can eat from bottles with less work, and so, given the choice at first, that's the path a newborn will choose to take.

Breastfeeding is usually well established around 4-6 weeks, but the longer the little one has to nurse, sucking hard for his milk, the better off he'll be. Have her wait at LEAST 4-6 weeks, and longer if possible.

Breastfeeding doesn't just offer medical benefits, by the way, but because of the need to suck harder, it enhances the development of a baby's palate, and the strength of their jaw muscles. This means that babies who are breastfed exclusively and then switched straight to a cup, have a statistically lower rate of dental braces later in life! Even breastfeeding for a few weeks or months at the very beginning of life lowers the chance that the child will need braces later!!

Answer 5

The general advice is to introduce a bottle after 4 weeks, when breastfeeding is going smoothly.

However, for various reasons, I had to go back to work when my son was 3 weeks old. I introduced a bottle at 2 weeks, and he did fine. No nipple confusion.

One of the important things is to make sure you have a nipple designed for breastfeeding babies. The flow will be closer to what comes out of her breast.

Also, my son never took a bottle if I was in the room. Someone else always had to do it.

As for pumping, she should start now, if she can. She can get a free hand-pump from her WIC office (assuming she's on WIC). It's good to have a little supply of stored milk on hand, "just in case".

You can safely store breastmilk (in bottles designed for it, or special milk-storage bags, NOT regular food-storage bags) in the middle of the freezer for 5 months. Be sure to label & date the bag BEFORE pouring milk into it!

Congratulations on the grandson and on the healthy nursing relationship! =D

Answer 6

Wait for a minimum of 2 weeks before introducing the bottle. That is ONLY if breastfeeding is going quite well. It probably would be better to wait for 6 weeks though to avoid nipple confusion.

My babies liked the Gerber 3-hole rubber nipples best and won't take anything else. They are/were exclusively breastfed.

Answer 7

If breastfeeding is going well, 4-6 weeks is the ideal.
If your daughter/grandson are having a bit of trouble, a little longer to work out the glitches.
*HOWEVER*, if you wait too long past 6 weeks, the baby may become resistent to the idea of drinking from a bottle, or, at the very least, it may take longer to get him to accept one.
In all cases, it will probably be easier if someone besides mom gives the bottle, at least the first few times.
BTW...someone joked about this above, but, some babies who are breastfed prefer to drink from a cup rather than a bottle. (It can be done quite easily, believe it or not. My daughter drank from a cup (with me holding it, of course) from six weeks). This has the added advantage of not having to wean them from the bottle (mine drinks expressed milk from a bottle, though).

Answer 8

I had issues with bleeding and therefor pumped right away and He had no issues, but lactation specialists say to wait about 3 weeks.

Here's a clip from baby center.....

"What's the best way to introduce my baby to a bottle?
Most lactation experts suggest you wait until your baby is 3 to 4 weeks old and breastfeeding is well established before introducing a bottle. If you're returning to work, start bottle-feeding at least two weeks before your start date so you can work out any glitches ahead of time."
Good luck and congratulations!

Answer 9

I would suggest waiting about 3-4 weeks to introduce a bottle if all is going smoothly.
4-6 weeks if nursing got off to a rough start.
Someone other than mom should introduce the bottle.

Answer 10

I introduced my baby the bottle after a few days. I just pumped when I needed to be out and about and gave it to her. She gets the bottle while shes at day care and I still breast feed her when I'm around her and there have never been any problems at all.