BF?BOttle question. my daughter will be 3 wks on friday and is exclusively BFing. When to introduce Bottle?

Question

My Very good friend (of 10 yrs) in leaving the state and i have to go a farewell dinner for her. My hubby will be doing babysitting duty for her and my toddler son.
Would giving her a bottle of expressed milk be ok for her? or do you think it's too early for her to have a btl. Please only people who have expreince with this, this is not a Breastfeeding vs, bottle question.

I want to bf her for at least a year, possibly longer.

Answer 1

Usually 3 weeks is the earliest time I hear & read to start bottles... so since it's a special occassion I say go for it, and just keep your cel phone in your pocket should she refuse to take it and you need to make a dash out for home... or he could come to you and you could just nurse her in the car.

Here's some helpful info:
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/bottle-feeding.html
perhaps he'd be willing to cup feed, or syringe feed her if she refuses a bottle too: http://www.mother-2-mother.com/refusingbottle.htm

good luck to your husband, and you have fun!!

Answer 2

Sure I can help. I just read a tidbit in a parenting magazine about this. Originally they thought that anytime before 6 weeks was too soon, but now they say that as soon as 2 weeks after delivery you can introduce a bottle. I had to introduce the bottle to my son. He had no problems switching back and forth. Feel free to contact me on IM if you have anymore questions.

Answer 3

I am also bf my daughter, shes 5 wks now & has had a bottle since 3 days after she was born (we had to supplement her w/ formula until my milk came in) I still bf & pump my milk & give her a bottle & she does just fine w/both there was no nipple confusion. She also has a pacifier too. As long as she is bf good then I dont think a bottle will mess her up

Answer 4

around 4 wweeks is the best time to introduce it. that's what idid because i was getting ready to go back to work the day after my six week check up. she may not even take the bottle. my son is 4 1/2 months now and still hate the bottel even though he has to have it every day for about 4 hours while i work part-time. he would much ratherr have me lol. you can try it. it would be better for him to try and not you. babies don't like to take bottles from their mothers when they are breastfed. you will probably be ok as long as you have had no trouble wiht breastfeeding and latching on so far-good luck adn have fun at your dinner

Answer 5

I introduced bottles at 2 weeks, once nurising was well established. My daughter took expressed milk from a bottle just fine. I nursed for 12 months and she would take either, it was great to be able to pump once in awhile.

*Do not do sryinge feeding. This can lead to aspiration if it's not done just right. I work with babies.

Answer 6

You really shouldn't introduce a bottle before 6 weeks, just because some babies won't develop nipple confusion why take that risk?

At 3 weeks she is probably taking 2-3oz at a meal, it would be easy to syringe feed her this amount. Cup feeding (not sippy cup) is faster but it takes a bit to learn and not worth it for one night). You can get syringes at most drugstores, ask the pharmacist they get stored in weird places.

I had trouble breastfeeding to start and have used syringe feeding, and cup feeding it isn't really a big deal and it is much better at preventing problems.

Alternative Feeding Methods
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/alternative-feeding.html

Answer 7

I don't think it should be a problem. Be prepared that she might not take to it though. My wife and I waited until about five or six weeks and regretted it. Bottle feeding was always a battle with her, although it turns out she is just not a big eater anyways. A bottle here and there at this point is not going to cause "nipple confusion".