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Family Forum / Pregnancy / Breastfeeding / June 2006Introducing bottles, despite possible problems?
DS is almost four weeks old, and I had been planning to introduce bottles at 4-5 weeks, but I'm not sure how to know whether breastfeeding is truly sufficiently "established." He certainly is gaining fine now, but his latch sometimes is a bit off, and he still often needs a bit of help in latching at all. Plus, we have found that he seems unable or unwilling to nurse while we're lying down (a disappointment, as DD was a -great- cosleeping nighttime nurser). Are these problems that require resolution before I should introduce a bottle? There's no *need* to do so at this point, but I have seen some research that one can introduce a bottle too late, and as he'll be relying on EBM when I start a new job in September, we don't want that situation, either. Thanks! -Carlye DS 6-2-06 DD 9-29-04 > DS is almost four weeks old, and I had been planning to introduce > bottles at 4-5 weeks, but I'm not sure how to know whether [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > relying on EBM when I start a new job in September, we don't want that > situation, either. If you need him to take a bottle in September, I definately wouldn't wait past 6 weeks. To me, it actually sounds like you are doing fine. Neither of my girls could nurse lying down until they were about 3 months old. With DD1, we waited until 8 weeks and she never took the bottle well, which caused alot of angst and frustration. For DD2 we introduced at 4 weeks, 1-2 ounces once a day, 5 times a week. DH would give her the bottle and I topped her off with nursing. You could try the bottle and if he starts getting fussy at the breast or his latch becomes noticibly worse, then back off of it. Oh, and DD2 did this wierd thing with her gums when nursing (that caused a bit of pain for me), that she did until she was 2 months old or so. I don't think the bottle helped or hurt her latch. Mary W. > If you need him to take a bottle in September, I definately wouldn't > wait past 6 weeks. I totally, totally agree with this. I waited until 7 or 8 weeks with my daughter, and she never took a bottle well, which resulted in all sorts of emotional and financial hardship when I *had* to go back to work. She got kicked out of her first daycare at 3 months -- I maintain to this day she would've been fine if they'd actually ever followed my instructions on feeding her before she was screaming hungry -- and I wound up having to hire a nanny who very slowly, over several months, helped sort out her bottle issue, though it never resolved completely. And every time I had to travel (day-trips only) to do site work, I was a complete mess. I had this ticking clock in my head "It's been 4 hours since she nursed, do we think she can make it to ten hours today?" So very, very stressful. Seriously. If it's a matter of NEED, then don't wait. > > If you need him to take a bottle in September, I definately wouldn't > > wait past 6 weeks. > > > Seriously. If it's a matter of NEED, then don't wait. Thanks, Mary and Andrea. Are you both suggesting that I give him a bottle now, and not wait even until 4 or 5 weeks, then? I hate this balancing act -- giving it late enough to avoid nipple confusion but not too late so as to interfere with bottle feeding in the future. I had been planning to wait until this weekend at least (he'll be 4 weeks on Friday), but I guess I could try tonight... DH would sure be happy. :-) And thanks, Mary, for saying it sounded like we were doing okay. I had so much trouble with DD in that first week or so just figuring out HOW to nurse, and this time, with DS, it's been a lot easier, but he just seems to need more help than DD did. Then again, I had supply issues with DD -- maybe she only nursed so *well* because she was so hungry. Thanks!! -Carlye DS 6-2-06 DD 9-29-04 > > > If you need him to take a bottle in September, I definately wouldn't > > > wait past 6 weeks. [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > on Friday), but I guess I could try tonight... DH would sure be happy. > :-) With DD2 I was going to start right at 4 weeks but then she got sick and was hospitalized for 2 days so we ended up waiting. I introduced the bottle at 5 weeks and she took to it great. Why don't you give him one more week, work on his latch a bit and then try the bottle. You can always back off from the bottle if things go bad with nursing. Mary W. > You can always back off > from the bottle if things go bad with nursing. You may (or may not) be able to back off from the bottle if it causes problems with nursing, but backing off from the bottle may not be enough to make the problems go away again. Lots of babies use both breast and bottle and do just fine. Some don't. So, you need to make a decision that depends on how important it is to you (and to your baby) to breastfeed, and how important it is to get the baby to take bottles later. I heard of a case where a 3-month-old baby was started on bottles and soon abandoned breastfeeding completely. I guess it can happen at any age. When people say their baby "self-weaned" at 9 months or 15 months or so, I suspect it's possible that either the baby was on a "nursing strike", or that the baby had been given bottles and that nipple confusion was a factor in "self-weaning". I would like to see a study of the age of "self-weaning" among children who have or have not ever been given a bottle. There are some bottle nipples that are supposed to be not as bad for breastfeeding babies. You could introduce your baby to feeding from a cup, spoon or eyedropper. These don't cause nipple confusion, and maybe baby would get used to getting nourishment from somewhere other than mother directly, and might take bottles more readily later on. I don't know whether others have tried this. Nipple confusion works like this: the baby instinctively tries to get the nipple into the right position in his/her mouth. The baby can tell it's the right position when the baby feels the nipple pressing against a certain spot at the back of the baby's mouth. Bottles have much firmer nipples, so the baby gets used to the feel of the firmer nipple and thinks "Finally I've got the position just exactly right!" From then on, breastfeeding always feels as if the nipple must not be in the right position because it's only pressing gently. Pacifiers can also cause nipple confusion, though not as likely as bottles with milk. If nipple confusion occurs, stopping the bottles will probably help, but since it's a learning process, the effects of nipple confusion can be long-lasting. (Learning to forget something is harder than learning something new in the first place.) > I heard of a case where a 3-month-old baby was > started on bottles and soon abandoned breastfeeding > completely. > OTOH ds had bottles and nipple shields for a couple of nights in the first couple of weeks. He has been having at least 2 bottles once a week since, had dummies from about a month old and is still nursing 3 times a day at nearly a year old. He is happy to see his bottle in the day and enjoys nursing the rest of the time. I did have problems bf'ing at first, but that was about latch and jaundice, he didn't have nipple confusion. Jeni > > You can always back off > > from the bottle if things go bad with nursing. [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > important it is to get the baby to take bottles > later. You also have to weigh the risks. In my limited experience, the risk of nipple confusion by introducing a bottle at 4-6 weeks is pretty small, especially when talking about 1-2 ounces a day. The risk of a baby not taking a bottle if you wait too long is bigger. If you are going back to work, having a baby that doesn't take a bottle is extremely stressful for the whole family. 4-6 weeks, when breastfeeding is established, is a pretty standard time to introduce a bottle. > I heard of a case where a 3-month-old baby was > started on bottles and soon abandoned breastfeeding [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > the baby had been given bottles and that nipple > confusion was a factor in "self-weaning". I suspect it's more like bottle preference over nipple confusion. And this, I think, is more likely to occur when the baby starts getting significant nutrition from the bottle. And one way to deal with that is to stop giving bottles. I suppose in some cases it might be nipple confusion, but there are ways of actually using a bottle to improve latch (I've posted a paper about that before)- the lactation consultant we used for my first daughter (who saved our nursing relationship), showed us how to use the bottle to improve her latch. And yes, she did have nipple confusion due to really bad advise from the hospital and supplementing for no reason right from birth. > I would like to see a study of the age of > "self-weaning" among children who have or have > not ever been given a bottle. I do want to emphasize here that lots of women go back to work full time, babies get bottles at daycare and still do extended nursing. (I weaned DD1 when she was 26 months old and DD2 is still nursing at 23 months). Lord knows when DD1 would have self-weaned, I was unwilling to continue. Both had bottles frequently during their first year (DD2 had more because she actually liked them for awhile). Mary W. >[CW had written:] >> I heard of a case where a 3-month-old baby was [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > I suspect it's more like bottle preference over > nipple confusion. I'm not sure what you mean by those terms. Just to clarify, when I say "nipple confusion" I mean problems with breastfeeding due to having experienced a supra-normal stimulus of a bottle nipple (or pacifier nipple) on the back of the mouth. I suppose it's possible for a baby to prefer breastfeeding and still have problems with it due to having used bottles sometimes. >>[CW had written:] >>> I heard of a case where a 3-month-old baby was [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > bottle nipple (or pacifier nipple) on the back > of the mouth. When I use those terms I define nipple confusion as baby having a bad latch leading to ineffective suck or nipple damage. I define bottle preference as baby preferring a bottle over the breast. A baby that is really fussy at the breast after receiving bottles. Luke had what I call bottle preference for a while after he started daycare. He would fuss like crazy the first 3 hours he was home and I tried to nurse him, even if he was hungry. His latch was fine. I solved that by just refusing to give him a bottle. I personally never gave him a bottle and he never had a bottle at home unless I was gone. I didn't give in to his fussing. He got over that in 2-3 weeks. My friend did give in and give a bottle it escalated until he was weaned at 9mos. Luke nursed until I weaned him at 26mos. I quit the bottles at 13mos. He was chubby and growing well or I might have been a little stressed.  SignatureNikki, mama to Hunter 4/99 Luke 4/01 Brock 4/06 Ben 4/06 > >>[CW had written:] > >>> I heard of a case where a 3-month-old baby was [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > baby preferring a bottle over the breast. A baby that is really fussy at > the breast after receiving bottles. This is what I mean too. And (although I don't have anything to back it up) I think nipple confusion which leads to a real problem with breastfeeding is more likely if bottles are introduced before breastfeeding is established. (< 4 weeks, usually). > Luke had what I call bottle preference for a while after he started daycare. > He would fuss like crazy the first 3 hours he was home and I tried to nurse [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > bottle it escalated until he was weaned at 9mos. Luke nursed until I weaned > him at 26mos. I quit the bottles at 13mos. I have a friend who weaned at about 11 months with the exact same thing. She was only planning on breastfeeding until 6 months, so I'm pretty proud of her making it until 11. <He was chubby and growing well > or I might have been a little stressed. Agreed! It's alot easier to hold off the bottles if you are sure your baby is thriving, but weight gain issues can really stress a nursing relationship. Mary W. > Thanks, Mary and Andrea. Are you both suggesting that I give him a > bottle now, and not wait even until 4 or 5 weeks, then? I hate this [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > on Friday), but I guess I could try tonight... DH would sure be happy. > :-) Well, I'd still wait until around four weeks. :) The caveats I'd use are, don't give very much milk at once; don't give those bottles very often, maybe every three or four days at most, for now, depending on how well or poorly it goes for you; and don't give them when you know he's actually hungry, but more in a between-sessions time, so it's like a game. I'm expecting my second now, and I can't tell you how conflicted I am over how to proceed with bottle-feedings this time around, since last time was so difficult. The advice I'm giving you is pretty much what I'm planning on doing, after a very painful examination of what worked best for various people and what did and didn't work for me. It is admittedly different from the main guidelines offered regarding offering expressed milk in bottles. But all I can tell you is, I tried that last time, and it just didn't work for me. > > Thanks, Mary and Andrea. Are you both suggesting that I give him a > > bottle now, and not wait even until 4 or 5 weeks, then? I hate this [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > I'm planning on doing, after a very painful examination of what worked > best for various people and what did and didn't work for me. I think this is a good plan, Andrea. But you might consider increasing the frequency, I'd probably give bottles once a day 4-5 times a week. But they can be small (1-2 ounces). Followed up by nursing to top baby off. I know how stressful it is when they don't do bottles well! My second was pretty good. She'd take 8-12 ounces a day, which was much less then the formula fed kids in her class, but nearly 3 times what DD1 took during a day. And she liked the bottles, which was a relief too. Be warned that she did still give them up at about 10 months, but by then she was eating alot of solids so it wasn't a big deal. Mary W. >> > Thanks, Mary and Andrea. Are you both suggesting that I give him a >> > bottle now, and not wait even until 4 or 5 weeks, then? I hate this [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > once a day 4-5 times a week. But they can be small (1-2 ounces). > Followed up by nursing to top baby off. I'd also add that someone else should give the bottle. I've never experienced nipple confusion but I have had to deal with bottle preference and it was bad enough when the baby never had a bottle from me. I can't imagine what a PITA it would be if they actually thought they could get one from me. SignatureNikki, mama to Hunter 4/99 Luke 4/01 Brock 4/06 Ben 4/06 "Andrea Phillips" wrote and I snipped: > The caveats I'd use are, don't give very much milk at once; don't give > those bottles very often, maybe every three or four days at most, for > now, depending on how well or poorly it goes for you; and don't give > them when you know he's actually hungry, but more in a between-sessions > time, so it's like a game. Some babies may not accept the bottle unless you give one more frequently, say every other day. Also, I followed what Nikki suggested which is for someone other than Mom to give the bottle. > It is admittedly different from the main guidelines offered regarding > offering expressed milk in bottles. But all I can tell you is, I tried > that last time, and it just didn't work for me. What are the "main guidelines"? I think that what you and others have suggested in this thread are the guidelines I've seen expressed many times on mkb over the years. -Patty, mom of 1+2 > DS is almost four weeks old, and I had been planning to introduce > bottles at 4-5 weeks, but I'm not sure how to know whether [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > relying on EBM when I start a new job in September, we don't want that > situation, either. hmm, having had one child where bottles at 5 weeks exacerbated a problem I didn't recognise, his latch was fine, but his suck was weak and as he was my 1st I had nothing to compare it to, I would hesitate if you are saying anything at all about less than perfect latch. The good news is though that you are asking this at almost 4 weeks, so you've still got 50% more time than you've already had to crack that latch. Another week and you could be in a totally different position. I don't think the lying down is a problem though, that is more a matter of choice and for some babies it is just not comfortable until they are a bit bigger, if you are keen to teach him, one way is to get yourself onto the bed, with as many pillows as you might need within easy one handed reach, then gradually move yourself into position, stopping if he becomes unlatched, then he can learn that is is possible to nurse in that position and hopefully will learn that he can both latch and nurse in that position. Of course it would be ideal if you had bottles all sorted by the time he went to daycare or wherever he will be, but ultimately if he gets there not being able to do it, it's very very unlikely he will starve himself. Cheers Anne > > Of course it would be ideal if you had bottles all sorted by the time he > went to daycare or wherever he will be, but ultimately if he gets there not > being able to do it, it's very very unlikely he will starve himself. Just wanted to second this, from my minimal experience. I started introducing bottles at around 5 weeks and she refused a bottle from me and DH, even if I left the house. She would take a little from my mom at her house when I left for a few hrs, but it was still a struggle. She went to daycare at 10wks with never really having had a full bottle feeding. Imagine my surprise when she did just fine with the bottle after she'd been there a few hrs and decided I wasn't available! She's 7mos now and still will not take a bottle from me, or if I am anywhere in the vicinity or she expects me soon. Once she decides boobie isn't an option, she guzzles the bottle. Amy > Of course it would be ideal if you had bottles all sorted by the time he > went to daycare or wherever he will be, but ultimately if he gets there not > being able to do it, it's very very unlikely he will starve himself. Actually, this is pretty much what my daughter decided to do -- starve herself. They say "Well, she'll take it if she gets hungry enough," but after eight hours, how much hungrier can a baby possibly GET? Mind you, I vehemently didn't take daycare's advice of stoppping nursing at home on the grounds that, gee, THAT would make her hungry enough... And while she could in theory have been getting a full day's milk just through night nursing, at 3 months old, you don't so much want to chance it, do you? >> Of course it would be ideal if you had bottles all sorted by the time he >> went to daycare or wherever he will be, but ultimately if he gets there [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > through night nursing, at 3 months old, you don't so much want to > chance it, do you? if she didn't eat for 8 hours then that's 16hrs left for her to do the eating, some proportion (I've no idea what) of 3 month olds sleep for that long, actually my 2nd, a girl did, in fact I think at 3 months it was more like 10-12hrs. I didn't mean that he would decide to eat at daycare, but that overall in the day/night and over the course of the week that a baby is not going to starve themselves. Andrea, what did happen to your daughter? from all I've heard you say she's fine, so she didn't starve herself, though she did make herself hungry for 8hours. Though I do think the nurseries suggestion was a bit mad, at the end of 8 hours, she was going to be hungry whatever had happened before! Cheers Anne > >> Of course it would be ideal if you had bottles all sorted by the time he > >> went to daycare or wherever he will be, but ultimately if he gets there [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > 8hours. Though I do think the nurseries suggestion was a bit mad, at the end > of 8 hours, she was going to be hungry whatever had happened before! Not Andrea, but my DD1 didn't take a bottle well either (introduced at 8 weeks), and while she didn't starve herself, she was pretty darn miserable when I was at work. Thankfully, I had a great nanny that worked really hard to get 2-4 ounces in her while I was at work so that she wouldn't be absolutely miserable. This is alot harder for a daycare that has more than one baby to look after. And she nursed all night long so I was pretty much a zombie for the first year of her life (that reverse cycle nursing didn't stop until I night weaned her at about 18 months old. Oh and nursing while sleeping, great if you can do it, but in my now 4 years of nursing, I've fallen asleep twice. Just can't do it). Things did get better when we introduced solids and the nanny could do that instead of a bottle. Now, DD2 who got a bottle at 4 weeks, ate great at daycare and was so much happier. She still night nursed, just not to the same extent. And she did give up the bottle at 10.5 months. Rather wait for mom! Mary W. > Oh and nursing while sleeping, great if you can do it, but in > my now 4 years of nursing, I've fallen asleep twice. Just can't > do it). Oh my gosh, I don't know how you could STOP from falling asleep! Something about nursing acts like a pretty serious sedative on me, and especially in the beginning, it was impossible for me to keep my eyes open during those early-evening nursing sessions. :) > > Oh and nursing while sleeping, great if you can do it, but in > > my now 4 years of nursing, I've fallen asleep twice. Just can't [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > especially in the beginning, it was impossible for me to keep my eyes > open during those early-evening nursing sessions. :) I've heard lots of women say this, boy do I wish it was true for me! I must be missing a receptor or something :P Kind of explains why I'm still a little sleep deprived now, although for the last week DD2 has slept through the night! Yeah me! Mary W. > Andrea, what did happen to your daughter? from all I've heard you say she's > fine, so she didn't starve herself, though she did make herself hungry for > 8hours. Though I do think the nurseries suggestion was a bit mad, at the end > of 8 hours, she was going to be hungry whatever had happened before! I was just looking over the old mkb thread about it; as it turns out, I'd forgotten a lot of specifics. Well, it WAS four years ago. :) And the whole thing is still clouded over in my mind by the horrible emotionality, so it's possible I can't even present the whole thing rationally, four years ago or no! We tried getting her on bottles before my maternity leave was up, with only limited success; she started daycare at three months old. The first week she was in daycare, she would take a few ounces of a bottle about five hours after I'd dropped her off, and screamed all day, to boot. We worked on trying to get her to take bottles from my husband in the evenings at this time, with very little success. The rest is kind of hazy, but I think second week, she would no longer take bottles from them at all, and in an effort to prove to them that they were doing something wrong, I went in on my lunch break and fed her a bottle my own self, which she generally took OK. I'm not sure how it all phased out, but by the end of the month I was reduced to letting her nurse on my lunch break, which considering I was sometimes needed at work a three-hour drive away... not so sustainable. By the end of that month, she would start into crying hysterics if she so much as *saw* a bottle. This whole thing is clouded, too, by the fact that she stopped sleeping through the night as soon as we began daycare, and I was back on a newborn's nighttime nursing schedule. Ouch. The second month, we hired a nanny three days a week, and I told my boss I simply couldn't travel the other two days. (I work from home anyways, and a four-month-old is pretty quiet.) That way she had me available to nurse when she needed to, and we worked very hard at giving her various kinds of bottles and nipples at least once a day until we had some sort of limited success. When she was nine months old, she was too loud and active to keep around while I was working anymore, so we transitioned her to a family daycare setting with a very wonderful woman who is like an extra grandmother to her, and she is there to this day. Though she starts preschool in just a couple of months :) By that time she wouldn't take a LOT of milk from a bottle, but she would take something, and she was having enough nibbles and sips of other things that we knew she'd be at least *safe* if not happy. The whole thing was pretty horrible, I have to say, and probably not at all helped by postpartum hormones. I think at three months out I still didn't quite have my head on straight. Andrea wrote: > I was just looking over the old mkb thread about it; as it turns out, > I'd forgotten a lot of specifics. Well, it WAS four years ago. :) And > the whole thing is still clouded over in my mind by the horrible > emotionality, so it's possible I can't even present the whole thing > rationally, four years ago or no! <snip> sounds really hard, but equally it's hard to deal with if breastfeeding is compromised, by doing things at the wrong time, I made the mistake of giving my son a dummy at 4 weeks and a bottle at 5 weeks, by the time we realised there was a problem it was too late, we ditched both, but though we tried everything to get him to even maintain his weight, in the end there was just no route out of the situation we'd got ourselves in that didn't involve formula, had he maintained weight we could have waited a week, but once he'd lost 2 checks in a row we could no longer risk not doing it. I'd much rather go through a year of zombiness than go through what I did with him, because what ended up happening is that I was a zombie anyway AND I had given him formula. I also think a lot of it is the baby as well as when you give the bottle, we gave DD a bottle at the same time as DS and she never took to it, I don't think she ever would, she would never drink ebm from anything other than source. Then at 10 months I tried an experiement, giving her a tiny amount of cows milk in a cup, she glugged it down, same cup with ebm at the childminder, not touched. Good job I'm a SAHM! Anne > Then at 10 months I tried an experiement, giving her a tiny amount > of cows milk in a cup, she glugged it down, same cup with ebm at the > childminder, not touched. Good job I'm a SAHM! Even a newborn can be fed from a cup, according to the book Bestfeeding. It gives instructions how to do it. A spoon or eyedropper can also be used. You're right, my OB and peditrician told me--if I could--not to give bottles to groovy girl. So, whenever I had to leave her, she was fed by using a spoon. You know, there's a special one for babies, a sophisticated one. It's a glass connected to a plastic spoon. There was no trouble at all with that. Have a nice try, nessia a.k.a groovy mommy http://groovymommy.insparenting.com > > Then at 10 months I tried an experiement, giving her a tiny amount > > of cows milk in a cup, she glugged it down, same cup with ebm at the [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > book Bestfeeding. It gives instructions how to do it. > A spoon or eyedropper can also be used. >> Then at 10 months I tried an experiement, giving her a tiny amount >> of cows milk in a cup, she glugged it down, same cup with ebm at the [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > book Bestfeeding. It gives instructions how to do it. > A spoon or eyedropper can also be used. ahh yes, we did feed her with a cup early on too, the problem was not the usage, but what was in it, she took water from a cup with no problem as soon as she needed it, it very much seemed to be a stubborness issue, she knew there was no problem getting milk from source so why should she much around using a slower less comforting method Anne > DS is almost four weeks old, and I had been planning to introduce > bottles at 4-5 weeks, but I'm not sure how to know whether [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > he seems unable or unwilling to nurse while we're lying down (a > disappointment, I'm short on time right now so sorry if this is really blunt ;-) Don't give up on the night nursing. It took Hunter and I about 3 months. If it were me I'd hold off on the bottle until 5 weeks. Use the next 7-10 days to really work on her latch. When giving the bottle just give a couple ounces after a feed. If a baby has a weak latch or suck, or doesn't like to latch you want to make sure they know they have to work for milk. Nurse first then get the bottle. (My theory, not fact, lol). At least that is what I did. Be gone when she gets the bottle. If this is not possible I'd prop it. Honestly. I did it about 4 times with my guys. I'd stayed behind them close enough to make sure they didn't choke. Give a bottle once a day 5 times a week. good luck SignatureNikki, mama to Hunter 4/99 Luke 4/01 Brock 4/06 Ben 4/06 > DS is almost four weeks old, and I had been planning to introduce > bottles at 4-5 weeks, but I'm not sure how to know whether [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > DS 6-2-06 > DD 9-29-04 My baby never had any issues switching from bottle, breast, or pacifier from birth so I don't tell folks to automatically assume it will happen. Really, when it gets right down to it, all you can do is give it a go and monitor latch closely; if you see a problem starting, then stop and work it back to the way you need it to be. > Really, when it gets right down to it, all you can do is give > it a go and monitor latch closely; if you see a problem starting, then > stop and work it back to the way you need it to be. To be more accurate: that's not "all you can do" but it's a choice you can make which is often a very reasonable choice for example if the mother is planning to work. There are always alternatives, such as never giving the baby a bottle or deciding not to work and making do with very little money. Asking the daycare to feed the baby from a cup or spoon is another alternative. It's good to be aware of the alternatives when making a choice. Working it back to the way you need it to be may not always be feasible. > > Really, when it gets right down to it, all you can do is give > > it a go and monitor latch closely; if you see a problem starting, then [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > Working it back to the way you need it to be may not > always be feasible. True, but that last paragraph you typed here "working it back to the way YOU NEED it", is sort of up to mom to decide what that is since she is going back to work, be it breast, bottle, sippy cup, syringe, etc. It is pretty much feasible since I have never known a breastfed baby yet at four weeks of age to completely avoid the breast for long when the "alternatives" are taken away. Not saying that working back to breast only is easy, but much easier when a potential problem is caught within a day or two of noticing it than waiting weeks, and it is done all of the time. > My baby never had any issues switching from bottle, breast, or pacifier > from birth so I don't tell folks to automatically assume it will > happen. Really, when it gets right down to it, all you can do is give > it a go and monitor latch closely; if you see a problem starting, then > stop and work it back to the way you need it to be. fair, but as a significant proportion of babies do get problems if bottles are introduced too early (pacifiers are slightly, but not entirely different), it's still best to wait until 4 weeks, unless you really need to do it, say you had a horrendous cracked nipple you could give a bottle and feed from the other side if you couldn't get round it any other way. I had to go for an appointment when my DD was about 2 weeks old, it would have been so awkward to take her, but she was a very good breastfeeder so I left a bottle just in case, whilst planning to be back in time, and I was. But I don't think it would be prudent to just thrust a bottle upon them at birth, because though it you do spot a problem after 1 bottle you can go back, but if you don't spot a problem, or when you're exhausted and trying to teach a new baby to breastfeed with trouble anyway, it seems far easier to wait until 4 weeks. I think I'd also give out different advice to a first timer and a 2nd timer, or more, I wouldn't have known what a problem was had it hit me in the face first time, back then, unless it caused pain it wasn't a problem, hence me not noticing his week suck. Anne > I think I'd also give out different advice to a first timer and a 2nd timer, > or more, I wouldn't have known what a problem was had it hit me in the face > first time, back then, unless it caused pain it wasn't a problem, hence me > not noticing his week suck. Fortunately, I (the OP) am a second-timer, and the first time wasn't that long ago! So although things are different this time, I did experience a good nurser with no problems (after the initial awkwardness), so at least I have that perspective. I wouldn't take any of this advice as a guarantee or a promise, first time mommy or not -- I've already experienced way too much with both my pregnancies and both my kids that wasn't "typical" or "normal" -- I am always cautious and skeptical. Thanks. :) -Carlye DS 6-2-06 DD 9-29-04 Thanks, everyone, for the advice. We're going to wait until the middle of next week or so, and then we'll try a bottle, introducing it very slowly. Incidentally, I've been watching DS's latch very carefully and it looks like he's doing just fine, as long as I'm a bit, uh, "deflated." I think he was still having trouble since I'm still quite engorged and producing excessive milk. If I pump a bit beforehand, or if he has nursed recently, it is fine. I think that is the problem with nighttime feedings, too. Anyway, I am much more confident that we'll be able to switch between breast and bottle easily. Thanks for the advice and reassurance. :-) -Carlye DS 6-2-06 DD 9-29-04 |
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