I plan on breastfeeding my LO after he is born, but I was wondering how do you get your child to be used to both bottle and breastfeeding?
My parents and friends want to be able to watch him when I'm not around, like if I have to run an errand or go to school, so I want to make it so that my son will be able to latch on to a bottle as well. I'm just not sure how to do this.
Do I breastfeed for most of the day and use a bottle (that will still have breastmilk in it) for only a certain time of the day or do I switch off between the two?
You want to establish your breastfeeding relationship first. Breast only for the first 4-6 weeks. Then, have a weekly time that you leave LO to run an errand, etc...
There's never a guarentee that baby will take a bottle at all, or even continue to take one as they get older (those babies have a mind of their own, I swear!)... BUT, even if baby won't take one eventually (or ever), it's not the end of the world. You will still be able to leave baby with caregivers.
I just let my SO try and she went for it. She was 4 or 5 weeks old and nursing really well. I, personally, have never given her a bottle. she's 6 months old now and saw another baby with a bottle while I was holding her and I guess she thought "Hey I'm hungry too" and buried her face in my chest and started sucking (not anywhere productive just what ever skin she could get to. It was pretty hilarious.
This
Quoting SewingMamaLele:You want to establish your breastfeeding relationship first. Breast only for the first 4-6 weeks. Then, have a weekly time that you leave LO to run an errand, etc...
There's never a guarentee that baby will take a bottle at all, or even continue to take one as they get older (those babies have a mind of their own, I swear!)... BUT, even if baby won't take one eventually (or ever), it's not the end of the world. You will still be able to leave baby with caregivers.
The other issue is developing a flow preference and baby deciding that the bottles are easier. Honestly unless you are gone more than 3-4 hours baby should not need a bottle. And honestly most errands shouldn't take that long. :)
Quoting SewingMamaLele:You want to establish your breastfeeding relationship first. Breast only for the first 4-6 weeks. Then, have a weekly time that you leave LO to run an errand, etc...
There's never a guarentee that baby will take a bottle at all, or even continue to take one as they get older (those babies have a mind of their own, I swear!)... BUT, even if baby won't take one eventually (or ever), it's not the end of the world. You will still be able to leave baby with caregivers.
What if I decide to do daycare though? ..
Quoting MonicaV1982:
The other issue is developing a flow preference and baby deciding that the bottles are easier. Honestly unless you are gone more than 3-4 hours baby should not need a bottle. And honestly most errands shouldn't take that long. :)
Quoting SewingMamaLele:
You want to establish your breastfeeding relationship first. Breast only for the first 4-6 weeks. Then, have a weekly time that you leave LO to run an errand, etc...
There's never a guarentee that baby will take a bottle at all, or even continue to take one as they get older (those babies have a mind of their own, I swear!)... BUT, even if baby won't take one eventually (or ever), it's not the end of the world. You will still be able to leave baby with caregivers.
You want to wait 4-6 weeks, for breastfeeding to be well established before introducing the bottle.
The way it works is if you are with baby, baby gets the breast. If you are away, you leave a bottle of expressed milk.
Lots of good info on handling feeding when you are separated from baby (when to start pumping, how much milk to leave etc.) in these articles. They are aimed at moms going back to work or school, but it is all the same, whatever reason you are separated from baby and baby needs to be fed!
Preparing for Your Return to Work: The Breastfeeding Mother’s Guide
Returning to Work: The Breastfeeding Mother’s Guide
How to bottle-feed the breastfed baby
…tips for a breastfeeding supportive style of bottle feeding
PDF version (great for child care providers)
Often, as infant feeding specialists, lactation consultants and other experts in the field of human lactation are asked how to properly bottle-feed a baby. Direct breastmilk feedings from the mother’s breast are always preferred to any artificial source or substance. In addition, there are often alternatives to bottle-feeding, such as cup feeding, which should be explored. For the baby who has to be bottle-fed, following is some information to help make the experience a good one for the baby and also to make sure that breastfeeding is fully supported even when artificial feedings are used.
This information can also be useful in evaluating infant care providers and for instructing them on how to bottle-feed a breastfed infant. Note that when working through any feeding difficulties with an infant, a lactation consultant is an excellent resource for evaluating methods for their appropriateness to the specific situation.
While useful for any bottle-fed infant, this information is particularly targeted towards infants between 12 weeks and 6 months of age.
Babies should be bottle-fed:
- When their cues indicate hunger, rather than on a schedule.
- Held in an upright position; it is especially important to avoid letting the baby drink from a bottle when lying down. Such a position is associated with bottle caries and an increased frequency of ear infections. Note also that babies should be held often at times when they are not being fed, to avoid the baby being trained to eat in order to be held.
- With a switch from one side to the other side midway through a feed; this provides for eye stimulation and development, and thwarts the development of a side preference which could impact the breastfeeding mother.
- For 10-20 minutes at a time, to mimic the usual breastfeeding experience. Care providers should be encouraged to make appropriate quantities last the average length of a feeding, rather than trying to feed as much as they can in as short a time as possible. This time element is significant because the infant’s system needs time to recognize satiety, long before the stomach has a chance to get over-filled.
- Gently, allowing the infant to draw nipple into mouth rather than pushing the nipple into the infant’s mouth, so that baby controls when the feed begins. Stroke baby’s lips from top to bottom with the nipple to illicit a rooting response of a wide open mouth, and then allow the baby to “accept” the nipple rather than poking it in.
- Consistent with a breastfed rhythm; the caregiver should encourage frequent pauses while the baby drinks from the bottle to mimic the breastfeeding mother’s let-down patterns. This discourages the baby from guzzling the bottle and can mitigate nipple confusion or preference.
- To satiation, so that baby is not aggressively encouraged to finish the last bit of milk in the bottle by such measures as forcing the nipple into the mouth, massaging the infant’s jaw or throat, or rattling the nipple around in the infant’s mouth. If baby is drowsing off and releasing the bottle nipple before the bottle is empty that means baby is done; don’t reawaken the baby to “finish.” See Bottlefeeding tips from AskDrSears.com.
The benefits of bottle-feeding in this manner:
- The infant will consume a volume appropriate to their size and age, rather than over- or under-eating. This can support the working and pumping mom who then has an increased likelihood of pumping a daily volume equivalent to the baby’s demand.
- This can minimize colic-like symptoms in the baby whose stomach is distended or over-fed.
- It supports the breastfeeding relationship, hopefully leading to longer durations and increased success at breastfeeding particularly for mothers who are separated from their nurslings either intermittently or recurrently.
Bottle-feeding Myth 1:
Bottle-feeding lets me know how much nutrition the baby has had.
Moms who bottle-feed, whether using expressed breast milk or anything else, should be aware that while artificial feeding may seem to be a very accurate measure of volume consumed, in fact it is often not. Bottle-fed infants more often regurgitate some quantity of a feed, or get a less than perfect balance of fore and hind milk than they might if feeding directly from the breast. If a substance other than breastmilk is used, the increased metabolic workload for the baby, lower digestibility of nutrients and increased waste substantially dilute the benefit of a feed, although it is more easily measured.
Bottle-feeding Myth 2:
It is easy to bottle-feed safely.
Bottle-feeding caregivers face certain challenges in feeding a baby safely. One extra piece of work is sterilizing all infant feeding equipment for at least the first 4 months. And, if artificial substances are used:
- Lot numbers should be kept for any artificial milks fed to the baby, so that parents can determine whether the product was subject to a recall.
- A clean source of water must be available, free from bacteria. If tap water is used, the caregiver must decide whether to boil the water to eliminate bacteria (which may concentrate any heavy metals in the water), or to use unboiled water. If bottled water is used, lot numbers should be recorded. Powdered infant formula should be mixed with water that is at least 70°C/158°F to kill any harmful bacteria that may be present in the powdered formula.
- Quantities the baby will need should be carefully estimated, since unused formula must be discarded. Overestimating can lead to having to throw out the unused amount – and that is quite an expensive piece of waste.
For more information on infant feeding myths, see Dr. Jack Newman’s Breastfeeding Myths
More:
- Tips for bottle feeding the breastfed baby
- Baby-led Bottle Feeding from NurturedChild.ca
- Boosting Bottle Feeding Bonding – 5 top tips… from AnalyticalArmadillo.co.uk
- New thoughts on using bottle nipples with breastfed babies from Lactation Education Resources
Bottle-feeding as a tool to reinforce breastfeeding by Dee Kassing, from J Hum Lact. 2002 Feb;18(1):56-60.
- Tips for encouraging your baby to accept a bottle
- Offering Your Breastfed Baby a Bottle by Becky Flora, BSed, IBCLC
- Tips on Offering Bottles by Paula Yount
- Guidelines for Introducing a Bottle to a Breast-Fed Baby by Marianne Neifert, MD, et al.
- Introducing Bottles and Pacifiers to a Breastfed Baby by Anne Smith, BA, IBCLC
- Helping a Breastfed Baby Accept a Bottle from Lactation Education Resources
- Tips for combining breast and bottle feeding
- Combining breast and bottle feeding by Anne Smith, BA, IBCLC
- Partial Weaning & Combination Feeding @
- Should I use a bottle if baby is refusing to nurse? from “Help — My Baby Won’t Nurse!” @
See also Alternative Feeding Methods @
Quoting USM0MMY:What if I decide to do daycare though? ..
Quoting MonicaV1982:
The other issue is developing a flow preference and baby deciding that the bottles are easier. Honestly unless you are gone more than 3-4 hours baby should not need a bottle. And honestly most errands shouldn't take that long. :)
Quoting SewingMamaLele:
You want to establish your breastfeeding relationship first. Breast only for the first 4-6 weeks. Then, have a weekly time that you leave LO to run an errand, etc...
There's never a guarentee that baby will take a bottle at all, or even continue to take one as they get older (those babies have a mind of their own, I swear!)... BUT, even if baby won't take one eventually (or ever), it's not the end of the world. You will still be able to leave baby with caregivers.
All of the above... and you simply hand baby to caregiver and GO. Breastfed babies typically refuse bottles from mom; mom's trying to pass a counterfeit bill instead of paying with the real stuff, you know? But if mom's out of the picture baby is often quite happy to take a bottle.
More time is wasted trying to teach baby to take a bottle than would be if moms used the "hand baby over and go" method.
caught the stomach flu and now i dont produce enough
- USM0MMY
on Mar. 4, 2013 at 2:32 PM