Comments | march_2009: when to start bottles

and_after_that in march_2009

when to start bottles

Apr 16, 2009 12:56

Anya and I just got back from the pediatrician's office, where we learned that she has already gained a pound and a half (in just over 2 weeks). The pediatrician, who is also a lactation consultant, was very pleased. But, she said I should start pumping / trying bottles now. I asked about waiting 4 weeks to avoid nipple confusion, and she told ( Read more... )

breastfeeding, breast pumps

Comments 8

withluckysevens April 16 2009, 18:48:37 UTC

either_or April 16 2009, 19:56:07 UTC

nak

hi. i will be going to school when my baby is seven months old. i anticipate him needing to take some pumped milk then, but not sooner (barring some emergency). do you think, then, we might not need to introduce him to bottles at all and can go straight to a sippy cup when the time comes? i'm very wary of bottles, and he's small and a little fussy, so i'm scared of anything that could jeopardize our nursing relationship.

thanks!

withluckysevens April 16 2009, 20:15:21 UTC

and_after_that April 16 2009, 20:43:58 UTC

Yeah, I had never heard that nipple confusion is correlated with the strength of nursing relationship.

Like I said below, I don't exactly need her to take a bottle, but there are a few times coming up where it would certainly be nice! We'll see...

sleeping_pill April 16 2009, 19:41:48 UTC

my daughter is also a really good nurser and i introduced a bottle to her last week (almost 5 weeks old) and she took it no problem! i need her to take one a couple times later this month and i was scared to wait too long b/c my sons wouldn't take a bottle at 6 weeks and i was afraid of waiting too long this time. my sons i didn't have a huge need for them to be able to take a bottle but with my daughter i really need her to a few times in the next month so i was getting nervous.

that being said, i agree with the previous comment about not giving a bottle unless needed. i really wish i didn't have to give my daughter one ever but with 2 older kids i have some obligations to them/their school and i need to leave her with my mom for a few hours. i don't plan on it being a regular occurence though and hopefully will use a sippy cup in the future if i need her to take pumped milk in a few months.

and_after_that April 16 2009, 20:41:32 UTC

Thanks. I don't exactly need to use a bottle, but there are several 2 hour blocks (that's without the commute) that I need to go in to work (even though I'm technically on maternity leave). I'm planning on having whoever watches her just hang out in my office, and bring her to me if she needs to nurse, but it would be way easier and, I think, better for her, if she could stay home and have a bottle if she's hungry. I work at a school, and while my office is away from the students, I'd really rather her not even be in that germy place at all. I'm not interested in regular bottle feeding at all, and like I said, I don't even own a pump or anything, but I can foresee that there might be other situations too (an emergency where I had to be away or something) where it might be nice if a bottle were a possibility. And her dad would really like to be able to feed her, but that is a more minor concern ( ... )

allykitty5 April 18 2009, 19:13:27 UTC

I do have friends who waited to offer a bottle and their baby wouldn't take it.

With both of mine, I offered a bottle somewhere between 3-6 weeks and they had no trouble with nipple confusion, etc.

I think it's just different wtih every baby, ya know?

secondchances21 April 20 2009, 03:38:28 UTC

I imagine every baby is different, but with my first he had to get a bottle at just 8 days old when I had very unexpected emergency surgery. He transitioned between bottle and breast just fine with no latch issues at all ( ... )