Breastfeeding....

csimoneau88

I'm 22 weeks pregnant. I would like to breastfeed but, my husband wants to feed the baby (Layla) too. I heard that if I give the baby a bottle too early she will pull away from the nipple. When should I give her a bottle to make sure I can still feed her from my chest? Please help with any advice. Thanks Cynthia

Temp67694062501186

This is something to discuss with your OB/pedi/or a lactation consultant.  And they will probably all disagree.  Ha.

 

My OB and pedi agreed that it was ok to start with bottles the first week - in fact we had to in order to supplement Gabby with additional breastmilk in the beginning because she wasn't getting enough by nursing alone.  Plus it allowed DH to feed her and for me to sleep longer.  The lactation consultant I met with didn't like that idea tho and suggested I feed from a spoon (yeah really... my two week old, but surprisingly she did take the milk from a spoon just fine.). 

 

We had no problem with nipple confusion in the end - We went the route of spoon feeding for all of ONE feeding and have used bottles since.  I still breastfeed and give Gabby bottles when I am away from her, and she takes a pacifier to sleep.  It can be different for everyone tho and I think it's just a matter of trial and error.  Good luck!!

Temp67694062501186

And I meant to add - I think the most important thing is to make sure that your child has a good latch and has learned to nurse well before introducing a bottle if you don't have to. 

margauxlicious

I was told to wait til at least 2 weeks to introduce the bottle.  That being said I did wait til around 2-3 weeks to pump and give DD a bottle.  She did ok, never had nipple confusion.  She did, however, start to latch really shallow causing a lot of pain and issues.  Was it because of the bottle or just coincidence, who knows?!

If I were to do it all over again I may have waited a little longer to introduce the bottle but everyone is different.  I wasn't in a big hurry to start with the bottle but I wanted to make sure she would take one for when I went back to work at 6 weeks and when I would go to the store, run errands, etc...

Good luck, I'm sure you will find what works for you.