Looking for advice from anyone who can help.

kkrolik3399

Hi I am Due in November. I will be returning to work when the baby is about 11 weeks. Originally I was going to exclusivly pump because i thought it would be easier than having to introduce a bottle to the baby after they had gotten used to the boob. However through posting about it on the breast feeding Board the general consencus is that this will be much harder then neccesary and it will be better for my supply if i strictly pump at work and breast feed when home. My main questions are.....How soon can you start introducing bottles to the baby? I want to make sure they are very used to them by the time I go back to work so that My caregiver doesnt have any problem. Also any suggestions on bottles? I was hoping to use the regular mam bottles for price control but am not against having to spend more if it is a neccesity. Also....any problems with Pacifiers and suggestions for them that go well with breast feeding. i am just scared of nipple confusion and am hoping to make this transition easy for my lo. Help is appreciated

BrandyCheri

Best advice with introducing bottles is to do it around 4 weeks.  Too soon can possibly lead to nipple confusion or preference for bottles, but trust me (from experience), introducing too late can be a problem.  My oldest was fine with bottles after working with him for a week or so, but my youngest never really lked them.  We struggled to get him to take bottles at daycare, but he would always nurse perfectly fine.  I only pumped early on to have something to start bottles with, then when I went back to work at 11-12 weeks, I only pumped at work.  My pump even stayed at work over the weekends unless we had special plans and were using a sitter for any reason!  I hated pumping the whole time and could never exclusively pump unless it were medically neccessary!  But I did it at work everyday because that was neccessary... Hope my opinion and experience helps you!

GreenMonkey1

I breastfeed at home and pump while at work.  We introduced the bottle to DS at 3-4 weeks, our pediatrician recommended we start at that time as DS was doing really well with breastfeeding.  My understanding was that it is ok to introduce the bottle when breastfeeding is established.  Pediatricians, in my experience, know a lot about breastfeeding and will help parents determine when introducing the bottle is appropriate.

The way we introduced the bottle, DH fed DS a bottle at night before bed and I left the room to pump or otherwise get the boobs out of the room.  It worked pretty well and DS has really never had trouble with the bottle.

We use Avent and Dr. Brown's bottles - DS will use either although the Dr. Brown's was easier as he was learning to hold the bottle.  The Avent bottles are shorter and fatter, he tended to drop them more. 

DS also uses a pacifier, he prefers the Avent, mostly to sleep although he uses them more regularly now as he is teething.  Again, we didn't have trouble with nipple confusion.  I'd talk to your pediatrician, but our pediatrician said nipple confusion is actually pretty rare for as much as it is talked/worried about.  

Breastfeeding was harder than I anticipated, at least in the beginning, but once you power through the beginning it gets way way easier.  There is a ton you can stress about - believe me, I stressed about tons.  I would advise to just take it as a learning process and try (easier said than done) to relax about how it will go.  You and your baby will get a rhythm.  

Since you are still pregnant, I'd check out resources in your area.  There is a La Leche League in my area and the hospital has lactation consultants, but they weren't for me.  I relied a lot on my Mom, my Dad (who is a pediatrician), my son's pediatrician, and a good friend who breastfed her daughter to 17-months.  It was my little breastfeeding power team.

financialdiva

Just breath!! :-) Everything is going to be okay.

I EBF DS2 right now, and also EBFed DS1 for 14 months. I went back to work at 12 weeks with both boys and pump/pumped three times a day. 

DH gave DS1 a bottle at two weeks. He was fine. DS2 got a bottle around 3 weeks, and didn't get one very often afterwards (not intentionally, it just slipped my mind) and he takes a bottle like a champ. We used Dr Brown's with both boys. Both boy's also took NUK paci's at one day old. Never had any issues with nipple confusion and obviously have been successful with BF.

I think nipple confusion is a real thing- just not as common as people make you believe. You only hear the horror stories of BF, not the normal ones, ya know?

The first couple of weeks, just focus on feeding that baby. It's going to be HARD. And you are going to want to cry bc you're nipples hurt. Keep going!! It gets so much easier. Focus on dirty diapers- one diaper for every day old they are until one week- then they should have 8 wet or dirty diapers per day. Don't stress and think they aren't getting enough. Don't supplement until your milk comes in- bad advice! You have to create a demand in order for there will be a supply. Nurse nurse nurse!! Don't pump for at least two weeks until your supply regulates.

Sorry- totally went off subject! GL to you!!

kimberlybethh

I exclusively pumped for four months until my DD was diagnosed with MSPI. I did it by circumstance and not by choice. To be blunt, it really sucks. It is twice as much work and very diffcult to pump and care for a fussy newborn at the same time.

Like other people said, I would introduce a bottle at three weeks. My LO loved the advent bottles but l have also heard good things about the tommy tippee bottles. Everything will work out!!

Bluedewdrops2569

Hi there! I exclusively pumped until DS was 6 1/2 mons old. It worked great for me. I thought it was going to be hard but I found a great pump and a routine that worked. It was definitely my choice. We were told to supplement at 3 days old by the pedi and after having the bottle he became a real bear about the boob. I used the bottles that went with the pump I was using: Avent. They are a little more expensive, but it made storage and pumping easier.  Before he was born I bought tons of different types of bottles thinking that I wouldn't need them for months. I was wrong. He tried all of the bottles, but we had the most success with Avent. DS didn't really have an interest in pacifiers until 4 months. We bought a bunch of those too. Someone told me to buy a large variety before he arrives so that you have a stash to try. This was good advice.

I definitely didn't plan on EP but it really worked great for me and DS. He got tons of breast milk and I was able to do it in a way that was manageable for me. I couldn't find a lot of moms who did it but there were a lot of opinions about it.  Two things from my experience, you can never predict exactly how it will work out for you AND in my opinion, anything you can do to give your baby milk is great. Good luck to you!

emfolstad

My baby started using a NUK and drank from a bottle while we were still at the hospital.  The lactation consultants also had me pumping right away, in the hospital.  My daughter had trouble latching at first so I'd pump (and get a tiny bit) and then my husband would give her a bottle.  It also hurt so badly right away that pumping felt better.  She didn't get a good latch on me until the night we came home from the hospital and then never had problems again, with either me or a bottle.  We have ended up just using the Medela bottles as those are what we used in the hospital.  They have a similiar nipple as the green newborn NUK so we just kept doing what was working.  Now that I'm back at work, I pump while I'm at work and she gets bottles.  I breastfeed her in the morning and evenings.  So far it's working great for us.  I was a big bottle proponent as I didn't want to be the only one that could feed her!  And as the others have said, breastfeeding hurts terribly at first, but after a fews days it gets better so just power through and it will be totally fine before you know it.  Now I would definitely rather have her breastfeed than pump!  Good Luck and enjoy your pregnancy!

mattnrachel

We introduced the bottle on Day 7.  He would get one bottle each night from my husband, while I got a couple extra hours of sleep.  I pump at work and breastfeed at home.  He has never had a problem taking either.  Avent was the first bottle we used and has worked fine throughout.  He would never take a pacifier and sucked on his thumb/fingers for a few months but no longer does.

caladpi02

We introduced a bottle in the hospital as she was small and jaundiced. We use Dr Browns bottles, but she has taken every bottle/nipple we have given her. She still gets 12 bottles a day. DH does bottles during the night feeds and I pump much faster.
We use the soothie avent pacifier as well, but she's not the biggest fan of the pacifier.