Introducing a Bottle to EBF Baby

crizz13 · December 2014

We are in the middle of trying to introduce a bottle to our LO - she is 4 weeks old. We were advised to do this by our pediatrician in preparation for when I go back to work in two months (eeek)!

So far, everything we have done has failed and I'm looking for any advice, tips, tricks, etc.

Here's what we've tried:
Milk that has just been pumped
Medela Calma Nipples
Avent slow flow nipples
Milk that had been frozen
Paced feeding
Me leaving the room
Giving her the bottle after she's already eaten some from the breast

Carebella · December 2014

We had the playtex bottles recommended by the BFing instructor as the slowest/most like mom bottle and nipples. So maybe trying a different bottle or having you not in the room at all with your DH giving her the bottle with the fresh milk? I wish I had other ideas but FX you find a solution soon?

FishyMom · December 2014

His makes me nervous too. We are working on our 3rd week and she has never even seen a bottle. I plan on talking to my ped about it today but the more j think about it the more I feel like we need to start soon!

gldnbearz · December 2014

We had to introduce a bottle at weeks 2-3 due to poor weight gain with EBF. DD took the Dr. Brown bottles without any issues drinking both breast milk and formula.

DH and I both feed her the bottle. She never refused the bottle on me. However, we have never tried to see if she would refuse the breast in favor of the bottle.

MmmPopcorn · December 2014

We tried to introduce a bottle yesterday, and DS pitched a fit of epic proportions. We will be trying again later this week with me out of the house entirely. I will be watching this thread closely.

lovingaddi · December 2014

We tried introducing a bottle 2 nights ago. We needed something at the store, so it was the perfect opportunity to try while I was out of the house. We used the avent natural bottle with frozen milk & paced feeding. DH said she took it at first & then refused & just screamed. Believe it or not, she reluctantly took the rest of the bottle from me when I got home & tried it with her. I'm supposed to return to work in 2 weeks so needless to say, I'm a little nervous. I'm not sure if maybe DH wasn't doing it to her liking, if maybe she would prefer a diff bottle, or if she's just a complete momma's girl lol. I'll probably try again today, but def following this thread.

Have you tried a diff bottle? Or even tried giving it to lo yourself? I know that seems like the least likely option to work, but maybe it will? I prob wouldn't have even mentioned it if it didn't half work for us...just hoping she's not as skeptical next time.

jessa1228 · December 2014

MmmPopcorn said:

We tried to introduce a bottle yesterday, and DS pitched a fit of epic proportions. We will be trying again later this week with me out of the house entirely. I will be watching this thread closely.

I'll be watching too. I plan on introducing a bottle/testing my frozen stash this weekend. I'm so afraid of DS rejecting the bottle :-/

crizz13 · December 2014

Thanks everyone, and good to know I'm not the only one in this boat. DH is going to try again tonight when we know she's hungry....and I'm going to run errands for 10 minutes. If that doesn't work, I'm going to buy one of every kind of bottle they sell!

MmmPopcorn · December 2014

We had some success this afternoon with the Medela Calma nipple. DS took it, but he quickly threw up half of what he ate. I was in the other room trying to take a nap, and H introduced the bottle. I read a little about paced feeding and shared it with H, so hopefully that will work out.

We didn't have success with Avent Natural slow flow nipples, but we will try again later.

crizz13 · December 2014

DH tried the medela calma nipple again tonight paired with paced feeding and me being out of the room. LO ate one oz....so....progress!

KatieOz920 · December 2014

There are some bottles out there that are meant to help the tradition from breast to bottle - like the Munchkin Latch and the Tommy Tippy natural flow. I would suggest buying only 1 bottle of each and see how your LO takes to it. I have a whole Latch set that I'm not able to use because I had to switch to Dr Browns because of gas

belmont1785 · December 2014

I introduced a bottle at 2 weeks. Only every once in a while just to get her used to it. I would pump and then feed her. I use the Medela bottle and nipple that came with my breast pump and she is doing awesome with that so I will probably just buy more of those.

kmlopez11 · December 2014

My LO took it from her Grammy very well and all 3 times has eaten all 3 oz. so we are lucky! I go back to work in 5 weeks so I wanted reassurance that she would take a bottle. Now I'll have my husband do some of the late night feedings to help out. We, so far, are using avent natural bottles with slow flow nipples. Good luck!

howin23 · December 2014

We introduced a bottle tonight at 3 weeks. We used the ones that came with the Medela pump and hubby fed her without me nearby. I had it in the fridge so I heated it under warm water for a while first, I think to around 85 or 90. She took the 2oz without trouble but it was harder to burp her afterward. Wondering if maybe that wasn't enough? Not sure how to know.

oklahomamom09 · December 2014

I should have read this before posting earlier but I was in a hurry and on my way to Walmart. LO has BF jaundice and the nipples we have were drowning him so I got Dr Brown's preemie and 0+ slow flow and will be trying them. Now I just gotta figure out when to pump

LO hardly lets me put him down. I'm so stressed out now :-S

*edit: wrong verb tense

crizz13 · December 2014

We found a nipple L will take besides mine! She will take Playtex naturalatch slow flow!

Now, a question... As a FTM fail, I registered, received, and washed a whole set of Avent bottles and nipples. I guess my nesting brain just assumed there would be no problem...Any chance she'll eventually be able to switch?

amberleighboyer · December 2014

We use the Medela bottles with the slow flow nipple. My LO is 2 weeks old and we introduced it by feeding first at the breast then I would leave the room and my husband would feed him a half oz or a oz with the bottle. We also used the trick where you drip breast milk on the nipple.

lovingaddi · December 2014

We ended up trying again with the Avent natural bottle at DD1's dance class. DH fed her while I sat next to him. She took the entire 2 oz we offered! Now to increase the frequency so she gets used to both bottle & breast. Sad we have to get ready for daycare already

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