https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sat, 09 May 2026 01:06:44 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-handle-all-the-feedings#post-708406 Thu, 11 Apr 2013 15:00:18 +0000 MegWag 708406@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My husband has given maybe 2 bottles ever. I'm a SAHM and only really used the pump a handful of times early on to relieve engorgement and pump out a clog. It's just so much easier to direct feed and it wasn't worth it to me. I guess I think the idea of feeding as a bonding activity is sort of overrated. I mean there's bonding while breastfeeding, but my husband just held/cuddled our son and that was just as bonding as giving a bottle would be, IMO. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-handle-all-the-feedings#post-708397 Thu, 11 Apr 2013 14:59:10 +0000 MamaMoose 708397@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>ARe you going back to work? If so, I would strongly suggest against waiting that long to introduce a bottle since baby is much more likely to refuse the bottle than to refuse the breast! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-handle-all-the-feedings#post-708381 Thu, 11 Apr 2013 14:55:17 +0000 MrsStar 708381@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I do all the feedings and lo is almost 7 months. I pumped at the start to give dh the opportunity to feed her but he wasn't super into it so I stopped. It's hard at night when I'm exhausted and lo wants to feed but I think if I were bottle feeding then I'd be doing all that anyway. I gave her the first bottle and paci around 4/5 weeks and she never had an issue. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-handle-all-the-feedings#post-708123 Thu, 11 Apr 2013 13:50:43 +0000 Kemma 708123@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My LO is six months old, is EBF and has never taken a bottle.</p> <p>If you do want DH to take over a feeding in the early days you'll still need to pump to keep your supply up otherwise your body won't get the message to keep producing milk. Biologically speaking babies aren't designed to be fed by Dad!</p> <p>I think waiting till Baby is a couple of months old is a great idea as it gives you time to establish your supply and breastfeeding relationship, in the meantime Dads can bond in lots of other ways.</p> <p>@edelweiss: @Sammyfab: I've heard it referred to as "nipple preference" which makes more sense, Baby gets used to the fast, easier flow and then doesn't want to work for their food at the breast. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-handle-all-the-feedings#post-707010 Thu, 11 Apr 2013 08:37:51 +0000 littlebittyhouse 707010@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I do most/all of the feedings. The only time he gets a bottle is if I'm at work or he home with Dad. </p> <p>We introduced a bottle at 3-4 weeks and would give a bottle every other day or so because I was going back to work.</p> <p>If I was a SAHM, I would think that I would still introduce a bottle every few days but mostly handle all the feedings and DH and LO would bond in other ways, tub time, baby wearing. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-handle-all-the-feedings#post-706871 Thu, 11 Apr 2013 07:36:21 +0000 ladyfingers 706871@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I handle them all unless I have to go out if the house and leave LO home and will miss a feeding. Then DH will give a bottle and if I have time I'll pump when I get home to make up for the missed feeding. </p> <p>It's just so much easier to feed LO from the boob without having to worry about prepping a bottle, is it enough, then I have to pump, clean it, etc. Oy. I'm pumping after he goes to bed to build a small stash for my return to work and that's enough of a hassle. DH gets plenty of bonding time though and has never requested to be able to feed him. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-handle-all-the-feedings#post-706869 Thu, 11 Apr 2013 07:35:00 +0000 littlebug 706869@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@septemberlove: Before I went back to work, Hubs gave D a bottle every evening. It was my chance to get stuff done and cook dinner (which I like doing, otherwise he would have gladly cooked dinner for us!). I think we started that around, like you said, 4-6 weeks. I pumped once a day, first thing in the morning, to relieve the engorgement from overnight sleeping. D was sleeping through the night starting at 3 or 4 weeks, so I was waking up engorged. I would feed him on one side, then put him back to bed and pump from the other side. When he woke up 2 or 3 hours later, I would just feed him again from the same side he nursed on last time. And Hubs would give him that bottle every evening. We used the Tommee Tippee bottles - I chose them because I thought they looked the most like a boob and would lessen the chances for nipple confusion. He's taken them with no problems since the start! Now that I'm back to work, he gets bottles all day at daycare, so I try to handle all the feedings myself during the week (mostly for selfish reasons - I want my snuggle time!), but then Hubs gives him the evening bottle on the weekends. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-handle-all-the-feedings#post-706866 Thu, 11 Apr 2013 07:32:58 +0000 edelweiss 706866@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>the very early newborn days can be rough so i understand not wanting to add pumping to the mix. you can work it in when you feel more comfortable.</p> <p>for us, i needed to start pumping around the 6-day mark because my milk had come in, but it wasn't flowing and LO lost 10% of his body weight pretty quickly. my lactation consultant told me to pump after every nursing session (i was allowed to skip one) to establish my milk supply, so i was pumping 6-8 times a day. we supplemented nursing sessions with bottled breast milk (and formula for about a week until my supply was up). </p> <p>we never had any issues with nipple confusion. my pediatrician also said that no one had come to him saying that they were having problems with nipple confusion. looking back, it was a royal pain to be pumping and nursing so many times a day. the pros are that i'm used to pumping now, and LO is used to a bottle, which is great to get a break and because he will be going to daycare.</p> <p>but to answer your question, i still do most of the feedings. nursing is faster and easier. however that will all change when LO goes to daycare! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-handle-all-the-feedings#post-706863 Thu, 11 Apr 2013 07:29:54 +0000 yellowbird 706863@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>For the first two months I handled all the feedings. When I went back to work, she obviously had to take a bottle. Now I have a large stash, so if she wakes up multiple times to eat at night, DH takes a turn. </p> <p>She wouldn't take a bottle until she had no other choice though. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-handle-all-the-feedings#post-706854 Thu, 11 Apr 2013 07:21:17 +0000 Sammyfab 706854@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Some LCs will tell you that nipple confusion is a load of hooey! ;)</p> <p>We had a lot of BFing challenges for the first month where my LO didn't even latch on until he was a month old. My DH helped a ton with feedings during that time. Once we started EBFing, we went maybe 4-5 weeks without giving a bottle...which I totally regretted because getting my LO to take a bottle after that involved screaming, spitting and lots of wasted milk! But at around 10 weeks old, we started giving my LO a bottle of pumped milk at bedtime every night and that was the best decision we ever made because at that point, anyone could put him down for the night.</p> <p>Yes, drinking from the tap (love that!) is easier, but you'll also be thankful that your LO will be able to take a bottle. I'd recommend you introduce one early and offer a bottle regularly. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-handle-all-the-feedings#post-706843 Thu, 11 Apr 2013 07:13:50 +0000 hilsy85 706843@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I do most of the feedings. I'm also a SAHM. But it's sooo much easier to nurse rather than pumping and then washing bottles, pump parts, etc. </p> <p>Most LCs will tell you to wait to pump until 4-6 wks because that's when your supply gets established, and you don't want to develop an oversupply. However, if you're going back to work, a lot of moms find that pumping early is somewhat helpful because it allows you to build a freezer stash. But either way, you'll have time to save up milk. As for introducing bottles/pacis early, I really think that's just a personal decision...there have been threads on nipple confusion and I think most people actually say that their LO refuses the bottle in favor of the breast, rather than the other way around (that's how it is for us, anyway). We gave LO a bottle at 1 wk old and it didn't affect breastfeeding (and now he won't take a bottle unless he's staaarving). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-handle-all-the-feedings#post-706812 Thu, 11 Apr 2013 06:55:15 +0000 mediagirl 706812@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I do most of the feedings. The only time she gets a bottle is if I'm at work and she's at daycare or home with her Dad. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-handle-all-the-feedings#post-706792 Thu, 11 Apr 2013 06:41:19 +0000 autumnlove 706792@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DH handled most of the feedings the first month because my C-section recovery was slower than I expected and I had issues with nursing for the first few weeks. I pumped a lot the first month and he fed LO most of her bottles. I started handling more of the feedings after he went back to work...nursing was also easier by then! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-handle-all-the-feedings#post-706786 Thu, 11 Apr 2013 06:35:40 +0000 kml636 706786@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I pretty much handle all the feedings. Pumping is a huge pain but sometimes we do have him give her a bottle. Mostly it's just easier to do it myself. But, I make him in charge of bath time and now that she will be starting solids soon, he'll be in charge of that as well. He loves being in charge of something :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-handle-all-the-feedings#post-706778 Thu, 11 Apr 2013 06:22:19 +0000 Smurfette 706778@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DH does one bottle at night when she will take it. Otherwise I do all the feedings. I wish he did more, it is exhausting. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-handle-all-the-feedings#post-706770 Thu, 11 Apr 2013 06:15:27 +0000 oliviaoblivia 706770@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I've never pumped an LO is three months old. It just seems like such a pain when my boobs are right here. What I have done, that you could consider, is use Milkies to catch the opposite side letdown. I can catch almost two ounces a day. I've built up a small freezer stash this way and DH has given her a few bottles. Enough to fulfill his desire to feed her, but without the hassle of pumping and then sterilizing. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-handle-all-the-feedings#post-706767 Thu, 11 Apr 2013 06:09:31 +0000 matador84 706767@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Yes, I only pump when I'm at work and that is plenty for me...as much as I wish DH could take some feedings-DS does better off the boob. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-handle-all-the-feedings#post-706756 Thu, 11 Apr 2013 05:47:20 +0000 lomom 706756@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I want to exclusively breastfeed, whether it's 100% "from the tap" so to speak or whether there are pumped bottles included as well. </p> <p>DH and I were talking about it and he seemed really surprised that he wouldn't be feeding LO hardly ever. I think the only time I'd pump is when I know I'd be out of the house for a few hours or something, but I don't want to introduce bottles or pacis until LO is at least 4-6 weeks. But at the same time, knowing he'd like to be able to feed, I'd like to try to come up with some kind of solution. If he wants to have that bonding experience with LO also, then I want to make it happen. </p> <p>Did you ever pump so someone else could help with feedings? How did that work with engorgement and nipple confusion? I love that he wants to help but I'm nervous about supply, engorgement, and nipple confusion. Would it be best to wait until 4-6 weeks once we have breastfeeding down pat? I just don't see it being feasible in the early newborn days to pump a bottle, hand it off to DH, then go wash the pump while he feeds LO, when I could just nurse LO but I'd be willing to try it later, once we're in more of a routine and have a bit more sleep!</p> <p>As a ftm, I just don't have a clue. </p>