DD is 11 days old and I'm wondering when to introduce a bottle? I'm a SAHM so I do not have to return to work but I would like her to get comfortable with a bottle for times when DH is watching her. I've read to wait until 3 weeks old or 6 weeks old. I'm thinking 3 weeks old may be to early? I really do not want to cause any type of nipple confusion and she would probably only be needing a bottle once a week or less. When did you introduce a bottle and did it cause nipple confusion?
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she was 5 weeks when she had her first bottle. She doesn't love bottles, but she'll tolerate them. Still EBF at 7 months old
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Our ped. told us we could at 4 weeks, but we waited until 5 weeks. We started by giving her a bottle of pumped milk every few days, and she did just fine.
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We introduced it from day 1 and always had at least one bottle a day, even when I was a SAHM and was nursing Wagon Jr. full time. I didn't want to run into a situation where my kids refused the bottle and I had to go back to work. Neither ever had nipple confusion and both have done just fine on the bottle. Both had a little trouble nursing since they're both tongue tied, and I don't enjoy nursing a whole lot either, so this time around (second kid) I'm exclusively pumping.
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We introduced a bottle at 3 weeks old exactly, after being given the go-ahead by our pedi at his 12 day well-baby visit. He'd been putting on weight like a champ, and we had no problems nursing, and our pedi said she actually sees very few instances of nipple confusion, so we should feel free to try it.
We might have waited a bit longer, but it was DH's birthday and he'd been eager to be able to feed DS, so we tried it that day. He took to it just fine, and went right back on the nipple later on with no problems. With a few exceptions, I don't give him the bottle, DH or someone else does. If there's any possibility of nipple confusion, I feel like it'd be caused by DS being so close to my boobs and smelling me while taking a bottle, so we try to eliminate that possibility as much as possible.
When I do give him a bottle, it's usually A) while we're in the car and I'm leaning back over the seat to give it to him, or B) I have him on my lap with his head near my knees and his feet near my stomach so there's a little bit of distance between him and my boobs.
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i don't really believe in nipple confusion. i usually see the opposite problem -- they reject the bottle instead of the breast.
i introduced it day 1 and olive STILL hates the bottle even though she's had one almost every day of her life!
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I was afraid of nipple confusion, too. But the hospital gave LO a bottle on day 2. She had bottles until she was about 2 wks old and she got the hang of breastfeeding. The next time she had a bottle she was 2 months old in preparation for me going back to work.
LO was never confused but she did have a preference: she prefers the breast. We did have to switch bottles because the bottle she drank from prior to BFing she didn't like after she got the hang of BFing.
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@mrsjazz: What bottle do you use?
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2 weeks. Still to this day at 5 months she prefers the breast, I don't believe in nipple confusion! Lol
We used Tommee Tippee.
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@Mrs.B: We started with Avent when she was a newborn and switched to mOmma (by Lansinoh) when I went back to work. It's sort of shaped like a breast.
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@Mrs. Bee: oh wow, I didn't even see what you wrote before I responded. I totally agree with you!
A baby is much more likely to refuse a bottle if you introduce it too late than he is to refuse the breast if you introduce a bottle too early.
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Our LO was introduced to a bottle day 1 by the NICU staff. He has had no issue with nipple confusion.
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LO got a bottle from day 1. He switches back and forth from bottle to breast like a champ.
I don't believe in "nipple confusion". -
I totally agree with Mrs. Bee and Rainbow Sprinkles about nipple confusion. If anything, my lo hates taking a bottle from me if my breasts are available. She does VERY well drinking from the Tommee Tippee bottles. She had some problems with the Avent ones and too much air so, we switched to those. We gave her her first bottle at 2 weeks because she was losing too much weight. Never had a problem going between bottle and breast.
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MY baby is breast fed and had her first bottle from day 1. Babies are more likely to refuse a bottle once they get too used to the breast. My baby was doing great in the beginning switching from bottle to breast until I stopped bottle feeding for abotu 2 months and then it took a lot of work to get her to eat from the bottle again
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We introduced the bottle at two weeks, and she usually gets one bottle/day. She hasn't had any problems with nipple confusion. She is particular about what kind of bottle she will take, though. Only Playtex drop-ins/Ventairs or mOmmas like @mrsjazz:
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@Mrs. Bee: I agree with you as well! It was the same way with DD.
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We did it at 4 weeks without a problem. We use tommy tippee bottles.
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We did it at around 3 weeks. We use Avent bottles. No confusion here, but she seems to only like sucking on the nipple (which HURTS!). Other than that, she goes back and forth like a champ.
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We introduced the bottle at 2.5 weeks. She took it just fine for a while and then we went a month without a bottle. now, she refuses to take the bottle (I've written a few posts on this). So I agree, it's more of an issue if you give it to them too late. We're still trying on and off to give her the bottle and I may try the mOmma bottles that are mentioned. I think I've made peace with just nursing her if I need to though (I'm hoping she nurses more efficiently after her three month growth spurt is over).
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We introduced the bottle from day one and she has no problems taking a bottle now (at almost 3 months). The lactation consultant said she didn't believe in nipple confusion either. She said to make sure to give her at least one bottle a day to ensure she doesn't reject the bottle when it's time for me to go back to work.
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We introduced a bottle at about five weeks and try to give her one every day but don't always remember. She's had no issue taking the bottle and will happily take it from me as well as DH (or anyone really). I usually only give her about 30 ml (1 oz) in a bottle with her probiotic and then pop her on the breast when she finishes that; we've had no issues with nipple confusion whatsoever.
We did have a few days about four weeks ago where she suddenly refused the bottle, but I think she had started teething around then. We gave her a couple of days off and then she was back on it no problem.
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We gave him his first bottle at 6 days old. We had pretty bad latching issues so by that point I was so cracked I couldn't feed him. So from 6 days to about 4 weeks all he had was bottles of breast milk. We switched back perfectly,there was no nipple confusion whatsoever. Like @Rainbow Sprinkles: @Mrs. Bee: and @mediagirl: I don't believe in nipple confusion. We also introduced a pacifier at week 3 and still no issues.
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DD had her first bottle around 6 weeks old and didn't have a problem with it. We also use Tommee Tippee bottles after trying BreastFlow but didn't like the flow in the two part nipple. DD had no problem taking the bottle but she prefers the breast.
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LO got a bottle on day 2 at the hospital. She was jaundiced so we needed to supplement with formula.
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We introduced the bottle around 5 weeks and LO still dislikes it! DH has been the one to give it to him, and (to date) we've tried 6 or 7 different bottles - none of which he's been a fan of. We had a really big issue for about a week when LO would scream whenever the bottle touched his lips....I think that was, in part, due to the frustration DH was feeling when trying to feed him. Right now we seem to be having some luck with Born Free and Breastflow bottles. We'll stick to it and hope he can take them at least somewhat.
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start early, as long as you are comfortable breastfeeding. i have so so many friends whose LOs will not accept bottles. we lucked out that at 3 weeks when we started, our LO was just fine with them, but one of my best friends can't ever leave her 8 month old til he's down for the night because he WILL NOT take a bottle from anyone and is 100% hysterical til she returns.
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We waited three weeks at our lactation consultant's recommendation.
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The LC told us 4 weeks and that's what we did. She took it just fine and has been easy to switch back and forth since.
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She has taken one since she was a few days old. And a basic one! The disposable nipples from the hosp, so I went and bought the evenflo nipples and rings for my ameda & Medela bottles. I wish I hadn't sterilized the tommee tippee because I could have returned for $20.
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We waited 4 weeks to introduce a pacifier and 6 for the bottle. She took to both very easily and has had no issues feeding from the breast or the bottle.
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I think it was the second day home from the hospital...day 5?
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Around three weeks. Just had read that was a good time to do it.
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We introduced it from the start because I was always engorged so he would latch on and WAY too much milk will come out at once and soak his face...so I'd pump on the mornings I was engorged and bottle fed him. He is 100% comfortable with both bottle and breast but MAJORLY prefers the breast. Oh, and he only falls asleep after a feeding when it breast.
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@Mrs.B: So glad you posted this!! I only have 4 weks mat. leave so I was wondering what the heck I was going to do!! Glad to know people started right away so that there was no confusion!
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we did at exactly 1 week. LO did not have nipple confusion at all, and it would go from bottle to breast easily. we didn't start having problems until I returned to work full time, and he was getting a bottle all day and would refuse to nurse at night
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My advice is to do it right away.i think nipple confusion is a myth. My DD had a bottle every day from when she was 5 days old. Suddenly, at 6 weeks she started refusing the bottle and still won't take one! She is 4 months old no and I'm worried about my return to work in 2 months time.
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I kind of agree that nipple confusion is a myth.
We started LO on a bottle at 3 weeks. She never had an issue, well actually her only issue would be that she kind of sucks at taking a bottle.
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