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'introducing bottle' help please
Hi I'm after some advice on bottles and would be interested to hear what you think.
I've been breastfeeding Elliott since birth (5 weeks ago) but wondering if now would be a good time to introduce a bottle so he can have expressed milk if for whatever reason I cant feed him from the breast.
There are so many different brands / bottles out there claiming to do the best job that I just don't know what to go for.
My mw originally suggested cheap and cheerful poundshop bottles as they flow fast but Internet says go with slow flow. Help I'm confused 😕 x
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Replies
Congratulations on your baby boy! I wanted to reply because I remember feeling just like you - it's so confusing, isn't it?
My breastfed baby was never very good at taking a bottle of expressed milk but we did manage to get to a point where it was OK - after lots of trial and error.
My midwife talked about the slow-flow teats a lot - something about breastfed babies being used to having to 'work' to get the milk flowing, rather than it whooshing straight out (which makes sense I think) - but actually in the end my baby was better with a faster-flow teat. Maybe my milk whooses out!
Oh, and what worked best of all was someone else holding the bottle, not me. My baby just used to cry if it was me and root about looking for my breast.
Good luck with it all!
Thankyou for taking time to reply evespudding. Researching bottles and teats online has become a bit of an obsession so it's really nice to know that other mums have been in the same boat. I guess the slow flow where a baby has to work for milk does make sense but then I also understand that if it's a faster flow then baby won't get frustrated, will take its feed and have a full tum!
I guess I'm also worried about Elliott preferring a bottle (quicker gratification) to breast and that I'm going to undo all the hard work we've put in to establish bf since birth. But I think I'll just have to take my chances. Did you have any issues like this? ☺
Well, if my experience is anything to go by, I don't think Elliott preferring a breast to the bottle is ever going to happen! Like I said, we managed to get my son to take bottles of expressed milk (but never from me) but there was never a day when he would have had a bottle instead of the breast. I guess you could say he tolerated a bottle but he was always happiest at the breast. Don't tell my husband but I quite liked that!
Ah thanks that's really reassured me! It took quite a while for Elliott and I to learn breastfeeding but really happy we persevered. Think I'm going to try a bottle in next few days see how we get on. Will try with a standard bottle and teat and go from there. Thanks again for your replies xx
Quick update on the bottle front..
Hubby successfully gave Elliott a few Oz of expressed milk from a bottle! He took it just fine and then breastfed immediately after! I'm so relieved 😌
Going to do this just once or twice a week for now (don't wish to push my luck)!
😁