Breast AND Bottle Feeding?

Question

Hi moms! Hoping someone can help with my questions, bear with me!
I am SO confused by the “norm” for breast feeding AND bottle feeding. Let me explain. 
We will do only breast milk, no formula. I want my baby girl to be able to nurse from the breast but also to take a bottle so dad and other family can have that bonding time too (and mom can have a break). 
I plan to breast feeding immediately and get used to that with baby, but when is a good time to offer a bottle? I would like for dad to be able to feed our newborn in her first few days, is that too soon to offer a bottle or does it not matter? I’d like to start pumping and storing right away to help establish a good milk flow. 
Is it okay to switch between breast and bottle in baby’s first couple of weeks or will that confuse her? Do I need to use bottles that have a “boob-like nipple”? If so, any suggestions? 
I’m sorry if these questions sound stupid but I really am clueless!  Thanks!

Answer

So many people are going to tell you don’t pump till “blah blah weeks” or don’t introduce bottles for “blah blah months” but..... they don’t know your child or your body. 
I have two boys. 2yo and 1 yo and currently 27 weeks pregnant. I start pumping as soon as my milk comes in. I have always been an overproducer so I only ever offer one breast at a time and pump the other while feeding. I’m a working mom so I need a decent size stash to get us thru work. 
When baby is around a week old and my milk comes in the exhaustion kicks in for me. Like I cry and struggle to stay up so we introduce bottles of pumped milk.  We use Dr Browns bottles with the premie nipples (much slower flow). We at first only did it once a day just so I could get a a few hours nap with out worrying about baby. Just remember if a bottle is offered you should still pump. Example: I pump before my nap and try to get the baby to nurse too. Use my pumped milk to make a bottle just Incase the baby wants to eat while I’m napping. Then when I wake, usually around 3-4 hours never more I pump again if a bottle was offered if not then baby is usually hungry by then and I offer a breast and pump. 
I never had issue with nipple confusion. Biggest thing about nipple confusion is baby gets used to how easy it is to get milk from a bottle vs how hard it is to get from the breast. That is why I use a premie nipple (slow flow) so they have to still work for their milk making it easier for me to switch between the two. 
Hope this helps!

Answer

We did bottle feeding with breast milk around day 5. Dad gave bottle at night so I could sleep in the late evening and also did an early morning bottle again so I could sleep. He never had any nipple confusion. But sometimes he didn’t like that he had to work for it when I breast fed, so that was a bit frustrating for the both of us. We used the tommee tippee bottles. Now at 3 months he just gets a bottle when someone else is watching him, or if he’s in a growth spurt I’ll nurse then top off with a bottle. And he’ll sleep through the night when I do that. 
Don’t listen to anyone about the “ rules” or google. Just follow your little ones cues and you’ll figure it out. My motto is each day gets better and easier.just take it day by day.

Answer

Our lactation consultant gave us these plastic syringe type things to feed her with at first. wed put a little milk in and then she would have to suck on it and husband would slowly push in and let the milk out into her mouth. The LC said it actually helped with breastfeeding because she still had to work at it like she did nursing and that one of the issues with giving a bottle soon was that babies wouldn't want to work to nurse after and want the ease of bottles. 
After a few weeks when nursing was going better we switched to Avent bottles with the nipple that is supposed to be more closer to breast. Natural flow maybe? 
It worked for us - she's 13 months now and we are starting to wean.

Answer

I pumped and bottle fed right away. Most important thing is make sure anyone feeding baby is doing paced feeding

Answer

I breast and bottle fed. I indroduced bottle week 1 and my baby is now 2 and has had ZERO issues going back and fourth between breast and bottle. I have no idea why the recommend you wait a while to introduce a bottle when waiting just makes a baby prefer breast and sometimes babies refuse a bottle. 2 if my close friends waited to introduce bottle until 8 weeks and their babies both refused the bottle entirely. 
I’m definiely introducing bottle very early on this time
And pumping starting week 1. Pumping greatly reduces the nipple pain in the first few weeks as well!!

Answer

You really shouldn’t start pumping until after the first few weeks so your breasts know how much milk to make based on how much your child is eating. As for offering a bottle again they say to wait a few weeks too so the child doesn’t have nipple confusion. My kids were fine using advent bottles but that’s really trial and error to see what works with your baby. Good luck!

Answer

These are not stupid questions at all! I had to figure this stuff out on my own, the hard way. I gave my LO an Avent bottle with the “nipple shaped” nipple after around 2 weeks and that was too soon. Even at the slightest flow nipple she preferred it to me. I’d suggest to wait longer. I wish I had more advice but I only breastfed for about 7 weeks because my supply plummeted when I went back to work. 😕

Answer

Ok so this is based solely on my experience. My babies were born 4 weeks early. My milk took 2 weeks to come in. Because if this they were bottle fed starting at day 2 and ate from a bottle only until I was approved to nurse them when they were one month old. They both take bottles and nurse like champs and they are 9 weeks old now. They mostly breastfeed now but they still get a bottle a few times a week when I’m working or my husband feeds them. I asked the NICU nurses while they were there what the chances were of nipple confusion and they said they’d only seen it once or twice in their 10+ years being there. So don’t stress. You do you 😊 I always pump after each feed or every 2-3 hours if they are only on a bottle that day.

Answer

Babies don’t need a bottle to bond with anyone. That is the most ridiculous way of saying “I can’t be fucked being the sole provider”. So, let’s not pussy foot around that debacle. 
If you’re so concerned about bonding with Dad, Dad can change diapers. Dad can have skin to skin snuggles. Dad can help with bath time. Dad can do tons of things that help bonding but bottles don’t equal bonding and anyone who will tell you that is a) lazy b) foolish.

Answer

I didn't start pumping until two weeks later and my husband gave her a bottle when she was three weeks. However, I have known people to start pumping and bottle feeding a lot earlier than that. So it depends on what you feel is best for you and your little one.

Breast AND Bottle Feeding?

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