I'm a little torn..

[carolineb]

So I posted last week about DH wanting to start a nightly bottle and I didn't (and we haven't), but I got to thinking that there's a part of me that OCCASIONALLY wouldn't mind having a little more time and have that feeling of it's okay to be away from baby for a bit. I thought it would be nice to go for a bike ride on Sunday afternoons with a friend or do a little solo shopping one Saturday afternoon. So, there's a part of me that would be okay with an occasional bottle. I would pump and provide BM in a bottle.

However, there's another part of me that would LOVE to say that the baby has never had a bottle and to EBF at least year or more, and let baby self-wean.

There's the question of if I go long enough before ever giving baby a bottle would he even take it? I figure an occasional bottle once every now and then wouldn't mess with my supply too much, especially if I regularly pump once a day or every other day. I know a nightly bottle probably would mess with my supply, even if I pump. I felt like it did with my other two kids, that's why I am hesitant to start one.

I don't know...do any of you do an occasional bottle? If you do, what kind of bottle do you use, and how often to you give one, how often do you pump, do you take any supplements to help (I don't right now and don't need to), and does the baby take it okay?

Thanks mommas!

[VeganCupcake]

I think waiting too long and/or not giving one very often will increase the likelihood that baby will refuse the bottle.

For really infrequent times away from baby, what about cup feeding? Even really small babies can lap milk from a tiny cup. Or when baby is a little older, a sippy is worth a try.

[My Sweet Blessings]

if you give BM in a bottle, it's still EBF The milk is still your breastmilk.

waiting too long could end up with baby refusing bottle all together. been there with DS2. He never once took a bottle.. even when he was starving. He had to have a colonoscopy under anesthesia and he was to only have pedilyte for 24 hours. instead of drinking it, he refused to even try it and went without anything at all for the entire time. after the first attempt, he would scream any time he saw that bottle. he was somewhere around 6 or 7 months. DS3 is 6 weeks and I am getting ready to try a bottle with breastmilk in it. I just haven't gotten around to actually doing it, but don't want to wait too long.

[manyquestions]

When I'm going to be gone for a few hours I just pump before I leave and dd can take a bottle when I'm gone. I either pump or nurse her as soon as I return. I don't leave her during the evenings (starting occasionally at 6 mos but not for more than an hour or two), mornings usually work best. Good luck mama!

[COgle3]

I let hubs give my dd a bottle a few times when she a week to 3 weeks old then stopped and right after a month she refused it. I have a very fast flow and even with a huge hole in the nipple of the bottle, she snubbed it. Now a bottle isn't even an option.

[ThreadsThatBind]

My niece received a nightly bm bottle her entire first year. She was ebf until she was 14 months old. So it can work for some. My sister never took anything for milk supply and pumped once a day to make the bottle for the next morning.

My dd gets a bm bottle once a week. We started when she was 2 1/2 weeks old. She reeeallly fought it the first time so I felt it was very important for her to get a bottle regularly so it wouldn't be a fight when she needed to take one. I pumped a few times when I was engorged because of my milk coming in, but haven't pumped since. She's just been taking those bottles. I'll pump when I'm fullest, in the morning, once those bottles are gone. I've never needed to take anything for milk supply. We use playtex drop in bottles. She takes the bottles without a fight now and she's only had a few.

[acwakip]

DS gets 3-4 bottles per week depending on my work schedule.

We gave him his first bottle at 4 weeks. He accepted it fine at that time, so in order to be sure he didn't start to "prefer" it, we waiting a couple more weeks to give him another.
I don't necessarily think you have to do a bottle nightly, but you could do one every so often when you want to get away for a bit.

We use the breastflow bottle by The First Years company. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS.../chrisficti-20 I picked it because it requires compression in order for the milk to flow, similar to the breast. When DD was a baby, she refused to nurse after having a bottle a few times and I did not want that to happen again.

I usually pump every morning when I get up. I will pump one side for about 15 minutes (getting anywhere from 3-5oz) and the offer the other breast when DS wakes up. My supply seems to run so low in the evenings, I have tried pumping more at night and that just doesn't seem to help. That's why I pump in the mornings. DS couldn't possibly empty both breasts (I pump the lower producing breast) so I know I am not depriving him.

[CEVmommy]

My first never took a bottle, even though I was back to work full-time. My second did take a bottle, so that made things easier for going back to work. We introduced it with my 2nd around 6 weeks old and then gave her a small bottle (1-2 oz) about 2-3x per week, just so she would stay used to it. If you go a while without giving the bottle, they may reject it later, so you have to keep it up. The ONLY reason we did this was because I knew I was going back to work. But I'll tell you, if I didn't have to go back to work, I would not have introduced a bottle at all. It's just a hassle - the pumping, the storing, the heating, the washing. And after going back to work with my first without the bottle, I know that I could handle the occasional outings without baby if I had to. (She reverse cycled, and once she started solids, she just ate all her solids when I was away from her, and nursed when we were together) My advice is, if you think you can hold off until she starts solids, then you can take your outings for a few hours and leave her with solids while you are gone and then nurse when you come back.

[Satori.lover]

It sounds like you want to have a little you time, which is totally earned and deserved. A bottle every now and then of BM is still going to give baby the nutrition they need. I think a little alone time helps me to relax and appreciate my baby and how much I really want to be around her. Happy mama helps make happy baby. You can cup feed it you are worried, but I use platex drop ins if DH and I go on a date or something.