Introducing the bottle or cup to a breastfed baby

chao — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 21:01:05 -0000

Clipped by chao to care for our baby girl

What's the best way to introduce my baby to a bottle?
Most lactation experts suggest you wait until your baby is 3 to 4 weeks old and breastfeeding is well established before introducing a bottle. If you're returning to work, start bottle-feeding at least two weeks before your start date so you can work out any glitches ahead of time. (You can get more information on such topics as sterilizing bottles and how often to bottle-feed in Bottle-feeding basics.)

Because sucking milk from a bottle requires different mouth and tongue movements than breastfeeding, it may take your baby a little time to get used to the change. Try these tips for a smooth transition:

• Offer her a bottle a little earlier than her regular feeding time so she'll be hungry and interested, but not so hungry that she'll be frustrated by the cold nipple.

• Let someone else feed her the first bottle.Your baby will be less confused if you don't give her the bottle yourself, since she may wonder why she's not getting your breast. Instead, ask someone who might feed her in your absence — your mother, your partner, a childcare provider, or another mother — to make the first introduction.

• Try to be out of the house for this event; babies can smell their mother from a distance of at least 20 feet, and she may know that you (and your breasts) are around even if you're in another room.

Tory Winnick introduced her son Philip to the bottle when he was 3 weeks old. "I pumped and put my breast milk in a bottle so my husband, Mike, could experience feeding the baby," she remembers. "We had to try a few different nipples until we found one that most closely simulated the breast. It really made Mike feel great that he could feed the baby, too."

Bottle-feeding can be just as nurturing physically as breastfeeding if you cuddle the baby close. Some babies like to be held in a nursing position while drinking from a bottle; others find that position disconcerting. Ask whoever is offering your baby the bottle to experiment while maintaining eye contact with her, and give her a chance to get used to this new experience.

Some babies don't eat very much when mom isn't home, and if they are away from her all day may begin waking more frequently at night. Don't be surprised if this happens; treasure these quiet and intimate times and use them to reconnect with your baby.

The Big Switch: Setting a Schedule

chao — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 20:46:10 -0000

Clipped by chao to care for our baby girl

The Big Switch

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Letting Go

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Setting a Schedule

If you have a date in mind by which you want to wean -- say you're due back at work when baby is 4 months old -- begin the process about a month beforehand, suggests Anne Garrett, an international board-certified lactation consultant in San Francisco.

A gradual approach will make it easier for both of you. Replace the feeding your baby is least interested in with a bottle. If your baby's never had a bottle, nurse her on one side, give her an ounce or two of formula or breast milk in the bottle, and then let her finish nursing on the other side. If she's already used to the bottle, you don't need to nurse during this feeding.

The next week, choose a feeding at the opposite end of the day to replace with a bottle, so that you're not doing two bottlefeedings in a row. By now, baby should be comfortable with the bottle, so make the feeding strictly about the bottle. The third week, bottlefeed in the middle of the day so you're still nursing in the morning and at night. If you want to keep nursing at these times, your milk supply will adjust.

If not, continue to replace nursing with bottlefeeding. If you need to wean more quickly, you can skip a feeding every three days instead of waiting for a week, but you run the risk of engorgement.

chao's clips tagged bottlefeeding

Introducing the bottle or cup to a breastfed baby

The Big Switch: Setting a Schedule