Breastfeeding & Bottles

Of course no personal experience here but I did register for bottles "just in case". I want to breastfeed exclusively for a while (at least 12 weeks until I go back to work) but figured that I should have bottles from the beginning incae for any reason I can't BF or hubby is going to feed the baby.

I have one 8 ounce bottle and 2 four ounce bottles and that is all.

My advice, if you are 100% commited to breastfeeding and are passionate about it, keep ONE bottle in the house and NO formula. Your DH can always run out and get both of those things IF you need them, but if you have them easy on hand it is easy to just throw in the towel and give a bottle when things get rocky, which will lead to things getting worse, not better.  It is also reccomended that you not supplement or offer a bottle for atleast six weeks, as this is the time that your body is learning to regulate supply and it is also easier for baby to get nipple confused during this time period.

There are the BreastFlow bottles which are often said to be the best for keeping nipple confusion at bay, but Advent bottles work well too. The NUMBER ONE thing you want to remember is to NOT give the baby bottles with the nipples from the hospital, those nipples are given to the hospitals BY the formula companies and have been shown to be the perfect design to ruin a babies latch, if you think you might supplement at the hospital bring your own bottles with you.

I am currently studying to become a LLL Leader and once I graduate from college in May I am going to start my LC training. I have done intensive study on the topic of breastfeeding, it is a passion for me, so if you have any questions please feel free to email me or ask me.

I have bf 3 babies. 

#1 nursed initially and then had to go back into the hosp for Jaundice.  They did not allow her out of the isolette, so no bfing and she lost her latch. (if another baby is ever hospitalized for jaundice, i will not allow them to deny me bfing) I pumped for a long time and then finally got her to re-latch when she was 6 months old.

#2 nursed almost exclusively.  I gave her about 1 bottle per day.

#3 nursed exclusively, no formula.  I was able to pump a bit with her.

For all of the babies I used Playtex Nursers.  When they newborn, the Latex Slow Flow nipples are the best.  The babies have to work the hardest on these nipples (of the Platex Nurser Nipples) to get the milk from the bottle. 

I am not sure I buy into nipple confusion as much as I buy into lazy baby ... man made nipples let the milk flow ... God made nipples take a bit more work.

I used to believe that about nipple confusion until I read a study that showed how diffrently the muscles in the face have to work when they are using a bottle and when they are nursing from the breast. There is a connection between muscle memory and nipple confusion in small babies, when they learn one way and the learning is interrupted they will revert to whatever is easier, so it is an actual nipple "confusion" of the physical kind.

You really want to wait for about 4-6 weeks before you try any bottles, just so you and baby can get breastfeeding really good and established. If you introduce a bottle too early, they will start wanting the bottle vs. your breast because it's just plain easier to get the goods out of the bottle.

You REALLY want to only use bottles when you HAVE to.....like when you need to go back to work, or if you need surgery and can't breastfeed for some reason. I do not TRY to get my babies used to the bottle because I don't and didn't have a need to. I wanted them RELIANT on my breast because I didn't want them to want that bottle more than the breast. Now, if you're going back to work and it's unavoidable, wait until the last week before you go back and just try the baby on one or two feedings a day so that you can still maintain the baby on the breast. Then work your bottle feeds up to the amount of feeds that they will be taking the bottle (say 3 feedings during the day and then by the time you'd get home at night, you'd take back over breastfeeding).

But, that being said, I got mastitis TERRIBLY bad with my last one and HAD to have Daddy feed him my stored breastmilk. I was just too sick to even sit up, let alone try to feed him. My fever was over 105! We have always used Playtex nursers with the drop-in bags and the latex nipples that are shaped like Mommy's breast. And it's important to use the slow flow if you have to use a bottle so they will be less likely to prefer the bottle.

We use Dr. Browns but I don't have a huge preference.  What I do recommend is using the #1 size nipples.  They are ultra-slow flow.  You don't want a baby getting used to a high flow nipple then going back to the breast.

I breast fed for the first 3 months. with the occasionaly formula bottle thrown in. I used the advent bottles and did not like them mostly because the venting never seemed to work well. My son latched on great from day 1. though my milk didnt come in till i left the hospital. My son was crying non stop in the hospital till i finally gave the poor child a bottle of milk. even switching back and forth between breastmilk and formula and breast and bottle i never had a problem. the lactiation consultant told me to limit bottles and formula but that being consistantly inconsistant helps to avoid babys regection. makes sense if you think about it. if you are switching it up the baby knows not to expect the same every time but if you breast feed for 3 days exclusivly then try to give a bottle they will probably turn their head.
i give credit to the breastfeeding moms out there... after about 3 months i was ready to loose my marbles!! (i think i might have had a little PPD) it was bad. i started to get anxiety feeling like i was the only one who could take care of the baby and i couldnt catch a break. It would get worse when people would say just pump so someone can give a bottle later. in my mind it was like if im pumping i might as well just feed the baby myself, it takes the same amount of time. This is why as much as i wanted to exclusivly breast feed, for my sanity i just couldnt do it. I felt horrible like i was failing but my lactation consultant was great. She reasured me even doing the feedings i could get in was benificial to the baby.
Im just saying its really really hard... it was soooooo much harder than i thought it would be, for me at least.
I'm trying again with this one, but i have a feeling i will be doing the same thing again and mixing it up.

Yep, I had a lot of those feelings as well, but even sooner. My PPD set in withing a few days. my milk was also slow to come in and I didn't get a lot so I was trying to pump in between feedings to increase production. So that meant I was nursing the baby (and he was a very slow nurser) and then pumping afterwards as well when he was being fed every 2 hours. No wonder I thought I was losing my mind!

Awesome question Traci! 

I put bottles and all that jazz on my baby registry even though I have every intention of breastfeeding.  Personally, I really like the Dr. Brown's glass bottles and system - I've watched my sister use them for her last two babes and I liked that they weren't sucking in a lot of air - which tends to make some babies gassy. 

I plan on pumping when the time comes to go back to work, but I wanted to have bottles on hand as I would like Daddy to be in charge of at least one feeding - probably the one just before bed, so that baby and hubby can get that bonding experience too...

Veronique

We used both bottles and breastfeeding with Rowan. For one thing, I have never made enough milk to totally meet all of his needs and my milk was slow to come in, add to that that he had a touch of jaundice so they wanted him to eat a lot the first couple of weeks, so we pretty much HAD to do some formula. Also, every other night my husband does the night feeding (once we were past that "every 2 hours phase") so rowan would get a bottle then as well. I didn't experience any trouble with him choosing bottle over nursing or vice-versa and it really helped that, when he started daycare, he was already accustomed to a bottle.
Now that he's started solids and is nursing less my production is falling even more, so he sometimes will nurse a little while and then get frustrated because it isn't coming fast enough and want a bottle instead.

We used the Born Free bottles and he likes them fine. I find having 3 is good, so you can always have a clean one. You might need more later if your child goes to daycare.