Some of you probably read my post about running away and my breast feeding woes.

Comments have been made about not pumping and I understand why, but some others have said there's nothing wrong with giving the baby a bottle of breast milk once in awhile.

So how can I give the baby a bottle if I shouldn't pump? Awww! I have to pump and store if I ever want to leave the house without the baby or get a couple hours of extra sleep.

What about nipple confusion? I was told to wait 6 weeks before introducing a bottle in order for breast feeding to be fully established and so that the baby did not prefer the bottle over the breast.

The other night I pumped 3 ozs, had to, had a huge clog. I put 2 oz in the freezer and gave the baby 1 oz in a bottle. He took to it just fine.

The problem I had with Matthew is that I only gave him a bottle once a week at church. One day he just refused the bottle and I was stuck, he also nursed almost every two hours for the longest time so I couldn't go anywhere without him. I don't want to get stuck this time so I'm hoping to pump and give Cameron 1 bottle a day.

Here are my questions:

How much at each feeding by bottle? 2-3 oz - he will be 3 weeks next Thursday.

Is it too early to start with the bottle?

Is one bottle a day enough? I don't want to be pumping all the time either. I can ususally pump about 2 - 3 oz each time after I've nursed.

I'm using the Avent bottles, not sure if that helps.

Thanks for the input and feedback you guys have been great!

By Marcia on Friday, September 16, 2005 - 07:56 pm:

I nursed Meghan for 8.5 months, and she was an excellent nurser. I paid no attention to the nipple confusion theory. I have her a soother before we left the hospital, and I pumped and gave her bottles when I needed to. She never had any problem, and I started from newborn.
I can't remember how much I gave her in her bottles, because it's been over 10 years.
Nicole was bottle fed, and was drinking at least 4-6 ozs at that age. She was a hungry girl.

By Missmudd on Friday, September 16, 2005 - 08:05 pm:

I bf 3 of the 4. I never had any problem with nipple confusion. I dont know if it will be a problem with you or not. I think people didnt want you to pump because you were engorged. Pumping isnt going to help with that but usually how much you produce works itself out if you pump or not. You wont be flooding everywhere for ever, you should be getting that under some control soon.

I know that there are going to be breastfeeding mamas who are going to disagree with me, I can only give you what I did for my guys and it worked fine.

I think 2-3 ounces per day by bottle is fine. I would suggest that maybe you have dh or somebody else feed little one, at least for a while. That way he knows with you it is bf, with somebody else it is bottle.

I am concerned that you are not getting enough rest. I remember all those sleepless days/nights and it is no picnic. I know that as I became a more experienced mama that I should have asked for help sooner, and done things differently and used my own common sense and what I felt instead of what I was told I should do. You are doing great. Go with your gut. If little one is feeding fine, latching on ok, I would say go for it, if you have concerns about him not being a good feeder or other concerns than I wouldnt.

In the end for me personally, I wouldnt have been able to stay bfing if I didnt have dh give the guys a bottle every once in a while. I was so tired and was prone to post partum depression and with no sleep and no break I would have just given up. Giving a bottle every once in a while saved my sanity and allowed me to bf them much longer than I would have without.

By My3cuties on Friday, September 16, 2005 - 08:51 pm:

Heaventree, I think you are doing great! I just started pumping and Lauren is 3 1/2 months old. I only got 1 oz my first time.

Every baby is different, but I would say that 3 oz at a bottle is perfect.

By Pamt on Friday, September 16, 2005 - 09:19 pm:

It's okay to pump, just pump a little bit and AFTER you've already nursed. You don't want to pump in addition to nursing because that will significantly and painfully--LOL, increase your milk production. I started my on bottles at about 4-6 weeks, but they had had a pacifier before then. I never, ever personally have either of my boys a bottle, because like Miss Mudd suggested, I wanted them to associate me with nursing and bottles with other caregivers.

As far as "how much"--don't worry about that. That's the beauty of nursing. You just instinctively know when they are full. At this age I stored milk in 2-4 oz increments. If I thought the baby was really hungry, I'd give 4 oz. If he breezed through that, then he would have 2 more. If he was just a little fussy and the babysitter was trying to hold him off until I got back to nurse, then he could have a 2 oz bottle. That way you are not throwing wasted milk that you worked so hard for down the drain, but you can always thaw out a little bit more. As they were older and I was pumping out 16-18 oz at a time (I swear I WAS a cow!), then I'd have 2 8 oz bottles, with still some leftover over 2-5 oz bottles to top things off if needed.

Just to get him used to the bottle, I would think 1 bottle every few days would be fine. He doesn't necessarily need one daily, unless dad is just eager to get in on the feeding action.

Hang in there--you are doing great! I just LOVED nursing my babies.

By Pamt on Friday, September 16, 2005 - 09:19 pm:

Yikes--please disregard typos. Hope you can interpret anyway.

By Imamommyx4 on Friday, September 16, 2005 - 09:27 pm:

I was a mess when I brought dd home. I wasn't making any milk and was afraid my baby would starve. The lactation nurse my dh took me to at a mjor hospital here told me not to worry about anything anybody told me but to do what I had to do for my baby. I nursed until I didn't think my baby was not getting anything. Then if I thought she was still hungry I would give her a little in a bottle. DD has never been a big eater and would drink until she was full and stop. The next time I put her own to nurse, she would go after it. I just never made much milk. I tried to nurse or pump every 2 to 3 hours for the first couple of weeks and did everything any nursing specialist or knowledgeable mom told me to try to get my milk up including drinking some funky beer like a rice beer or something weird. None of it worked. Dd got an infection at 5 and a half months and stopped eating for a couple of days altogether due to a sore throat. When she started again, she would only take cold formula.

So do what feels right to you within your scope of love and knowledge of what to do.

By Dawnk777 on Friday, September 16, 2005 - 09:48 pm:

Sarah was jaundiced after birth (she was a month early). So, after 5 days of nursing, I was asked to bottle feed her. I pumped and had to give her formula. (okay, I know better now, that to just breastfeed through jaundice and that can actually help, since they poop so much, but I was a new mom and I didn't know.) Anyway, she almost didn't start back up nursing after 3 days of that, but the doctor told me to stick with it, so I did. We ended up nursing for about 6 months. So, Sarah managed, even though I had given her bottles so early.

By Enchens on Saturday, September 17, 2005 - 01:45 am:

My baby was a bit premature and the nurses gave him bottles of my milk while he was in the NICU and we haven't had problems with nipple confusion. I probably give him a bottle twice a week, about 3-4 oz. He's 4 months now so he's drinking more. The only problem with bottles that I do have with him is that I can't feed them to him. He will not drink the milk from the bottle unless its someone else other than Mommy giving it to him. Avent bottles are supposed to be a big help. I use them for my little one and I used them for my first as well.
It sounds like you are doing just fine.

By Jackie on Saturday, September 17, 2005 - 06:16 am:

Some people swear that their babies get nipple confusion. I breastfed my last 2 kids(and still breastfeeding Faith)my 2 breastfed babies NEVER had nipple confusion. Both of them had bottles of formula(GASP LOL)in the hospital before we left. Because, my milk didnt come in until a couple days later, and I refuse to let my crying babies be hungry. I did pump with both babies, expecially first thing in the mornings. They always had bottles from day one. Normally it was once a day, sometimes once every other day. I do not breastfeed in public, so I always had a bottle of breastmilk with me. My babies always took bottles from me.They never had problems with that. They went back and forth from breast to bottle with no problem. Faith hasnt had a bottle since June,but we still nurse. Its our special time.