Would like to BF and bottle feed baby from EBM from word go - how do I do it?

[Liz]

Great advice here re establishing the breastfeeding first.

Couple of things I wanted to add..

Avent bottles have BPA. Passes our safety standards, but as someone else pointed out, BPA is banned in other countries, so may be worth researching.

Was going to mention about not needing to sterilise if you're only using breastmilk, but that's been covered!

And also wanted to say it isn't a big deal if bub doesn't take to a bottle. Neither of mine ever did, never needed to.. I did all the feeds in those early months, and they can move onto a sippy cup quite early.. 6 mths-ish when they start solids. So there's really no need for a baby to accept a bottle.

I agree that you may find just sitting up in bed (or staying lying down!) for a quick 10min feed and then getting straight back to sleep is much easier on everyone (and your boobs!) than having to warm up a bottle (bub can wake up waaaay too much and be harder to settle. Babies settle so nicely on the breast and lovely sleepy hormones are produced for both mum & bub during the feeds so everyone remains fairly rested. I can vouch for that, as both my babies fed 3-4hrly (or more) around the clock for many many many months and I didn't suffer too much sleep deprivation with breastfeeding & co-sleeping.

We never did DH doing a feed for the reason Tenar mentioned.. that I would really need to get up and express that missed feed anyway.. so it's much easier to just feed and get back to that precious sleep

All the best with your plans and your bub. Just remember to do whatever works.. while something may sound like a good idea, your bub or your boobs might have other ideas!

[Curly]

This is actually the approach that Gina Ford advocates in her Contented Little Baby Book. If you want a step by step instruction manual for how to go about it, I suggest you have a look. Don't worry about the routine if that's not what you want to do...but her guidelines for expressing at certain times of the day in order to have the full expressed feed ready to go for evenings are good.

Mind you...I tried it and I found that my body simply did not respond to the pump. I had a great deal of difficulty expressing and so I have this virtually brand new electric pump in the cupboard collecting dust. I tried expressing again this time around with DD and same thing. I just can't express.

[MantaRay]

Liz, thanks for mentioning the "sleepy hormones" - I forgot about that one! Interestingly, studies have shown that parents of bf babies actually get more sleep than ff babies, even though bf babies often feed more often! The sleepy hormones which put both mum and bub straight back to sleep after (or during!!) a feed are probably a big part of this.

I also wanted to add that starting a baby on a bottle early is no guarantee they will continue to take one. DS1 drank from a bottle for his first week until his tongue-tie was snipped, and then once he could attach to the bresat he never drank from a bottle again! DS2 had a bottle of EBM once or twice a week in the beginning as I wanted him to be able to drink from one. But after a few weeks he decided never to take a bottle again. It was never a problem with either DS even though I also returned to work. They both drank from a sippy cup from about 3 months so I could still leave them for someone else to feed. Getting them used to a bottle is not necessary and is not a guarantee that they will continue to take it anyway.

I also feel that I must mention that Gina Ford's book is not recommended for bfing babies, as her routines do not recognise the frequency with which most babies need to feed to get enough milk and to establish and maintain mum's supply. Unfortunately many mums don't realise this until they have already lost their supply

[Liz]

Liz, thanks for mentioning the "sleepy hormones" - I forgot about that one! Interestingly, studies have shown that parents of bf babies actually get more sleep than ff babies, even though bf babies often feed more often! The sleepy hormones which put both mum and bub straight back to sleep after (or during!!) a feed are probably a big part of this.

The nurses were always happy to see me drifting off while feeding Kayla in the NICU, they knew we were having a good feed LOL.

[MantaRay]

Ah, I miss that LOL! I could sure use some sleepy bfing hormones to put me back to sleep in the middle of the night sometimes!

[kawazuki]

i did this for teh first 6 weeks.
i used teh avent system, you can buy a kit which is pump bottles and sterliser for about $150 all up saves you about 100 bucks it was great.

i loved the pump easy to use easy to clean. bottles are good and a variety of teats so they always suit the baby.

[Jennifer13]

I had the same plan as you did, farmgirl, before my DD was born, and for exactly the same reasons (although I never read Gina Ford...).

But I found that DP would get home and take care of the whole evening, bath, cuddle, bed routine and give me a break then. I also found that my DD was such a great bfer and got so very efficient at it that I was hardly up at all during the night and was back asleep within 45 mins of getting up. She always fell asleep at the breast and I never had the pacing the floor kind of unsettled behaviour I was expecting. So in the end, because I actually got plenty of sleep, we didn't bother to go with the expressing for a bf thing. I did express when DD dropped a feed or I needed to relieve engorgement, so I had bottles to give to anyone babysitting her.

I think you'd be best off waiting to see how you go and then deciding whether it will work for you or not.

[Curly]

Gina Ford's book is not recommended for bfing babies, as her routines do not recognise the frequency with which most babies need to feed to get enough milk and to establish and maintain mum's supply. Unfortunately many mums don't realise this until they have already lost their supply

The last thing I want to do is pick a fight but I bf'd DS for 20 months based on Gina Ford's routine. If the book is read in its entirety she emphasises that if a baby is hungry it must be fed regardless of the time. She also mentions the 6 week growth spurt and demand for extra breastmilk several times. I have learned never to mention my familiarity with Gina here on BB because it always gets shot down in flames but she does talk a lot about expressing, maintaining adequate supply and having the partner do a feed and goes into great detail about it and I think the OP could get some good how-to tips from there - whether she wants to "routine" her baby or not.

[MantaRay]

Curly, I don't want to pick a fight either LOL! I think it's great that the book worked for you, and everyone is entitled to do what works best for them. I am the last person who is going to judge or criticise others for their choices. I just wanted to point out that this doesn't work for everyone as I think people should be aware that there is no one magic way to do things. I am sorry that you feel you can't talk about your experiences - you should be able to share.

The 6 week growth spurt is an interesting topic actually (sorry to go OT). It used to be believed that this was due to baby increasing their demand for milk and boosting mum's supply. Interestingly we know now that babies drink the same average daily quantity from 1 month to 6 months of age, so there goes the "extra milk" theory. It is still a mystery as to what causes these "fussy times" but the latest theory is that it is an increased need for sucking at times of peak development.

[onthefly]

Congratulations Farmgirl.
There were a couple of things that sprang to mind when I saw your post becuase, like others, I had considered trying this sort of thing too.
Expressing can work great for some, but it is often a real chore, so much so that there's no net benefit.
Another reason to consider putting off expressing till later is that in the early days they feed so often anyway that skipping one feed may not give you much of a break.

The best thing that helped me get more sleep will bfing was to master feeding while lying down. It is entirely possible to sleep while your baby feeds - it's bliss! Unfortunately I couldn't get the knack till DS was 5-6 months old (we had a lot of problems with attachment in the early months, so that's probably why), but some lucky mums do manage it early on.

Good luck and all the best to you

[farmgirl77]

Hello everyone,
Thanks so much for the advice and suggestions - they have really helped me out. I think that I will do as suggested and wait a few weeks before trying the bottle - as I want to get BF estabilished (if possible) - I am also going to try the BF while lying down position - could be a good way of getting some rest and feeding in at the same time!

A girl at work is going to sell me her medela swing to express with at a really good price (only a little bit more than a new handpump would cost), so that covers that base - and now I'll prob get the medela bottles (after nearly getting the TT ones), but i'll wait till after Tex comes home etc to get those in case it does not look like the system will work for us!

Thanks again for the practical advice - really appreciate it!
FG