bottle fed versus breast fed

[sirenz]

I was just wondering if there would be any difference in feeding baby breast milk from the bottle or from the breast?

we want to feed our baby breast milk but i also want my husband to be able to feed our baby for bonding purposes... he seems to think that not breastfeeding will have a negative affect on the baby.. but i think that if both parents can feed the baby, then it should be more beneficial..

what do you ladies think??

Also, how do you keep breast milk? or do you just pump it when needed?

[misty]

you can always do both (provided bubs lets you). alot of women will simply do one or the other and i don't think there is anything wrong with either of those methods. but you could breastfeed some of the time and then express and allow your dh to feed some of the time too. that is what i did when jelly was newborn - it meant i could get some much needed sleep and dh could bond. (it only lasted a couple of weeks in my case though, because i started to find that simply breastfeeding all the time was a lot more conveinient - i didn't have to worry about bottles or expressing equpment or anything.)

[MamaPan]

at this stage i am planning to do both... breastfeed most of the time but express at least enough for DH to do one feed a day, for bonding and so i can have a little break! I guess I will see how that works though, as I am guessing this whole adventure will need me to roll with the punches so to speak so I will take it as it comes, but that is my plan now...

[Ozstar]

Pregpan I have the same plan as you do. My DH would like to be able to do a feed so he can bond and I can have a break, he will probably just do one feed a day too.

[min]

I am hoping to express a little for DH to give a feed now and then too, but don't forget you can't always express straight away, I have been told by midwives you should wait around 6 weeks until expressing regularly so your boobs have sort of been broken in and have worked out a routine of their own, and also so bubs gets good practice on the boob and has it all worked out too.

Trust me, there would be no bad effects of feeding a baby from a bottle, either way bubs is close to you and you are feeding them with love, you can still do it skin to skin as well if you want that extra closeness.

[Janet]

How lovely that your husband plans to be closely involved in parenting There are lots of things dads can do both support mamas and to bond with babies - rocking, cuddling, holding, bathing, nappy changing, cooking and cleaning so you can just relax and establish breastfeeding. Dads can have lovely skin to skin with babies just like mamas can once those vital early hours are past when the baby must be on your skin to facilitate baby led attachment. Who doesn't love seeing their man with a baby on his chest, hey? Bonding is a much more complex process than feeding = bonding, just baby gazing with that amazing intense stare newborns have starts hormones apumping so you can do all that stuff as well as a little ebm now and then. Early on when you're establishing your breastfeeding relationship you may want to hold off on bottles just in case of nipple confusion or playing around with your supply.

[mbear]

For me, i had this great idea too - involving DH in feeding and(me expressing) ,so bubs was getting both benefits....plan didnt work out that way.
Expressing is a bit of an art.....i found i was getting dribbles and only managing 20mls at a time.....not enuf for a newborn !! Some women really get the hang of it straight away, but others....it takes time. Its time consuming too......Its a great idea - involving DH and all in the feeding process, but there are other ways too - bathing, massaging, play time etc.

I also found bubs didnt take to a bottle....she much preferred booby and whilst there is this notion of ' i can rest whilst he feeds' you often find your expressing for the next feed !!

i dunno, it didnt work for us, i found it much easier to involve DH in other areas of baby's day to day routine.....

HTH

[Jennifer13]

It is great that your DHs want to be involved in caring for your baby, but as Janet has pointed out, there are many ways to do that and take the pressure off you without requiring the extra work that comes with pumping, sterilising, storing, etc for expressed milk.

We had planned to do this before my DD was born, but she ended up being a great bfer and it was much more efficient for me to bf her myself and let DP take her to 'play', or better still - change and bath her. I ended up only expressing for comfort and always had plenty in the fridge/freezer 'just in case'. It ended up being used with her rice cereal when she started on food.

[~Raven~]

Expressing off and letting DH feed bub is great, I've done it myself, but IMO there is heaps more other ways for Dad to bond with bub.

Like the others have said bathing, nappy changes, dressing, burping, general playing and cuddling, and having him wear bub in a sling about the house etc.

[TeganRheana]

To cut a long story short ... I breastfed for 6 months...But i also supplemented his feeds with a bottle of formula. He would take both quite happily. It also made it easy for DH to feed him when I needed him to or if I left him with other family members. There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with either breastfeeding or bottle feeding, and the way I saw it, my bubs was getting the best of both worlds

[LizzysMum]

I am with the other ladies in that there are heaps of other ways for DH to bond with bub. I avoided a bottle as DD had nipple attachment issues. Then it was just easier to breastfeed and I could never express enough anyway.

DH bathed and read to her, changed nappies, let her sleep on him etc etc, they are very close now even though she is a bit of a Mummy's girl.

Good Luck in your journey.