Expressing so Husband can participate...

Hi

I am really premature with this question, but it popped into my head so I figured I'd ask now. Assuming all goes well and I have no problems breastfeeding, I plan on expressing as well so my husband can enjoy feeding the baby too ... plus I would like the baby to be comfortable feeding out of a bottle so that if there's ever a reason why it's a must that the baby drink expressed milk from a bottle it doesn't turn into a very stressful situation. So here's my question - how do you do this? When do you start using a bottle of expressed milk if you want to start sooner rather than later? If the baby refuses the bottle, what do you do? How do you encourage the baby to take a bottle as well as a boob without torturing your baby?

I have tons of questions about breast milk storage etc - but I'll save those for later posts (does anyone know if the ABA book "Breastfeeding...naturally" covers these basics? I'm also signed up for a breastfeeding class at the hospital where I'll deliver but I don't know what they will cover.

thanks!

The ABA info does cover expressing etc, yes.

First thing is to get a handle on breastfeeding. It can take a while to do this - good idea to do whatever classes and reading you can beforehand.
So, after you've got the hang of things, baby is feeding well and you've settled into parenting a bit, then think about expressing maybe. It can be hard work and you don't need to make things harder than they have to be in those early weeks - feeding straight from the breast is easier.
It's also generally best to wait as inroducing bottles can interfere with the establishment of breastfeeding. So maybe a month or so (really just depends on how you're going of course).

Some babies can be very reulctant to take a bottle. It's not the end of the world - remarkably they will wait for mummy to come back. Many babies are quite happy to have a bottle if mummy is not around (it may not work if you're at home, they know you're there and they want boobies).

As in all things, I think it's best to just go with the flow - see how the breastfeedign is going, try bottles if you need to, try not to stress too much if expressing doesn't work out (some mums just can't get much out with pumps for eg). Feeding the baby can be lovely, but expressing, storing, warming milk and cleaning bottles can be a real hassle - there are lots of other ways that your DH can enjoy quality time with baby if it doesn't work out. We tried this a few times and it just wasn't worth the hassle - DH spent lots of time settling, changing, bathing etc etc and didn't much care if he fed the baby or not.
But having said all this, you may find it works wonderfully for you.

(and never too early to ask these questions)