Introducing a bottle to a breastfed baby

As the title states, I'm trying to introduce a bottle to my DS2. He's almost 4 months and a boob-a-holic, which is awesome cos Im like a dairy cow ;) . Next weekend I have a party (80s theme- whole other thread :) ) and my Mum has offered to babysit both boys at my place! I can take DS2 but it would be (really) nice to have some adult time and not have to wear something I can breastfeed in! So, I thought I'd try him with a bottle tonight...FAIL. It was formula (NAN - in the pre made tetra pack) and he just didn't seem to get what to do? I tried a #1 and #2 teat on an Avent bottle. He didn't seem to "suck" (even though he has a dummy) and only took a few mls that seemed to trickle in.

I have tried expressing, I'm hopeless and just don't get a let down (was hopeless with DS1 as well) and my boobs are always so soft and saggy ( :cry: ) that I find it hard to make a "seal" iykwim? So it has to be formula. Anyone got any ideas? (My DS1 never really took a bottle but I didn't try until much later so I'd love to have it as an option for DS2 every now and then! )

We used formula for ds if i wasnt going to be home. He wouldnt take a bottle from me or from dp but he always did from dp's mum who was the one who looked after him. We used the tommee tippee closer to nature (i think that's what they're called) bottles & only ever used the smallest/nb teat right up until he didnt want/need a bottle anymore.

Maybe get your dh to do a trial run when you're not home - my ds just knew if i was there & just wouldnt go along with it!

Good luck, hope you have a great tine!

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At that age both my breastfed bubs refused a bottle if I was there but would happily take one from my mum. We also used the tommy tippee closer to nature bottle and left the newborn teat on until they were well over 6 months. Generally if they are super hungry they will take a bottle. Depending on how long yor away your dd's may wait until you get home then want to catch up on feeds. My girls never fed as much if I wasn't there

Enjoy your 80's party

Can you hand-express? I'm curious not so much for bub but for you, because if you go a whole evening without feeding you may be rather uncomfy, and it would help to have a way to ease things a bit.

As for the bottle, we had to make it as unlike BF as possible - bub on his own on a cushion on the floor, playing with this wierd thing....

The mchn said quite a few of her breastfed babies like the pigeon peristaltic teats. DD doesn't take the bottle either. The pigeon teat She would take a bit. Not Enuf. Ive 'given up' & given her a cup instead.


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Can you get baby brought to you, or duck out for a feed if bottles don't wirk and the party is not too far from home?

Thanks for all the advice!!! I might try a different bottle as he did seem to find the shape odd in his mouth. I'll also get mum to give it a test run. She's not too worried, she'll cope regardless (she's awesome that way :) )

It should be only 1 or 2 feeds (at the most) he'll miss so I'm not worried about engorgement, it takes 12+ hours for that now. My mum can technically bring him too me, but she'd have to get DS1 out of bed too and it would take nearly an hour for me to drive home, feed and drive back so not worth it iykwim.

Amaunet, I haven't read the other replies yet but I'm an exclusive breastfeeder and I have expressed before on the odd occasion so I can go to a party or dinner without my baby. Because she has only had the bottle a few times feeding her with it has been really hard: first to get her to suck from it- and keep sucking- and second she always cries after because she misses the boob comfort factor. It took us a few different teats to find one that she liked and a few practice runs to get her to actual realise the bottle was dinner, not some random thing we were putting in her mouth. I have the Medela Calma teat which was created for breastfed babies but she doesn't like it, and the cheaper generic teats are way too fast flowing for her- she is already a guzzler so she practically choked on those. We've had much more success with the Pigeon perestaltic (sp?) teat. But it will depend on your bubba. A cheap one might work wonders! if you are going formula for that night it might also be worth trying some with her beforehand just so she doesn't completely freak out on the night.