Introducing a bottle to a breast fed baby

[Mdiddy]

Hi, my baby is 4 weeks old and I'd like to start giving one bottle of expressed milk a day. We've tried 3 times so far and its not going that well! The first time he dribbled nearly all of it out, we've now got a specific bottle for breast fed newborns which is a bit better but he'll still only suck for about 20-30seconds and then cry and need a break. He managed about 2oz earlier (although some went on the bib!) but it took ages and he still needed more soon after. Is this normal? Is it just a case of perseverance? Any tips?

[Kempton]

I breastfed and expressed and had a lot if success with MAM bottles (you didn't mention what type you used). My baby never rejected a bottle (apparently the teet is very like a nipple). He would have about 2 bottles of my milk a day. Sadly I stopped expressing as regularly at about 7-8 months and now he doesn't like a bottle, though he's 1 and so he's on free flow and normal cups anyway (and still breastfed).

Perhaps you could try giving your baby a top up bottle feed immediately after a breastfeed. So he is already in feeding mode and not starving so he takes it better?

Hope it works out.

[Lou9 in reply to Kempton]

I would also suggest trying MAM bottles if you haven’t already. I also had success with Nuk bottles eventually. Same as @Kempton I stopped expressing and bottle feeding when my daughter was about 4 months old once breastfeeding was established. Good luck and I hope you find a bottle that your baby will take 🤞🏻 xx

[Hidden in reply to Lou9]

I also use MAM, my little girl took to them from 11 days old and was still fine on the breast

[2Baby2019]

Tommy tippee bottles are close to nature and may help

Maybe try giving the baby to someone else if it’s possible to give the bottle as I think babies sense moms

[kt_11]

I really struggled to get my boy to accept a bottle. The only one I eventually got him to take was the Nuk one.

I just kept trying regularly but I’m afraid it wasn’t until he was about 5 months old that I felt confident he would definitely take it. We tried things like someone else giving it but that didn’t make much difference in the end. He’s still not keen but is now 10 months so is getting used to using an open beaker.

This is a bit early for your little one but I found that sitting him in his car seat or having him lie on the floor helped rather than holding him so night be worth trying when he’s a bit bigger if you’re still struggling.

Good luck xx

[Annh17]

My newborn, took better to a bottle than breast. We use Tommee Tippee, she has expressed during the day and 2 formula during the night. Does dribble a fair bit though, but my nephew was the same on Tommee Tippee. So could be the bottles x

[ChrisWest1983]

Your breastfed baby is a superstar for eating such amount! My baby was tiny when was born and only very slowly the tummy grew.

However, I was lucky as he took his first bottle like he knew how to do it straight away, same with solids.

First bottle we introduced was Tomme Tippee anticolic , then Avent - he did not know the difference. Just keep doing what you are doing as I can hear a success!

And we must remember - each baby is different, whatWorks for one might not work for other.