confused???

[NICCI]

my DS is two weeks old! i was wondering when i should introduce a bottle im exclusively breastfeeding at the moment, but would like to express....

also what r peoples opinions of dummies?! im in two mids wether or not to give him one some nights he seems to use my boob as a comforter!!
after struggling with bfeeding in the first place i dont want to mess it up!!

any advice welcome!!!!

 

[LisaJ1986]

The recommended time is 8 weeks, for both bottles and dummies, to avoid any confusion. All babies vary though. Angel still won't take bottles and certainly won't entertain a dummy.
I tried introducing a bottle at 5 weeks, and it didn't go well, so again at 8 weeks.

 

[BabyMagic]

I was told to wait at least until 6 weeks before introcuding a bottle or dummy. LO didn't want either

Well, I could have possibly persevered but I don't mind booby feeding all the way through. I would let your LO to comfort feed - before you know it he won't be feeding all the time. I miss the time when LO was happy to accept booby anytime

 

[maybebaby]

I gave DS a dummy at about 2 weeks old because he was using boob for comfort. It never caused any nipple confusion. I started expressing at 6 weeks and he took to the bottle absolutely fine too.

I think the advice is wait until at least 6 weeks to express if you can so that you can establish your milk supply. If you start expressing too soon you could find you get very engorged, painful breasts.

 

[ASD123456]

I started using a dummy between 1-2 weeks and havent had any problems- i did some research before hand and ended up buying a NUK dummy which has a special shaped teat mimicking a nipple.

I also expressed a few times last week as I had to leave LO for an hour a couple of times- I've had driving lessons and have my test on Monday so really needed some reminder lessons. Again I bought NUK teats, same as the dummy and LO has had no problems. Saying this, LO has been a good feeder from the start and had no latching problems- not sure if this makes a difference. TBH i've been really jealous the two times I've expressed and really wouldn't do it if it wasn't for my test on Monday, plus it's a pain in the arse with sterilising etc.

This is what I've done and it's worked for me, but expert advice is to wait 4-6 weeks for the dummy and 6 weeks to express.

Alex xxx

 

[Sherlock]

Ditto what others have said about waiting till at least 6 weeks before using a bottle expressing. It really can mess with your supply and the best person to guide you as to how much they need and want is your baby and he can only do that if given the chance on your boobs.

FWIW I did express a few times at 3 weeks for my son. This was after a long heart to heart with my HV and husband and was down to my ill health since he was born and a very demanding baby feed wise. My supply was well established and my son never had any problems latching or feeding so HV said to try expressing a feed a day so I could get some rest.

I also used a dummy around this time (NUK one, nipple shaped) to stop the comfort sucking, again because of my health problems. I simply could not sit for so long with LO and it caused me pain and I had incontinence problems. He also developed colic around this time and sucking on the boob really does not help ease colic but makes it worse, so switching him to a dummy to suck on helped lots as it eased his colic pain. We never used it as a comforter when crying or sleeping and he does not use it at night or as a way to stop him crying etc. It was purely to save my mental and physical health and help his colic.

If you can, stick with the boobs for 6 weeks and avoid a dummy also. If you can get till then without a dummy, don't bother with one at all. He's not going to miss what he's never had. We are slowly winding down the use of the dummy with LO before he is 4 months old. He only has it now occasionally and is very content sucking his fingers. He won't remember it if its gone by then so