Introducing bottle too early?

[Gillyboos]

Baby is due 2nd April and I have one of my best friend's wedding on the 26th April. I was due to be bridesmaid, but with the chance of being overdue and not wanting a different style dress, it was decided I would go as a normal guest.
She isn't having any children at the wedding, not even her 6 month old nephew. My mum is happy to have baby and I'm working on making my peace with leaving him/her so early. I plan to breastfeed but obviously I'll have to express for the day/evening and my mum will have to bottle feed. Baby could be 3 weeks, or as young as 1 week!!! I understand you aren't meant to introduce bottles too early due to nipple confusion but what choice do I have?
Tbh it's beginning to upset me and I just know I want to do what is best for baby.

 

[AmyQ]

I can imagine you will get a lot of advice on this. In the end you will have to do what is best for you and your LO.

They recommend not introducing bottles/dummies until bf is established. I would suggest discussing this with your mw to see what they say. You would also need to express at least once while you are out so you don't get engorged and uncomfortable.

 

[purple_pianos]

We introduced a bottle at 5 days as I had a bit of a meltdown with feeding. In the end I countinued with breastfeeding but we still do 1 bottle at night so oh can do it and I can sleep when he's off work. My lo has had no issues with it at all bit it just depends on the baby I think.

Xxx

 

[hayes]

I introduced my lo to a bottle at 10day's or I think I wud have had a breakdown from the stress of exclusive bf!! He was fine with it n no nipple confusion at all but u will need to see how u feel about it n what he lo needs.

Michelle.x

 

[Wilson28]

Hi Hunni

I am a breast feeding support peer so i am happy to help you in anyway i can

Firstly you need to think of this, you may not be well enough to go to the wedding, you might be over due, may need a c section, so you need to think of that, also with breast feeding, at this age your baby will be, it will need feeding every 2hrs, your going to be needing to express alot of milk off for a day for the baby to feed, and also expressing at this age when the baby is born, will over stimulate your milk supply and cause you to be engouraged after the wedding, is the wedding close by? could your mum meet you with the baby for feeds? or what about just going to the wedding its self and not to the after party?

if you introduce a bottle to soon, you will confuse the baby with latching and you could risk the chances stopping your baby on breast, but i think it will baby wont take a bottle so you when its used to breast.

the choice is yours but your friend needs to understand you will put your baby 1st like any mother would.

xx

 

[tiggy85]

If all goes well then I'm sure you could go and then mum feed baby bottle, you would need to express at least once or twice during the day and more if your staying for the evening, so you would need somewhere appropriate to do this. Otherwise your just gonna be engorged and in pain.

However I would be more thinking again whether you feel like going. As a mum as 1-3 weeks post baby, I was so knackered and in pain I wouldn't have felt like getting dressed to go out for a wedding all day and night. The most I was able to do was walk around tesco and basic care needs for me and baby. I was also changing my pads frequently (breast and maternity pads) and then getting emotional and tearful at little things, I just had a straight forward (albeit very quick) vaginal delivery too. My friends whom had c sections took much longer to recover.

It's a lot of pressure for you Hun. Maybe see how you feel after the birth?

Hope whatever you decide will work out. Xxxx

 

[Pregnot]

Hiya

Like others have said you may miss weddin anyway but if you don't then of course you can give the baby a bottle.

Please don't get caught up with what bf support people say a lot of it is scaremongering tactics to ensure baby is ebf for at least the first 6 months!
Of course some babies may get confused between nipple and bottle because its requires a differnt sucking motion but nipple confusion is pretty rare to be honest.

I have ebf my baby since birth and have also given a dummy and a bottle once a week from being 2 weeks - the bf support say I'm wrong to do this but he knows the difference!
I would advise you to establish feeding lee the first couple
Of weeks and if your going to introduce a bottle then hand express the milk off as
Pumps can be quite brutal sometimes and increase your supply so hand express some off and you could even do it starting week 1 and freeze it the. By time wedding comes around you will have a supply in freezer for baby.
There are ways and means to sort it but don't be put off by nipple confusion and all the other things we get told

Don't worry see how ur feeding goes and decide nearer the time

 

[Taurusgirl]

My LO was first cup fed as we didn't get the hang of breast feeding due to a traumatic birth. We then got the hang of breast feeding but kept giving him one bottle a day the last two days he's refused the bottle but I think that is because he's now getting enough milk from me.

I personally wouldn't worry about nipple confusion and I am sure your baby will be fine with accepting the breast again as it will only be one day. X

 

[Gillyboos]

Thank you for all your replies. I guess it will be a case of just seeing how things go!
I really hope I will be up to going as I'll feel like I'm massively letting her down, I've already had to bow out of the hen do and actually being bridesmaid. I was concerned about not being up to but my mum and sister said that I'd be fine and made me feel like I was being silly even saying it. Perhaps they were lucky with recovery.

Thanks again for the responses, it helps to hear other people's experiences and opinions. C

 

[purpleslurple]

I am breastfeeding and we introduced a bottle at 2 weeks as I was shattered. LO has been absolutely fine - switches between bottle and boob no problem. I would say to express over several days/weeks as it can be difficult to get enough out in one sitting especially if you're under pressure to do it.

 

[l_maclean]

Nipple confusion is a very real thing - despite some people suggesting suporters make it up (biggest load of crap I've ever heard!!) but it is quite rare.

What I think you'd find most difficult (unless you are lucky enough to have a significant over supply) is having enough milk to last all day. At 3weeks your LO could still be wanting to cluster feed to build up your supply.

Ignoring the bottle issue. Missing feeds that early could cause you difficulties.

Those who exclusively pump have to do so every 2-3hours to keep a supply - so that's a lot of expressing while you are out.

As for letting your friend down - if she's a decent friend then she should understand that a newborn baby is your priority! X

 

[Pregnot]

Nipple confusion is a very real thing - despite some people suggesting suporters make it up (biggest load of crap I've ever heard!!) but it is quite rare.

What I think you'd find most difficult (unless you are lucky enough to have a significant over supply) is having enough milk to last all day. At 3weeks your LO could still be wanting to cluster feed to build up your supply.

Ignoring the bottle issue. Missing feeds that early could cause you difficulties.

Those who exclusively pump have to do so every 2-3hours to keep a supply - so that's a lot of expressing while you are out.

As for letting your friend down - if she's a decent friend then she should understand that a newborn baby is your priority! X

Re read my post!

Please don't get caught up with what bf support people say a lot of it is scaremongering tactics to ensure baby is ebf for at least the first 6 months!
Of course some babies may get confused between nipple and bottle because its requires a differnt sucking motion but nipple confusion is pretty rare to be honest.

Where did I say it was made up????
That's right I didn't!

Fact is no bf support peer will ever advise you to introduce the bottle or a dummy and there number one go to reason amongst others ...is nipple confusion and what new mum wants to risk her baby not feeding or altering the production of milk because they introduce a bottle or dummy - not many couple that with the knowledge that nipple confusion is quite rare then yea they do scaremonger people into bf and not using anything like a dummy or bottle.

I'm not sure why you misinterpreted my original post maybe you were in a rush reading it maybe you didn't read it at all but I didn't say nipple confusion was made up.

 

[Samantha55]

We introduced a bottle after 2 weeks as little one struggled with weight gain so topped up with expressed milk... He's 15 weeks now and has the odd bottle if were out and about but never struggled switching between but of course that is just my experience and everyone is different..

X

 

[Sophie_P]

I introduced a bottle and dummy at 4 days old and she still breastfeeds xx

 

[Gillyboos]

Thanks, it's good to get plenty of opinions and experiences.
I guess we'll just have to give it a go and see. Xx

 

[ScotchEgg]

I've known more people struggle because they didn't introduce a bottle until 6-8 weeks as recommended and baby refused to take it. I was advised by breastfeeding midwife to introduce a bottle quickly for this reason when I was having a tough time feeding