Moving from breast to bottle
If you want to wean your baby off the breast and on to the bottle, give him (and yourself) a while to adapt to the change. If you’re returning to work and need to have established bottle-feeding by a certain deadline, give your baby at least 2 weeks to acclimatise – don’t wait until the day before he goes off to nursery. If you’re fully breastfeeding, stopping immediately can be physical agony! You’ll probably find that substituting one bottle feed for one breast feed in a day, and increasing the number of bottles by one every few days, reduces breast engorgement.
Starting to feed from a bottle with expressed milk makes the transition to bottled formula milk easier because at least this way he gets the same taste, even if the technique is different. Many babies take to the bottle without a hitch, but others don’t like it at all and take a while to acclimatise to this new way of feeding. If your baby objects to bottle-feeding, try these tips:
- Leave the room and get someone else to offer the bottle, so that your baby can’t smell your breast.
- Wait until your baby’s hungry (but not starving, otherwise he’ll just scream!) before offering him a bottle.
- If your baby’s older than 6 months, you may find it easier to move straight from the breast to a spouted beaker, which is better for his teeth. This is particularly good if you want to introduce mixed feeding (part breast, part bottle), as it prevents nipple confusion.
Many experts believe that offering a bottle before breastfeeding is established properly can cause nipple confusion. Sucking from a bottle and a breast use different techniques, so your baby may struggle to latch on to your nipple if he gets used to drinking from a bottle teat. Remember, too, that replacing breastfeeds with bottles of formula reduces your milk supply, and you’ll have difficulty starting breastfeeding again after you’ve stopped.
Tags: baby bottle feeding guide, baby bottle feeding tips, baby feeding bottle milk, baby Moving from breast to bottle
Posted in Children's Health
