nipple confusion?

D

dueJuly

Registered User
Hi there,

I've read differing views about nipple confusion and am looking for some first hand advice.
I plan on exclusively feeding breast milk, but am considering pumping and giving from a bottle occasionally so Dad can be involved, too.
What experiences have you had introducing a bottle right away as opposed to waiting until baby (and mommy!) has mastered the latch?
Does giving a bottle too soon promote nipple confusion or should it be given as an option immediately so baby learns to like both?
Thanks for your help!
 
dueJuly said:
Does giving a bottle too soon promote nipple confusion?
Click to expand...

Yes, I help mothers every week who have given bottles too soon. Some manage to overcome the problem and other don't but the solution is to go back to full breastfeeding for a period of time.

It is much easier to prevent this problem rather than to correct it. Please, please wait until both the baby AND you know exactly what you are doing with the breastfeeding. This is usually around four to six weeks and for dyads with problems it will be longer.

Remember that if your baby does have problems swapping between breast and bottle later (refusing a bottle is an indication of a problem) then introducing bottles too early WILL cause a problem with the breastfeeding.

It often takes about a week for the problem with nipple confusion to be apparent and it then takes at least that long to overcome the problem.

Best wishes,
SARAH
 
My baby had to have expressed milk and formula very early on (like in the first week) because I had to go back to hospital and couldn't bring him with me. We fed him from a cup instead of a bottle. It's not completely straightforward but at least you don't have the nipple confusion.
 
i know personally 10 mum's who introduced a bottle too late and couldn't get their babies to take a bottle and had to breast feed until 10-12months until the baby took a cup. Because of this we tried my baby girl on a bottle (with expressed milk) every few days from week 3 until week 7. However we left it a week and she forgot how to be able to take a bottle and now (6 months later) still can't take a bottle, because you suck a bottle and you lap from the breast. As much as i love breast feeding my baby, in 7 months i've never been more than 4 hours away from her and you start to crave some "me time" you only have to look on this site to find people looking for ways to get their baby to take a bottle. my advice is once you have the breast mastered,start giving your baby one bottle a day. the best time is meant to be the 11pm feed because when you get to the point of dropping a feed this is the first one to go. start xpressing in the morning and give her some of this milk. this will also help your milk supply. (hope this helps)
 
We also introduced the bottle at 6 weeks. Dad wanted to be involved with the feeding. So it was his job to give D his last feed of EBM at 10pm. We only gave him 1 bottle day, and didn't have any problems with nipple confusion.
 
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Thanks for all you replies.
I guess I don't have to run out right now and but all the equipment. I have a few more weeks.
I've been reading The Baby Whisperer and she thinks nipple confusion is a myth:)
 
have read the same book love - not sure on myth but from all my reading the key thing i pick up is that all bubs are different!

once bella and i are cool with breastfeeding (hopefully that is immediately :-)) If possible, I plan to introduce a bottle a day like BW suggest.

talk to you soon. duty calls. tb
 
I don't think it is a myth, anyone who actually works extensivley with moms with BF problems won't think that is it a myth. I would ask yourself whether the author has years of experience working with BF mothers. Definately wait. The prevailing wisdom is to wait 6 weeks, I would suggest waiting 4 weeks (assuming BF is going well and baby is graining well) then introducing a bottle every few days. I waited 6 weeks and had no luck getting mine to take a bottle at all, so the second time I waited 4 weeks and used a bottle a few times not that well, then waited a week and never again would he take a bottle. Also if you are only using it rarely anyways, pumping is a real pain in the butt, a lot of work, so for me it was just easier to BF that pump and fight the bottle.
 
Thanks for the advice Capital.
If the author's bio is correct, she does have may years experience including being a breast feeding counselor.
Her advice is to introduce the bottle (with a specific nipple to control flow) in the first 3 weeks. This is the opposite of everything else I have read, which says to wait at least 4 weeks.
All the info can be confusing!
I'd like to have Dad give one bottle a day when he's home . I should have been more specific in original question. My bad.

Thanks again!
 
Although breastfeeding is something that we have been doing for a long, long time, it is only recently that we have any real understanding of exactly what is happening.

It was a recent as the late nineties that we started to understand that babies actually have the instinct to breastfeed and that things such as separation from the mother and drugs taken during birth can interfere with this process.

It is now recognized by many (especially those who are up-to-date with the latest research) that the baby continues to have this ability for many months after birth ? as long as it isn?t interfered with. Unfortunately bottles do interfere with this process.

In recognition of the fact that the field is one where we are gaining more and more understanding as the years pass lactation consultants have to recertify every five years (This generally means passing the exam again.)

Tracey Hogg, although qualified as a midwife never became a lactation consultant and is defiantly not up-to-date with the latest research as she has been dead for nearly five years.

I can understand that your husband wants to bond with your baby but I?d suggest that you encourage him to do some of the skin-to-skin contact (where baby is dressed in just his nappy against a bare chest with blankets wrapped around both of you) rather than compete with the breastfeeding in this venerable time.

If you are have a cesarean then the father can do the skin-to-skin contact immediately after birth instead of the mother and although this clearly doesn't give the baby the chance to breastfeed it is better for baby than being wrapped up and put in a cot - and it definitely helps the father bond with the new baby.
 
This is just one of the many area's where you will recieve conflicting information........

My perspective is that both of my babies were in SCBU during the first week of their lives. I spent from 9am to 7pm on the ward breast feeding at QMH allocated "feeding time" then expressed every 3-4 hours, using a double electric pump.

Once back at home had one or two bottles daily of expressed milk. Neither baby had any problems with nipple confusion. Once they reached about 6 weeks old they actually recieved less bottles, because they were much efficient (quicker) at drinking milk directly from the breast.

I say do what works for you, your baby, in your home.
 
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