- Scenario 1: Breastfeeding is going smoothly and you plan to return to work full or part-time and while you will nurse your baby directly when you’re present, your baby will depend on bottle-feeding while you’re away.
- Scenario 2: Breastfeeding is going smoothly and you do not plan to return to work and you plan to nurse directly most of the time but you do wish for your baby to take the occasional bottle at times where you may be separated from your baby.
For both of the above scenarios, it’s recommended to introduce a bottle to your baby between 4 and 6 weeks.
- Scenario 3: Your baby is not gaining weight well and supplementation becomes necessary.
Introducing a bottle sooner than that 4-6 week recommendation would be helpful.
This post addresses the first two scenarios above. Your baby is nursing well, there are no weight concerns, no nipple or latching pain; you’ll want to wait until about 4 weeks to introduce a bottle.
When offering that first bottle to your baby, avoid introducing the bottle while your baby is very hungry and agitated. It is difficult for your baby to learn new skills when cranky. A better time would be offering a small volume to your baby after feeding on only one breast or about an hour after your baby has awakened from a nap so that you don’t interrupt the flow of time at the breast and your baby can attempt the bottle without needing a full-feeding.
It is not recommended that the first bottle-feeding experience be one where you are not present in the home and your partner or caregiver is stuck with a hungry, unhappy baby, while also trying to convince this baby to take a bottle for the first time. It’s likely not going to go well. In fact, it may actually be best for you to be the one to try the bottle with your baby the first go-round. Since you’re the one who is most aware of what your baby looks like during nursing at the breast, it’s important that your baby is displaying similar actions while attempting a bottle feed.
There are certain things you want to see happening to make sure your baby is taking the bottle appropriately:
- Baby’s mouth should be nice and wide and open
- Baby should be in control of the flow of the bottle Once you’ve introduced the bottle, it’s a good idea to keep some bottle feeding (2-4 per week) in your regular rotation of feeding so your baby doesn’t lose interest in taking the bottle or become agitated when a bottle is offered. Even just offering a small-volume in a bottle on a regular basis rather than full-feed will help keep your baby in a groove of taking bottles easily.
