From: bweiss@cs.arizona.edu (Beth Weiss)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Re: breast feeding
Date: 11 Jan 93 16:45:32 GMT
Organization: U of Arizona, CS Dept, Tucson

uxgisd@ritvax.isc.rit.edu writes:
|> I know that it is very important to either breast feed or bottle feed, 
|> not both.  What I was hoping to do, is start breast feeding right from 
|> the beginning.  After about 3 or 4 days, I was planning on giving the 
|> baby his first bottle, only once a day. 

Although some people have had success at supplementing from birth,
many others have had trouble with it.  (I have no idea of what
percentage have had babies who take both bottle and breast from
birth without nipple confusion)

If it is possible for you to wait 3-4 weeks before giving the first
bottle, that will help your milk supply to be established and the
baby to be breastfeeding well.

There are a few things you can do to help the baby accept a bottle:
--have your husband offer it, rather than you at first
--if you do offer the bottle yourself, don't hold the baby in a
  "nursing" position.   Hold him/her facing away from you, so that
  s/he isn't reminded of nursing.  (And keep your shirt on :-)
--be prepared to try several different kinds of nipples.  According
  to the e-mail replies I got when I asked about this type of thing,
  many breastfed babies prefer the silicon orthodontic nipples, but
  that isn't universal, by any means.  
--Stay calm.  If you're really worried, leave the room while daddy
  feeds the baby. The baby can feel your distress and anxiety.
--If the baby refuses the bottle, you might vary the contents:
  try pumped breastmilk until s/he gets the hang of the bottle,
  then switch to formula.  You can also try varying the temperature
  of the contents (cold, body temp, warm, warmer)

|> From then on, I was hoping to be able to give the baby a bottle
|> at a certain time of day, each day.  

That makes sense--and it should be a time when you'll be at work
later, if possible.  That will help you in the weaning process.

|> I dont want to be breast feeding when I return to work, if I am,
|> I only want it to be one or two feedings.  

When you do go back to work, it will be easiest on _you_ if you
don't quit nursing cold turkey.  It is quite possible to continue
with just a morning and evening nursing, while the baby gets bottles
during the day.   AFter all, this is what happens as the baby starts
solids.  If you do want to quit nursing after you go back to work,
be sure to slow down gradually.  First give up _either_ the morning
or evening feeding, and then a week or so later, give up the other
one.

|> I've heard about mothers that cant go anywhere longer than a few
|> hours because the baby wont take a bottle.  I dont want that to
|> happen to me.  I guess I want the best of both worlds :-)  

Who can blame you for that?   Although we _hear_ about the babies
who won't take a bottle (their moms want advice/help), there are
lots of breastfed babies who do take a bottle.  We just don't get to
read many posts that say "Hi.  Everything is going great." 
Here's one, though: Jordan took his first bottle _without_ problems
at about 3 or 4 weeks (from his daddy).   He's used three different
kinds of nipples without complaint (I switched from Playtex nipples
because he started biting me, but _he_ didn't object :-).  He'll be
six months old on Thursday, nurses when with me, and takes bottles
of breastmilk at daycare three days a week.  (We're about to switch
to formula at daycare, but that's another story :-)

-- 
--Beth Weiss
bweiss@cs.arizona.edu
Newsgroups: misc.kids