Some stupid questions but we're doing this for the first time tonight. Is there anything special I should know? Do I have to burp her a lot more? WHen I pump can I feed her right away with the milk? If she doesn't eat all of it do I put the rest in the fridge or do I toss it?
emilain
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Re: Feeding breastmilk from a bottle
Have someone esle feed the baby so that the baby doesn't get confused that he smells your scent but the nipple is different. Make sure the flow is slow (or as close as possible to your own let down), and toss out any left over milk. He may need to be burped more often since there is definitely more air in the bottle than in your boobie!! Good luck, it can sometimes take a few tries, you should get out of the room and take you time. It may take a few differnt nipples to find the prefect one, we have used Brown's and Advent, they are closer to the human nipple.
Jenn524
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Re: Feeding breastmilk from a bottle
How many ounces will she take? What's an average amount for a 4 week old?
emilain
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Re: Feeding breastmilk from a bottle
each baby is different, I'm not too sure, but my daughters usually took around 3-5 ounces at each feed. I stored my breastmilk in 3 ounce storage bags and my Mom use to defrost 3 ounces at a time, so I would say about 3-5 ounces
Jenn524
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Re: Feeding breastmilk from a bottle
Ok so she ate close to 6 ounces. She's a little fussy after, which is not like her at all. Could it be a gas issue or maybe she's not thrilled with the bottle? She took the bottle with no problems at all-my DH fed her.
emilain
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Re: Feeding breastmilk from a bottle
Sounds like she did great!! (sorry I referred to your little one as 'he' earlier). Maybe it is just gas, make sure that her bottle is not a 'fast flow' nipple, it should be slow for the first few times, let her get use to the nipple. Maybe she was also just fussy because it was a transition and she is not ocmfortable about it yet. Good job! 6 ounces, you go girl!!! That's a healthy eater!!
Jenn524
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Re: Feeding breastmilk from a bottle
Thank you and don't worry I didn't take offense to you referring to her as a he. We have the slow flow nipple. I think she's just being a little fussy because I didn't feed her and her hold after. She's not looking for more food and she doesn't seem overly gassy. That's why we decided to slowly introduce the bottle to her. We're going to give her one a day for a couple of weeks and then we'll slowly increase it.
I have to say it was a little upsetting for me to not be feeding her. I feel like she's growing up already on me. But it was nice to see DH feed her. He was so excited.
Thanks for all your help.
emilain
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Re: Feeding breastmilk from a bottle
Sounds good! It is very heartbreaking as they pass through the phases of babyhood. When I stopped breastfeeding my girls at 1 yr, I would feel like something was missing out of my day! I enjoyed that quiet alone time, so I TOTALLY can relate to where you are coming from! Let me know if I can be of anymore help! Hey, I just reaized we have the same anniversary!!! May 24th! That's a good day!
Stacey1403
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Re: Feeding breastmilk from a bottle
My advice is to make sure you keep up with giving her a bottle once in a while. I stopped giving Damien a bottle for 2 months and he refused to take one after that. I couldn't do anything without him. I also felt very guilty when he would have a bottle.
Jenn524
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Re: Feeding breastmilk from a bottle
Here's a new question...Can I combine 2 bottles if they have both been in the fridge? They were pumped within a couple of hours of each other.
emilain
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Re: Feeding breastmilk from a bottle
Yes! You can combine them. I use to pump into a few different bottles, put them in the fridge and then put it all into 1 freezer storage bag.
michele31
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Re: Feeding breastmilk from a bottle
I always combined milk from different pumping sessions. Make sure that you are pumping when someone else is feeding the baby.You need to keep your supply up as well.
I use a hands free bra ($34) and that way I can pump and type of the computer or feed the baby or read a book etc... Makes life much easier IMO
I froze 3oz per bag when Molly was that young. At 7 months I froze 5oz per bag. I was able to use my breastmilk for almost a month when I stopped pumping! So keep up the good work!!!
jpsgirl
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Re: Feeding breastmilk from a bottle
a little late on this reply, at first my baby took 2 oz at a time, same amount of burping. I had heard the same thing that I shouldn't give her a bottle if breast feeding, which may be true, but I was lucky and had no problem at all. good luck!
