Practical Tips to Help You Succeed
By Sharon Waldrop
Humans are creatures of habit. We know what we want, how we want it and when we want it. A breastfed baby knows that she wants to suckle at her mother’s breast when she is hungry and will associate her mother with nourishment and a full tummy, among many other things. If a breastfed baby’s mother is away at work during mealtime, “plan B” comes into motion. In this case, “B” is for bottle, and not breast.
It is possible for a breastfed baby to accept a bottle from a caregiver, yet eagerly nurse when mom returns from work. Is there a better way for Mom and Baby to reunite at the end of a work day? With a little advance planning, this scenario can become a reality, making the transition back to work smoother for both Mother and Baby.
Timing Counts
Timing is the key to ensure that Baby will welcome a bottle into her life while continuing to enjoy a nursing relationship with her mother. Melissa Clark Vickers, international board certified lactation consultant, says that it’s best to wait to offer the bottle after breastfeeding is well-established. “Feeding from a bottle requires a totally different approach than feeding from the breast, and some babies have trouble switching back and forth if the bottle is introduced too early,” she says. By waiting four to six weeks, breastfeeding is second nature to baby, and she can handle learning something different.
“Nipple confusion” is the term for what occurs when an infant has trouble adjusting from breast to bottle. Avoiding a premature introduction to the bottle may help keep nipple confusion just a term and not an experience. However, keep in mind that if you wait too long to offer a bottle, a baby may reject it with a closed mind.
It is possible for a breastfed baby to accept a bottle from a caregiver.
The Hand That Feeds
Who should offer a baby her first bottle? Not Mom! Many breastfed babies will have no interest in a plastic, fabricated imitation of Mom if the real thing is just a scent away. Nancy Puckett of Southern California is the mother of two girls. When her second daughter was an infant, Puckett couldn’t be around when her husband offered their daughter a bottle. She would fight against the bottle and did not like the orthodontic nipple attached to it. She did better with a standard bottle nipple.
Puckett’s husband had to feed their baby girl in a different position than Mom nursed her in to get her to take a bottle. She had to be faced outwards, because if she was cradled, she expected to be nursed. It took about three months for Baby to take a bottle well. However, Puckett’s first daughter took the bottle at 6 weeks. This is just one example of how children have different preferences, temperaments, and personalities—even when they come from the same family.
Timing Really Does Count
Vickers has excellent advice for parents ready to offer their breastfed baby a bottle: Don’t heed the popular advice that Baby will take the bottle when she gets “hungry enough.” “I encourage parents to offer the bottle when the baby is NOT hungry,” Vickers says. “A nursing baby is going to recognize immediately that the bottle is NOT Mom. She has to learn that the bottle can satisfy her hunger. So pick a time when Baby is fed and content and alert. Let her play with the bottle and nipple. Chances are she will discover something familiar is inside.”
The Sippy Cup Prevails
Dawn Torres’ son, Colten, didn’t really like the bottle at first, although he would take it better from some people than others. He took it much better from Grandma than he did a family friend who also cared for him. As soon as Colten was able to express his preference, he refused the bottle. Torres and Colten’s caregivers tried many different nipples, positions, and temperatures. They finally figured out that he preferred his expressed breast milk in a sippy cup, cold.
At the age of 6 months, Colten started drinking out of a cup. It was different enough from his mother that he liked it. Colten is now 13 months old, enjoys drinking out of his favorite cup and nurses like a pro with no stop in sight when he is with his mother. “I’m so glad that I stuck it out through the hard times, and [I] know that even though I couldn’t be there to feed Colten myself, he had very loving people caring for him, and he was still getting the optimal nutrition available,” says Torres of Smithville, Missouri. This mother successfully pumped enough breast milk on a daily basis to keep her caregivers’ refrigerators stocked with milk for Colten’s bottles, then later for his sippy cups. “I am proof that it can be done,” says Torres.
