BF Question

MrsKatieK · December 2011

Talk to me about nipple confusion. What is it? How does it occur?

I am planning on BFing, but would like to also pump so DH can do some of the night feedings with a bottle. Will this confuse the baby?

And then I heard something about no paci at birth if you are planning to BF because it causes nipple confusion.

I'm confused...

Cory's Wife · December 2011

I was not successful with bf, but I will say that we were doing fine until I started supplementing with a bottle. Once Molly had a bottle she lost all interest in nursing. When I did get her to latch she would get frustrated and quit or suck until I was cracking, bleeding, and blistered. I'm sure the BFers have more/better advice for you but that's my .02. Next time I'm going to try to avoid the bottle until bf is well established, or I lose my sanity, which ever comes first.

Rangergal9 · December 2011

With Abby she had no issues with nipple confusion. I started pumping when she was 2 weeks old and she was able to move back and forth from breast to bottle with no problems. I also used the Playtex drop ins with the wider brown nipple and she did really well with those.

katiedom · December 2011

You are correct about what nipple confusion is - however, not all babies experience it. My experience(s) have been like Ranger - Jack was breastfed, but I also pumped and gave him bottles (the Playtex drop ins) and he used a pacifier (Avent) all without a problem. Carter is doing the same - he nurses, takes a bottle and takes a pacifier, all without a problem.

So really, it's all subjective - you will have to wait and see how your baby does.

JessicaAlice · December 2011

I think it all depends on your baby. "They" say that you are supposed to have BF'ing established before giving the baby a bottle or a pacifier...but in reality you have to do what works for you and the baby and keeps you sane. For me, BF'ing was very hard and very painful because Cullen couldnt latch right. The paci came in to play when I wanted sleep. We started the bottle (of BM) at 2 weeks and never went back to nursing...it took almost 2 weeks for my nipples to heal well enough for me to feel comfortable nursing him again and by then he wasnt interested anymore. I was ok with it because it kept my sanity with DH being able to help with the middle of the night feedings and feedings when I needed a break. Cullen is almost 6 months old and I'm still EP'ing and I'm ok with that...he's still getting BM, just not directly from me. So, to end my rambling...it all depends on your baby. No matter what happens, your baby will be fine whether he gets it from you or a bottle.

MrsL628 · December 2011

I had pretty much the exact opposite problem....I was so afraid of giving Mads nipple confusion by offering her bottles, etc from the beginning, that we just didn't really do it. A couple of months in, when we wanted to start regularly giving her bottles, it was a huge struggle to get her to learn to/want to take them. We'll start trying it a lot sooner with Lily, assuming all goes well.

I agree with Katie in that you most likely will have to wait & see how things go with your LO

mucutiepie124 · December 2011

katiedom:

You are correct about what nipple confusion is - however, not all babies experience it. My experience(s) have been like Ranger - Jack was breastfed, but I also pumped and gave him bottles (the Playtex drop ins) and he used a pacifier (Avent) all without a problem. Carter is doing the same - he nurses, takes a bottle and takes a pacifier, all without a problem.

So really, it's all subjective - you will have to wait and see how your baby does.

We also didn't have any issues with nipple confusion. Liam was given a paci in the NICU, and had no issues between paci, breast or bottle.

heatherkj · December 2011

You will get conflicting opinions about how soon you can give a pacifier. I had one nurse give me a pacifier for Nora to use in the hospital, and then another one took it away when she was in the nursery because apparently the LCs at the hospital were against the BFing babies using them and she didn't want me to get in "trouble."

But if we didn't use a pacifier with Nora from the beginning, I would've gone insane. She wanted to suck ALL THE TIME. After I got the "The LCs don't think it's a good idea" speech in the hospital, I stopped using it when we got home because I was scared. I spent a few nights with my hand hanging over the side of the bed with my finger in Nora's mouth (in the rock 'n' play) so that we could all get some sleep. It was uncomfortable (and my finger was in rough shape!) and so I finally asked the pedi at our 1 week appt if we could use a pacifier and she said yes. We never looked back, and we used the paci until she was about 10-11 months old.

We introduced a bottle at 3 weeks old (our pedi told us she preferred us to wait until then), and then she never had problems going back and forth from breast to bottle.

MsEmilyAnn · December 2011

I'm EBF and we did held off on giving her a bottle and giving a pacifier for a while, just in case it would cause confusion, or a preference for her.

We gave her her first bottle (of breast milk) at 4 weeks, which was DH and I's first date. I would have waited longer, but I needed to get away for a little while. She's had a total of 5 bottles as of now and doesn't seem to have a preference for it at all. We use the slowest nipple, which helps, because she still has to work for her food. Sometimes the preference for a bottle can come when they get a faster flow nipple with the bottle and it's a lot easier to eat that way than from the breast. That hasn't been an issue for us, she takes about 5-10 minutes with me and about 15-20 with the bottle, I'm the easier choice. I pump and freeze milk for date nights, etc. but haven't used a whole lot just yet.

We waited until 5 weeks for the pacifier. The plan was to just wait it out and see if we thought she needed one. At about 5 weeks it was pretty apparent that she really wanted to be sucking for comfort, so we introduced the paci. It hasn't caused any confusion for her that we know of.

I also forgot to mention that she got 2 bottles of colostrum in the hospital (1.5 oz that I pumped there). We were having latch issues, but the bottle didn't seem to hurt.

We also had to use a nipple shield for a while to help with latching. It took some effort to wean off of, but we did, and don't need it anymore. It was worth it though, I think it helped.

Soon2BMRS615 · December 2011

Ditto to PPs, it all depends on the baby. Benjamin had a paci his second day in the hospital bc all he wanted to do was suck. When he was re-admitted and in the NICU, he had a paci almost 100% of the time and was being bottle-fed when I wasn't there. After he came home (10 days old) until about 3 weeks, he nursed exclusively. But then we had to start supplementing with formula bottles. He is now 7.5 months old and goes back and forth btw bottle and nursing without issue. He is even on the fastest flow nipple for his bottles. He has wanted a bottle over the breast once or twice, but I wouldn't call the nipple confusion, just being really hungry.

If I were you, I'd stick with waiting a few weeks until nursing is well established to give a bottle if that is possible for you. Also, some babies never take to the paci. Benjamin plays with his, but doesn't actually suck on it.

MrsKatieK · December 2011

You all are a wealth of great information! Thank you so much!!

katiedom · December 2011

MsEmilyAnn:
We use the slowest nipple, which helps, because she still has to work for her food. Sometimes the preference for a bottle can come when they get a faster flow nipple with the bottle and it's a lot easier to eat that way than from the breast.

This is great advice, too. We used the slowest nipple for Jack the entire time he used a bottle (so, for the first year of his life). That way the speed at which he was getting the breast milk was the same whether he was on the boob or on the bottle.

ColleenS629 · December 2011

We had major problems with this. Ryan wasn't so bad. He was given a pacifier and bottle in the NICU without my consent but he still tried to latch. It was the sucking that we had to work on but he got it by the time we got home. Andrew was hard to latch but would suck once he was on... until he was also given a bottle and paci in the hospital. I specifically told the nurse when she asked that I did not want him to have a pacifier. The next time they brought him to me from the nursery, he had one. They also mislead me about how low his sugar was so I agreed to let him have a bottle of my pumped milk. After that, he would not BF. For two weeks, I would BF Ryan, pump, then bottle feed Andrew at every.single.feeding. It took an LC and a nipple shield to get him back on the boob. We are still using the nipple shield most of the time. I wish so much that they had listened to my wishes and hadn't given him a paci or bottle in the hospital. (FWIW, we also used a bottle with the slowest flow. I looked up what bottles were best for avoiding nipple confusion in BF babies. I don't know if it just wasn't helpful or if the damage had already been done with the bottles/ nipples that the hospital used). Good luck with which ever route you decide to take.

Crystal&Brad · December 2011

MsEmilyAnn:

We also had to use a nipple shield for a while to help with latching. It took some effort to wean off of, but we did, and don't need it anymore. It was worth it though, I think it helped.

We are EBF. Paisley had a bottle at 4 weeks (tommy tippy) and never had a problem going between breast and bottle. She now uses a paci and gets 2-3 bottles a day at the sitter.

We used the shield for about the first 10 weeks and it did take some real work to wean her off it but she's great now.

BF Question

Re: BF Question

Choose Another Board

Search Boards