Bottle or Other Option

[tankgirl136]

I am really wanting to go back to my dance classes, but I need to figure out what to do for my DS while I am gone. I am currently EBF my son who will be 4 weeks old on Sunday (Classes are on Mondays), I would like to go to the classes, that would take me away for about 1 hour and 20 minutes a week. The issue is I would like to DH to have BM to offer DS if he gets hungry while I am gone, but I am really worried about nipple confusion. What can you suggest that might allow me to go to classes, but would be best to not interfer with our BF??

[lifeguard]

You could use a cup, a spoon or a syringe.

You could also bf immediately before leaving & then again upon returning - depending on your dc frequency.

[ZoraP]

If baby is nursing well by 4 weeks, nipple confusion probably won't be a problem anyway. We introduced a bottle of pumped milk when our babies were around that age -- the thing we did was that it was always Daddy, and always when I wasn't home. We tried to keep that up every few days so he would be able to feed them when I was gone. It worked fine and they never had any trouble nursing with me the rest of the time.

Some dh's may be willing to fuss with cup or syringe feeding, but mine was happy to use the bottle so he could just relax and snuggle with the baby. We used slow-flow nipples, of course.

[madeleines_mom]

If it's just one bottle a week I wouldn't be too worried about nipple confusion. I mean it's always a risk but I think it's a very small one at this stage of the game for him. If when you get back from dance after he's had a bottle you notice him nursing differently, you can stop using bottles the next time around and do something else (i.e. nurse him right before you leave so your DH doesn't feed him while you're gone). Personally I never got the hang of cup feeding, found it to be a major PITA. I did finger feed my DD pumped milk for the first week of her life though.

As for which bottle nipples to get, get one with a WIDE nipple base. Then they have to latch on similarly to how they do to the breast. I like the Playtex drop ins ones, and I find babies new to a bottle seem to prefer latex to silicone nipples (they have more elasticity than silicone). Of course make sure it's a SLOW flow. If you buy the Playtex drop ins, they come with 5 liners, the bottle, and a latex slow flow nipple, so everything you need!

[Samanthavv]

I've heard of people dipping the corners of rags into the milk, letting the baby suck it out and redipping it... Not very fast way of feeding, but I doubt it would cause confusion. Depending on how often your little one eats, you could put off one of her feedings till right before you leave, so by the time you're back, it's time to eat again. Ive done that before.