I am a working/pumping mom. With ODD (now 4), I was home and gave her a very occasional bottle (like once every few weeks) starting around 6 weeks b/c I knew I wanted to go to a friend's wedding in another state when she was almost 5 mos. It was fine. She was fine with the bottle, loved the boob, took bottles of EBM when I returned to work at 10 mos, and continued to nurse until she wasn't interested anymore at 16 months which, while some might consider "premature," was fine for me.Â
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With YDD (6 mos), I returned to work briefly when she was 11 weeks (I'm a teacher and had to go back for 3 weeks before summer vacation). She was not psyched about the bottle. I had been too busy and a little lazy about giving practice bottles mostly b.c I hate cleaning pump parts and it always seemed difficult to time. It was very stressful for me and for DH who was watching her. Yet, we made it through. I took the summer off from pumping, lost my freezer stash during hurricane Irene, went back to work and DD adjusted to bottles again though she is a reverse cycler and seems to take most of her milk from the breast when we are together. She takes about 10 oz when I am gone.
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I don't really think it matters much either way. For me, it might have been less stressful if I had given more bottles early, but it's all fine. DD is a chunky 6 month old EBF baby who will take her milk from other sources when mama's away. I am conservative about pumping b/c I too find that it triggers oversupply. That said, I could not have returned to work at 11 weeks without the freezer stash I built up by pumping 1 side each morning. This gave me the confidence to know that DD had what she needed when I was gone.
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GL!
