To pump or not?

[Mommel]

My LO is 15 days old, has a great latch, nurses well and is at the top of his class weight-wise (he's nearing 11lbs. already). I have already missed two weeks of classes and must return to class as my financial aid package is my sole source of income.

My semi-retired mother has graciously agreed baby-sit (yay!), but insists that I leave a bottle of expressed milk for him. The longest I would possibly be gone is five hours, and it's likely to be much closer to three hours over the midday twice a week... and then for only two or three hours in late morning, three times a week. He already sleeps through the night and there is plenty of time to nurse before and after. I know he will be unhappy with the change in routine at first, as he has a high sucking need... and I've already okay-ed her to use a paci if necessary, but I am worried about her giving him a bottle too... what with the potential for nipple confusion at this age, as well as the potential for her to overfeed him by shoving a bottle in his mouth as a first resort before trying to find other ways to soothe him. 

My question is this: What would you do? Leave a bottle of expressed milk for grandma to feed him or just be quick about getting to class and back and nurse more before and after?

[voca]

I returned to work when my daughter was 6 weeks old, leaving my daughter with my husband, so I have some experience with leaving a breastfed baby with another care giver. When I started back I was gone for about five hour stretches each day.

Three hours seems to me to be a long time for a 15 day old to go without nursing. My daughter nursed about once an hour at that age. In the five hours I was gone when she was six weeks she usually had two small bottles.

Obviously if you think he will be fine for 3 hours then your son doesn't nurse so frequently. But your mother may be understandably concerned about the impact on him if he does get hungry and there is nothing for her to give him. I think that would be pretty traumatic for both her and him.

When my husband first started feeding my daughter (at about three weeks, since we wanted her to be used to the idea before I went back) he used a large medicine dropper we picked up at the pharmacy.  Our doula suggested it as a way to avoid nipple confusion. Even very little babies can also drink from a cup. Why not leave the milk with a feeding method other than a bottle? There are links to a fair amount of information about the various alternatives at Kellymom (scroll past the bottle information).

[Mommel]

The more I think about it, the more I think I really should leave something for him. I agree... my mother gets anxious easily and it would be awful for both of them if he was hungry and she wasn't able to get him anything... I like the medicine dropper idea. I do have one of the recommended nipples (Avent Slow Flow Infant) on KellyMom, but I hadn't thought of that. The open cup suggestion didn't really seem feasible, but the medicine dropper might be a great idea. 

Thank you!

[tincia]

I used a medicine dropper with my son and he was able to manage with it going very slowly. If u really don't want her to feed him a bottle i would send just a few ounces with a dropper(don't put a nipple top on if u think she might get tempted and u r really against it). I would also start doing it at home asap so he is used to it before your momhas to do it.

[Gracecody]

I have a baby who is about the same age, 18 days old today. I can't imagine him going more than three hours without a feed. Due to weight gain issues I have been pumping a lot and supplementing nursing with bottle feeding him expressed breast milk. He is nearly back at birth weight so we are starting to decrease the number of bottles given and it is going great. I don't think we have any nipple confusion happening and this baby was getting 8 bottles a day for a few days there. He still LOVES to nurse and never complains. If I was your Mom I would be quite stressed taking care of the baby with nothing to offer him, and your little one is still so little he really needs the calories on a regular basis. Imagine if he started going through a growth spurt or something and his feeding pattern changed. I know that pumping sucks, I am not a big fan either but had no choice, now I have to say I am pretty darned happy to have an extra 16 ounces or so in the freezer just in case. So you can look at it that way too, best to be prepared for everyone's sake. I also bet your Mom will really enjoy giving him those bottles, will be a nice bonding time for her.

[Mommel]

Pumping is not the issue for me... it's the delivery method. I left plenty of milk the last two days for her and he did fine with the recommended nipple from KellyMom, but now I have to stop with the bottle, and get her to switch to cup feeding (recommended by KellyMom and Dr. Sears for nipple confusion), which will not be easy for her. EVERYONE I spoke to IRL said, "If your babe latches well, nipple confusion is a non-issue... don't worry so much!" Bollocks!! After just two days and three bottle feeds, his latch has deteriorated and his pooping has significantly decreased, indicating that he is not getting enough at the breast. 

I should have listened to my gut on this! Now I have to retrain my mother to cup feed him when I'm gone and she is going to be ticked. 

[cat13]

If you are worried about nipple confusing, have your mom read this Kellymom article about bottlefeeding the breastfed baby. It sounds like you already have the slow-flow nipples, but be sure to have her feed in the appropriate way and also keep an eye on how much she gives. Many people don't realize that babies who eat BM need way less quantity than formula fed babies.

BTW, I just started going back to work part time and am leaving DS with DH, so I know how hard it can be. But I think it's wonderful that your DC is being cared for by a loving grandma!