3 reasons why a mum may need to bottle feed as told by a mum

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Some breastfed babies take this to mean: breast is the only thing that should go in the mouth of the beholder. Yes, mama that is exactly what a breast loving Bubba thinks. Really though you have to give it to them; they know a good thing. Now let us read what one mum Kathryn had to say about her experience with giving her ‘boobie monster’ a bottle:

“My return to work date was looming so from about 6 weeks I started trying to get her on a bottle. Just now and again once or twice a week just to see if she would take it. I was really tired and just needed a bit of a break so I thought I would try her on the occasional bottle, but unfortunately, I realise pretty quick she does not like the bottle. She was rejecting everything I gave her. She was spitting everything out, she was choking and coughing on the milk. It was starting to stress me out a little bit. I thought if she never takes the bottle off me how on earth am I even gonna leave her. How am I gonna go shopping for an hour, and more importantly how am I going to go back to work?

I must have spent over £60 trying different brands different teats, different sizes different flows of all different types of bottle. From really cheap supermarket brands up to a £20 bottle, expensive ones and nothing was working. I was really starting to panic and then I was just scrolling through Facebook and I saw a video like this one talking about the Minbie bottle and it was saying nipple simulation all the things I heard quite a few times before. And surely all those people couldn’t be wrong so I thought I would just give it a go. I went on the website it was really easy to order. There was an assistant there ready to help me choose what teat and what flow would be best for my girl.

We started off on the xs and the one step up teat because she wasn’t 3 months then. The first couple of times was a bit of a struggle, she was fighting and she was spitting it out, and I thought ‘here we go’ it’s not going to make any difference, it’s going to be exactly the same. All of a sudden she just kind of like latched on it and I heard her latched, I felt it. She sucked the bottle in and she just started chugging, and I like oh this is a step in the right direction. She still gagged a little bit here and there, but I could see she was taking it. It was going down and I thought oh my gosh this is a hell of a lot different compared to what I tried previously!!! We persevered I tried every other day for the next week or so. Before long she started taking it really well. My husband gave it to her and she took it really well. My parents, my sister everyone has fed her with this bottle and she has taken it pretty well. Don’t get me wrong she still is a breastfed baby and she does love breastfeeding so occasionally even now she has a little bit of a gag when I first try it with her. It’s worth it because I know she will take it. I feel so much more comfortable about going back to work now in a few weeks because I know she will take it.

You could tell when you look at the bottle its shaped differently, its styled different and it feels comfortable for her. I do have a couple of tips. When I first started bottle feeding her she wasn’t fun of being in the same position as she would when I am breastfeeding because obviously I was cradling her and she was expecting the breast. When I was giving her the bottle she was getting a bit confused. What I have started doing now is putting her in her bouncer or up on the settee just in a slightly different position and I lean in from behind pop it in her mouth I also cup my hand around her face and chin I think she really likes that skin on skin contact because it does remind her of breastfeeding and of course if you are using express milk or even if you are not its just nice to have that closeness of breastfeeding like as I say she is comfortable chomping away on it now she polishes off 5 or 6 oz in one go which is really unusual because obviously with breastfed babies you really don’t know how much they are taking.”

Three main things stood out with what Kathryn told of her feeding journey:

1. Mum needed her baby to take a bottle because she had to go back to work. Working mums don’t much have a choice of always being with their baby.
2. Mum was starting to feel stress. When a mum knows her baby is totally dependent on her and only her for food it creates anxiety because anything can happen?
3. The type of bottle teat does make a difference with babies. The shape and flow are also important.

Kathryn’s happy ending can also be your happy ending. Give the Minbie a shot, you never know it just may be the winning ticket. Talk with us right here on chat, we are waiting to answer any questions you may have.