Blogging. I vow to get better at it! I am one research paper away from certification and of course, choose to blog instead of work on that. 😉 Once a procrastinator, always a procrastinator! However, through this line of work, I often find myself with certain thoughts and topics persistently filling my brain space. I just recently realized that this is usually why people blog!

Today’s (and the past few months) topic is; bottles. Lately, I have worked with a lot of families that have moms heading back to work and inconveniently, their baby will not take a bottle. The saying “when it rains, it pours” is often getting stuck in my head like a bad pop song; but before this past year, I was naive to this issue that so many families struggle with! Subsequently, I felt compelled to share what I have observed over the past year between 9 different families. I know I know, small sample size-I am not claiming to be an expert. However, I promise to revisit this blog if I have any different findings in the future. Babies who received pumped breastmilk via a bottle starting at the age of 3-6 weeks and consistently thereafter, tend to continue to both successfully breastfeed and bottle feed. “Consistently” meaning one bottle a day or at least multiple throughout the week. 

In breastfeeding classes, I often learn how real and frustrating “nipple confusion” can be. Waiting until breastfeeding is properly established is definitely important for this reason. I wouldn’t write this blog if I didn’t personally experience the immense sadness and fear moms carry when it comes to returning to work with a baby who will not eat from a bottle. I also wouldn’t write this blog if I had figured out some magic way to get your baby to take a bottle. I have tried every single suggestion in the book, and the bottom line, is that some babies just never do it! My own brother went straight from “boob to cup” as my mother would put it. 

Some pediatricians here in the Denver area have been encouraging families to introduce a bottle at 3 to 6 weeks and alongside them, I hope this blog helps get the word out also. Disclaimer: If you are thinking about introducing a bottle to your newborn, I do encourage you to reach out to a lactation consultant as well. 

Happy Eating!