I didn't introduce the bottle until my son was 6 weeks old in order to lessen the likelihood of nipple confusion. If you need to be away from baby before then, the recommendation is to use cup feeding to lessen nipple confusion (see more about cup feeding. Initially I just stored milk in the fridge for the odd hours I'd be away and the Spouse would be feeding our son but I gradually built up a freezer stash for when I returned to work. I was also lucky in that we took the bus to work and the garklet was in the workplace nursery so I could breastfed him on the way to work, at lunchtime and on the bus journey home as well as feeding him at home.
Re bottles: we started with about a bottle a week from 6 weeks even if I wasn't going away. his dad always fed him and I would be out of the room. this was so he'd get used to bottles as I didn't want to risk him rejecting the bottle when I returned to work. We used newborn teats the whole time until he stopped taking a bottle at about a year (he had moved onto sippy cups and straws by then).
Re freezing: I found that freezing in 2-4oz quanities was best and initially laying the bags flat so they froze in thin sheets which would then stack easily on their sides in date order. Also freezing like this meant they could defrost quickly, within a minute or two, if put into a mug of hot water. I dated bags with both the pumping date and the expiry date.
Re vaccinations: we followed the UK schedule as we're in the UK. It differs from US schedules but then we have differnt populations and differnt endenmic diseases (for example chicken pox is widespread in the UK and most people have it as a very mild illness when a child. I never had detectable chicken pox but bloodtests have shown I am immune to it, so we don't vaccinate against it routinely). Personally I think that vaccination is vitally important to keep up the herd immunity which protects those members of society who are unable to be vaccinated for medical reasons. The care stories about MMR have had an impact in the UK and cases of measles and mumps have been on the rise in communities where vaccinations rates dropped, and many of the anti-MMR crowd constantly downplayed the seriousness of measles and mumps, often caliming that no-one ever died of them which is a complete falsehood. I am afriad I have little time for anti-vac campaigners as their science is more often than not flawed.
Re bottles: we started with about a bottle a week from 6 weeks even if I wasn't going away. his dad always fed him and I would be out of the room. this was so he'd get used to bottles as I didn't want to risk him rejecting the bottle when I returned to work. We used newborn teats the whole time until he stopped taking a bottle at about a year (he had moved onto sippy cups and straws by then).
Re freezing: I found that freezing in 2-4oz quanities was best and initially laying the bags flat so they froze in thin sheets which would then stack easily on their sides in date order. Also freezing like this meant they could defrost quickly, within a minute or two, if put into a mug of hot water. I dated bags with both the pumping date and the expiry date.
Re vaccinations: we followed the UK schedule as we're in the UK. It differs from US schedules but then we have differnt populations and differnt endenmic diseases (for example chicken pox is widespread in the UK and most people have it as a very mild illness when a child. I never had detectable chicken pox but bloodtests have shown I am immune to it, so we don't vaccinate against it routinely). Personally I think that vaccination is vitally important to keep up the herd immunity which protects those members of society who are unable to be vaccinated for medical reasons. The care stories about MMR have had an impact in the UK and cases of measles and mumps have been on the rise in communities where vaccinations rates dropped, and many of the anti-MMR crowd constantly downplayed the seriousness of measles and mumps, often caliming that no-one ever died of them which is a complete falsehood. I am afriad I have little time for anti-vac campaigners as their science is more often than not flawed.
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