As long as the topic is persisting for a bit longer, I'll add the tips that 
I
give to moms going back to work about starting the bottle:

***use the lowest flow nipple your baby will take - this does not ever have 
to
change to a faster flow - no matter the age of the baby

***be sure the person feeding your baby paces the feeds -stopping
frequently for
burping, changing sides, etc, to mimic the breastfeeding pattern. I heard of
one particularly dedicated dad who would start each feeding with a pacifier,
then switch to the bottle so the baby would stay acustomed to waiting for
let-down!

***as several others have mentioned, mom should feed from breast alone - 
some
babies will cry for the bottle from mom, but with a few days of
persistance and
Jack Newman's standard nursing strike treatment (crudely summarized by
me here:
http://www.workandpump.com/refusal.htm), they learn that they won't get a
bottle from mom. This can be really really hard for working moms, who are
worried anyway that they're not pumping enough, that their baby is starving
because they've gone back to work - but if you can encourage a working mom 
to
stick to her guns, and just offer the breast frequently and in a
non-pressuring
way (and have it available all night long close by, although I would 
certainly
not come right out and say co-sleep, right?? ;-) - the baby will get enough 
to
eat (especially if the baby is still getting bottles during the day)

***Be sure the person feeding your baby never ever pressures the baby
to finish
a bottle. Grandmothers are notorious for this - "c'mon, honey, just a little
bit more..." - giving a mom the data on reheating bottles, sparse
though it may
be, can be enough to let her feel more comfortable having her caregiver stop
when the baby's full - knowing they can use the milk again later and it 
won't
go to waste. This tip is not necessarily directly related to breast refusal,
but it keeps the baby from overeating at child-care, which means more direct
breastfeeding when mom is home - always a good thing.

And I think a big psychological boost to working moms is to let them know 
that
nursing strikes are relatively common, that they happen to moms who are home
all day, who never give a bottle - it can just happen - that helps the mom
realize that while it may indeed be related to giving the bottle - that 
she's
not some terrible parent for being away. Mom's have all kinds of reasons for
going back to work - and it's not our job to question them - just to give 
them
the best information we have and support their continued efforts to
breastfeed.
Oops - that soapbox snuck up on me - I'll step down.

Kirsten Berggren, PhD
www.workandpump.com
University of Vermont Department of Nursing
Dawn Kursula's biggest fan (thanks for the shout-out Dawn!)

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