Kittie Frantz also recommended 6 wks in a session I attended about decreasing our reliance on pumps. She also commented that this matches well with the traditional society's babymoon of 40 days~~~which was considered the time the mom and baby need to focus on each other to get life off to a solid start.  She was referring to traditional societies where breastfeeding is the difference between life and death.  
 
The more common recommendation in the mid-US is 3 - 4 wks.
 
Personally, just like we don't time feedings, I'm not comfortable telling a mom a specific calendar time for introducing bottles.  Instead, when the mom says, “Now, I’m not supposed to introduce bottles for three weeks, right?”  I explain that we don’t know exactly what will be right for her baby.  It may take a little longer.
 
I say that we want to be sure breastfeeding is well-established first.  She’ll know when breastfeeding is well-established because she’ll be nursing comfortably and her baby will have a solid weight gain *pattern* established, not just one or two gains, but a solid pattern.  That way if the bottle messes something up, she’ll be experienced enough to recognize it and be able to make adjustments to fix the change. (I’m thinking that she’d get the baby’s mouth open wider & tongue out for a deeper latch again.)  The moms all say, “Oh, okay.  That makes sense.”  I like how it puts the mom in control instead of some “rule.” And of course, acquiring enough weight checks here for a solid pattern takes several weeks.
 
In order to emphasize the “pattern” concept (because some moms will remember better if we help them visualize it), I hold my right arm straight forward, then bend at the elbow so my arm goes across my body (like getting ready to do a do-si-do or one side of “arms akimbo”).  Then I angle my forearm upward.  From my perspective it looks like my arm/hand are pointing northwest if my elbow is considered the center of the compass.  From the mom’s perspective, since she’s facing me, my arm represents a line on a graph with an upward slope that would be a good weight gain.  Then I use my left index finger to point to several spots going upward on the slope to indicate the pattern of several good gains.  
 
I hope that made some sense because I really like the way the “light dawns” in the mothers’ eyes when I use this and hope some others may also find it useful.  It helps the mother watch her own baby rather than starting bottles at 3 wks just because some book said it was safe.
 
Debbi Heffern
St. Louis,MO
 
 

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