Breastfeeding and cup feeding: my journey - Shaazia Parker and Tahlia Isaacs (8 months)

June 2026

As a first time mom I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I was winging it. 

I didn't have any motherly help, it was just me and my husband. All our research was done via the internet / social media (I know this is not wise!). We had a slight idea of what we thought would work when it came to breastfeeding, but we were definitely in over our heads. I was convinced that I would end up bottle feeding along with breastfeeding but that definitely did not happen.

My baby girl was born with a slight tongue tie and my midwife recommended I take her to a lactation consultant - that's how I ended up seeing a LC (who is also a La Leche League Leader) when she was about 1.5 weeks old. She helped me adjust my positioning and over time my baby got more practice with breastfeeding comfortably. We ended up not snipping the tongue tie. 

I asked the consultant about bottles and what bottles she recommended. She told me all bottles are the similar - it makes no difference what brand or teat you use because the baby will use their lip muscles more with a bottle than when breastfeeding, so, to avoid nipple confusion, if I desperately need to use a bottle, it should only be introduced after 6 weeks once my milk supply is established and my baby has figured out how to latch comfortably on my breast. Or I should just do cup feeding. This sounded messy and scary at the time. 

Anyway, at 6ish weeks we decided to give her a bottle. This went horribly wrong because she HATED it and after that experience she partially rejected my left breast for about a month or two (she would only drink from it while she was sleepy). That was the first and last time she was offered a bottle; we just never bothered again. I must add I am extremely lucky and grateful to be with my baby 24/7. Yes it is tiring and some days I wish I had tried again with a bottle but I remind myself this is just a phase and nothing lasts forever. She will never need me like this again so I practise enjoying the moment while it lasts.

And honestly, exclusively breastfeeding is just so much easier than needing to express and sterilise everything and worry about temperatures and volumes and how long it's been out of the fridge and all that stuff. You can never forget your boobs at home - they're with you forever, lol! My baby nurses to sleep, she nurses for hunger, for thirst, for comfort. She nurses for literally everything. She's not on a dummy so I am essentially her pacifier.

Cup feeding has seriously been a game changer for me. I express milk on the odd occasion to add to her porridge or other food.Lately I  thought I'd give her water in a bottle, but instead I started cup feeding water and sometimes milk as well. It was messy at first, but practice makes perfect.

She hardly messes now with the cup and if I do need to leave her with someone they can just give her milk in a cup and it's so much easier because I don’t need to buy teats every few weeks- no broken teats, no sterilising is required. Basically no hassle. Just my baby and my breasts and a cup.

I never in my life thought I’d breastfeed. I always said ‘it won’t be me’ or ‘I’ll bottle feed no matter what’ and just look how things have turned out. And I have no regrets. Yes, some days are harder and feel longer than others, but that's life. Just remind yourself that nothing lasts forever and this too shall pass. 

If there should ever be another baby I would most definitely feed him/her like this again.