Bottle Feeding - How to Make It Work!Bottle feeding can be used in so many ways, as a complete or partial substitute to breastfeeding. You can use the bottle for breast milk when you're not with your baby or for formula or later on for water for example. If you bottle-feed frequently, it's nice to set up some routines to make it smooth and cozy.
As she was hungry very often, this made me feel a bit locked in. I couldn't pump and leave her with her dad for a few hours. The thing is, though, I tried only once! And I didn't know any tricks at all to make it work. Don't do the same mistake. Check out tips below.
Ten Top Bottle Feeding Tips1) Wait with the bottle2) Let someone else bottle-feed your baby 3) Create a familiar situation 6) Make it a cozy moment - sometimes
This may seem as a weird first tip! But if you plan to breastfeed your baby at all, it is a good idea to wait until the breastfeeding works well before you introduce the bottle. The reason is that suckling a real nipple and a bottle nipple are two different techniques. The baby has to work more to breastfeed. And smart as he already is, he might start to reject the breast quite rapidly if you offer him the bottle too soon. So start in week 3 at the earliest. And if not then - wait until his 8 weeks old. For some strange reason babies tend to reject the bottle during the second month of their life. Introducing the bottle during week 4 to 7 can be a hassle. So week 3 or week 8. Or later of course... 2) Let someone else bottle-feed your baby A baby that is used to be breastfed by his mom might think that it's very strange and all wrong to suddenly get a bottle instead. When teaching him to take the bottle, let someone else start. Go for a walk and let dad have a moment with his baby. (But stay near by if it doesn't work at all) If you don't plan to breastfeed at all, this tip is of course not as relevant. 3) Create a familiar situation Warm up the bottle nipple to body temperature. If it's not you bottle feeding, give the person something that smells mom to keep close to the baby. And feed the baby breast milk in the bottle the first times if that's what he's used to. If feeding him formula, serve it slightly warmed up, to about body temperature. When breastfeeding your baby, you must switch side between feedings, or even during one feeding. Do the same when bottle feeding your baby. This is good both for your own back and for the baby's neck and vision.
It is my experience that babies can swallow quite a lot of air when drinking from a bottle. Until you know that your baby doesn't, make it a habit to burp him half way to avoid stomach pain. Also try burping him if he starts fussing. Also, to minimize air swallowing, tilt the bottle, allowing the milk to fill the nipple and the air to rise to the bottom of the bottle. There are also bottles that are constructed to minimize air swallowing. Ask in your baby shop. 6) Make it a cozy moment - sometimes I hear everywhere that you are supposed to make the bottle feeding a peaceful and quite time. You should also have skin contact with your baby to mimic breastfeeding. That's great, and sometimes it is wonderful to go away some place with your baby and just sit together. The bonding is enormous! But unless this is your first baby and you plan to stay at home alone around the clock for a year or so, that won't work every time. Life has to function and babies don't die from eating at a noisy place sometimes. My poor youngest baby has to breastfeed a lot while I run around chasing my 18 months older girl. Not a very cozy situation. But it works because it has to. And he's a very happy baby!
To make the night feeding as easy as possible, prepare boiled water with the right temperature in a thermos, that is ONLY used for the baby's water. Then keep the water, the number of bottles you need and premeasured powdered formula in the bedroom. This way you can fix the formula real fast when the baby wakes up. I suppose this goes without saying, but if you don't breastfeed, there is absolutely no reason why mom should be the only one handling the feeding. Especially not at night - a great benefit of bottle feeding! Give dad an opportunity to bond with his child and give yourself some sleep!
When breastfeeding, you have no idea exactly how much your baby eats. When bottle feeding it is very easy to start focusing way too much on the amount that the baby eats. Don't! Let the baby decide. If he gains weight as he should everything is fine.
10) Protection Use the right nipple hole One night I took the water nipple with a very tiny hole to feed my baby. She sucked and sucked and finally gave up and went back to sleep. Poor girl! Watch for signs that the nipple hole is too large or too small. If baby almost chokes during a feeding, milk flow may be too fast. Turn the full bottle upside down without shaking. If milk flows instead of drips, the nipple hole is too large. If baby seems to be working hard, tires easily during sucking, the nipple hole may be too small. I hope these tips will give you a good start to bottle feeding your baby. Good luck! Return from Bottle Feeding Tips to Breastfeeding Tips Return from Bottle Feeding Tips to Easybabylife.com Home
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With my daughter I tried to introduce the bottle as a complement to breastfeeding when she was four months old. She refused.
