Home
> Breastfeeding
> Pumping & Bottle
Feeding
How to bottle-feed the breastfed baby
...tips for a breastfeeding supportive
style of bottle feeding
PDF
version (great for child care providers)
by Eva Lyford. Reprinted with permission from
the author.
Often, as infant feeding specialists, lactation consultants and
other experts in the field of human lactation are asked how to properly
bottle-feed a baby. Direct breastmilk feedings from the mother's
breast are always preferred to any artificial source or substance.
In addition, there are often alternatives
to bottle-feeding, such as cup feeding, which should be explored.
For the baby who has to be bottle-fed, following is some information
to help make the experience a good one for the baby and also to
make sure that breastfeeding is fully supported even when artificial
feedings are used.
This information can also be useful in evaluating infant care providers
and for instructing them on how to bottle-feed a breastfed infant.
Note that when working through any feeding difficulties with an
infant, a lactation
consultant is an excellent resource for evaluating methods for
their appropriateness to the specific situation.
While useful for any bottle-fed infant, this information is particularly
targeted towards infants between 12 weeks and 6 months of age.
Babies should be bottle-fed:
- When their cues indicate hunger,
rather than on a schedule.
- Held in an upright position; it
is especially important to avoid letting the baby drink from a
bottle when lying down. Such a position is associated with bottle
caries and an increased frequency of ear
infections. Note also that babies should be held often at
times when they are not being fed, to avoid the baby being
trained to eat in order to be held.
- With a switch from one side to the other
side midway through a feed; this provides for eye stimulation
and development, and thwarts the development of a side preference
which could impact the breastfeeding mother.
- For 10-20 minutes at a time, to
mimic the usual breastfeeding experience. Care providers should
be encouraged to make appropriate
quantities last the average length of a feeding, rather than
trying to feed as much as they can in as short a time as possible.
This time element is significant because the infant's system needs
time to recognize satiety, long before the stomach has a chance
to get over-filled.
- Gently, allowing the infant to
draw nipple into mouth rather than pushing the nipple into the
infant's mouth, so that baby controls when the feed begins. Stroke
baby's lips from top to bottom with the nipple to illicit a rooting
response of a wide open mouth, and then allow the baby to "accept"
the nipple rather than poking it in.
- Consistent with a breastfed rhythm;
the caregiver should encourage frequent pauses while the baby
drinks from the bottle to mimic the breastfeeding mother's let-down
patterns. This discourages the baby from guzzling the bottle and
can mitigate nipple confusion or preference.
- To satiation, so that baby is
not aggressively encouraged to finish the last bit of milk in
the bottle by such measures as forcing the nipple into the mouth,
massaging the infant's jaw or throat, or rattling the nipple around
in the infant's mouth. If baby is drowsing off and releasing the
bottle nipple before the bottle is empty that means baby is done;
don't reawaken the baby to "finish." See Bottlefeeding
tips from AskDrSears.com.
The benefits of bottle-feeding in this manner:
- The infant will consume a volume appropriate to their size and
age, rather than over- or under-eating. This can support the working
and pumping mom who then has an increased likelihood of pumping
a daily volume equivalent to the baby's demand.
- This can minimize colic-like symptoms in the baby whose stomach
is distended or over-fed.
- It supports the breastfeeding relationship, hopefully leading
to longer durations and increased success at breastfeeding particularly
for mothers who are separated from their nurslings either intermittently
or recurrently.
Bottle-feeding Myth 1:
Bottle-feeding lets me know how much nutrition
the baby has had.
Moms who bottle-feed, whether using expressed breast milk or anything
else, should be aware that while artificial feeding may seem to
be a very accurate measure of volume consumed, in fact it is often
not. Bottle-fed infants more often regurgitate some quantity of
a feed, or get a less than perfect balance of fore and hind milk
than they might if feeding directly from the breast. If a substance
other than breastmilk is used, the increased metabolic workload
for the baby, lower digestibility of nutrients and increased waste
substantially dilute the benefit of a feed, although it is more
easily measured.
Bottle-feeding Myth 2:
It is easy to bottle-feed safely.
Bottle-feeding caregivers face certain challenges in feeding a
baby safely. One extra piece of work is sterilizing all infant feeding
equipment for at least the first 4 months. And, if artificial substances
are used:
- Lot numbers should be kept for any artificial milks fed to the
baby, so that parents can determine whether the product was subject
to a recall.
- A clean source of water must be available, free from bacteria.
If tap water is used, the caregiver must decide whether to boil
the water to eliminate bacteria and thus concentrate any heavy
metals in the water, or to use unboiled water. If bottled water
is used, the right type must be used (nursery, not distilled)
and again lot numbers should be recorded.
- Quantities the baby will need should be carefully estimated,
since unused formula must be discarded. Overestimating can lead
to having to throw out the unused amount - and that is quite an
expensive piece of waste.
For more
information on infant feeding myths, see Dr.
Jack Newman's Breastfeeding Myths
See also... Alternative
Feeding Methods @ 
(including help for introducing bottles)
Page last modified:
10/10/2005
Added to website: 04/22/03
