OCTOBER 25, 2017
bottle feeding: do’s and don’ts
DO
- Be prepared... gather all your equipment, find a comfortable holding position, and give yourself some time.
- Hold your baby in a fairly upright position and support the head.
- Keep the teat full... this ensures that your baby isn’t swallowing air.
- Sing, smile, talk to your baby... feeding sessions make for great bonding time.
- Take short breaks... you may need to give your baby a break during feeding to wind.
- Remove the bottle if your baby falls asleep during feedings... pooled milk can lead to tooth decay.
- Throw away worn out teats and bottles... check for signs of wear often.
- Ask for help... midwives, health professionals, and other mums are great sources of support and advice!
DON'T
- Force your baby to finish a bottle... let your baby feed at their own pace.
- Leave your baby during feedings... your baby may choke on the milk if left unsupervised.
- Keep any unused formula or breast milk... throw it away after your baby’s done feeding.
- Mix breast milk and formula... formula doesn’t store as long and you don’t want to waste your breast milk!
- Heat bottles in the microwave... uneven heating can harm your baby and damage nutrients in your breast milk.
- Feed your baby expired formula... pay attention to the labels.
- Feed your newborn baby juice, cow’s milk, soda, or water. A newborn’s digestive system is not quite ready.
References NHS Advice on bottle feeding