Successful bottle feeding strategies

Tips for successful bottle feeding

Intro

Positioning

Lay your baby on their side, with their head higher than the rest of their body (see photo). Doing this helps in these ways:

• It keeps their arms and legs aligned for better breathing and a stable heart rate.
• It helps with eye contact and bonding.
• It helps you to spot your baby's clues and coordinate their suck, swallow, breathe pattern.
• It prevents gravity from affecting the liquid flow.
• Excess liquid can dribble out and not into their mouth.

Pacing

Watch for signs of stress. If you see signs, pause the milk flow by tilting the bottle down or gently removing it to stop your baby sucking.

Pausing the feed gives your baby a chance to catch their breath. it helps them to coordinate their sucking, swallowing and breathing.

Slow the teat flow

Different bottles have different flow rates.

Ask your nursing team for help in choosing the right bottle for your baby.

Test a bottle to see if it suits your baby, before you buy more.