Successful bottle feeding strategies

Tips for successful bottle feeding

The following guidance can help with successful bottle feeding.

Positioning

• Lay your baby on their side, with their head higher than the rest of their body (see photo).
• This keeps their arms and legs aligned for better breathing and a stable heart rate. 
• It helps you spot your baby's communication cues.

Pacing

• Watch for signs of stress [link to Signs of difficulty when feeding leaflet]. 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.

Benefits of elevated side-lying

• The flow rate of the milk is not affected by gravity due to a sharp angle of the bottle.
• Excess liquid can dribble out and not into their mouth.
• Better breathing and stable heart rate.
• Easier to organise the body and so use less energy.
• Easier to coordinate their suck, swallow, breathe pattern.