Tips for bottle feeding

Once you’ve prepared the bottle, warm it in a jug of hot water or run it under a hot tap. Test the temperature, by shaking a little of the milk onto the inside of your wrist. The milk should never be hot. Instead it should be luke warm. Hold your baby in your arms at breast-level, with his head slightly elevated. Make sure that the teat is full of milk, to prevent your baby from sucking in air.

When he’s still tiny, wind him every few minutes or when he stops sucking. Once he’s a few months old, you’ll be able to feed him a whole bottle, before he’ll need to be winded. If it makes life easier, prepare all your bottles for the day, first thing in the morning and refrigerate. It could take longer to warm the bottles up though, once baby’s ready for a feed. Never feed your baby milk that’s been in the fridge for longer than a day. In summer, it’s not necessary to warm the bottle up. You can give him room temperature or cool milk, if you’d prefer. Avoid giving him milk directly from the fridge as it could cause tummy cramps.

Alternating formula and breast milk

You may decide to alternate formula and breast milk for a number of reasons. Your breasts may be extremely sore, you may not have enough milk or you may find that it’s easier to give him formula milk when you’re not with him. It’s best to introduce a bottle to your baby, after six weeks as it’s less likely to lead to nipple confusion. Be careful of introducing a bottle too late though, as your baby may become too comfortable with the breast and not want a bottle. You’ll find that your breasts will feel incredibly full. It will take a few days before your breasts start feeling more normal. If you’d like to, you can use a breast pump, to collect breast milk when you’re not home. Electric pumps are much easier to use and extract milk quicker than manual pumps. If you’ve gone back to work, find a private place to pump and store your milk in a fridge.

What if your older baby rejects the bottle

It may take some time for your baby to accept a bottle, especially if he’s enjoyed the comfort of breastfeeding for several months.

• Feed your baby when he’s hungry. A hungry baby will eventually drink from a bottle
• Ask someone else to bottle feed your baby initially. He may refuse to drink from a bottle, if he can smell you and your breastmilk.
• Let him play with the bottle first, test the waters so to speak. You may find that he’ll be inquisitive enough to try to suck the bottle.
• If he’s older, put his favourite drink in the bottle, like herbal tea, water or juice.
• Unless you’re about to go back to work, don’t force the bottle on him, when he’s clearly not prepared to drink from it. If you force the bottle, it may become a negative issue and it’ll end up taking much longer to get him to drink from it.