Bottle feeding

 All staff have been especially trained to help you to feed your baby. Whether you fully breastfeed, give expressed breast milk or formula by bottle or fully formula feed your baby we will give you the best possible support and information.

 

What do you need to know?

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Remember you don’t need to make a decision before your baby arrives to exclusively bottle feed, you can always give your baby those important early breastfeeds full of protective antibodies and see how you get on with help and support from the health visiting team 

Find out about how to safely sterilise feeding bottles and prepare formula milk

FIRST INFANT FORMULA (whey-based)

This  is the only formula your baby will need in the first year of life. It doesn’t matter which brand you use, they are all very similar.

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RESPONSIVE BOTTLE FEEDING

Feed your baby when they show signs of being hungry: look out for cues (moving head and mouth around, sucking on fingers). Crying is the last sign of wanting to feed, so try and feed your baby before they cry

Your baby will know how much milk they need. Forcing your baby to finish a feed will be distressing, and can mean your baby is overfed.

Hold baby close in a semi-upright position so you can see their face and reassure them by looking into their eyes and talking to them during the feed.

Begin by inviting baby to open their mouth: gently rub the teat against their top lip. Gently insert the teat into baby’s mouth keeping the bottle in a horizontal position (just slightly tipped) to prevent milk from flowing too fast.

Follow baby’s cues for when they need a break and gently remove the teat or bring bottle downwards to cut off flow of milk.

Follow baby’s cues for when they need a break and gently remove the teat or bring the bottle downwards to cut off the flow of milk.

The early days with your baby is a great time to get to know and love each other. This can be done by keeping your baby close to you, enjoying skin contact and feeding according to these tips. Babies will feel more secure if most feeds are given by mum and dad, especially in the early weeks, as this will really help you bond with each other.

 

Click here for First Steps Nutrition Trust Infant milks a simple guide  For unbiased, up to date information to help you as a parent use Oxleas Parent Online resources Oxleas Health Visiting and Oxleas Breastfeeding

When you search online for information and support you will often find other parents experiences and opinions or businesses trying to sell you products.