Breastfeeding with Bottle Feeding 101 (2024)- The Breastfeeding Mama

In the event you’re a brand new mother making an attempt to determine one of the best ways to feed your child, you might be overwhelmed with decisions and not sure the place to start out with bottle and breastfeeding. Fortunately, there are methods to mix each breastfeedings with bottle feeding! On this weblog publish, we’ll cowl the entire necessities — from getting began on this route and managing it day-to-day.

Breastfeeding can tackle many types for households, and for some, that features bottle feeding.

Breastfeeding with bottle feeding can current distinctive challenges, however they will work effectively along with the proper data and strategies.

This text shares all the data you could get began with breastfeeding and bottle feeding to have essentially the most success attainable.

Are you able to bottle-feed a breastfed child?

Completely. Many mother and father bottle-feed their breastfed infants. It’s a wholly legitimate option to bottle-feed your breastfed child if it is sensible for your loved ones and scenario.

Listed here are a couple of situations the place you might wish to bottle-feed:

• Working dad or mum and child go to little one care in the course of the day.
• Child isn’t transferring milk effectively and wishes further supplementation from a bottle
• You may be separated out of your child for quite a lot of hours, and the infant might want to eat throughout that day.
• You wish to have others be concerned within the feeding course of

And that’s only some causes! Whereas some mother and father are pressured into bottle-feeding along with nursing immediately from the breast, it comes down to non-public desire and selection for many. There’s at all times an opportunity that your child gained’t settle for the bottle or could find yourself preferring the bottle, however many infants change backwards and forwards with ease.

In fact, it’s important to know the mechanics of bottle feeding and strategy it in a means that helps breastfeeding. However in case you are breastfeeding and questioning in the event you can ever supply a bottle, the reply is sure.

All the time work with a lactation guide and your little one’s care supplier when making selections relating to your little one’s well being and vitamin. In the event you need assistance, think about reserving a digital lactation seek the advice of right now!

When to Introduce a Bottle to a Breastfed Child

Barring any issues the place a bottle is critical in the course of the first hours and days after start, it’s sometimes preferrred to get deal with on direct nursing earlier than introducing a bottle to your breastfed child. Ideally, your child will probably be nursing effectively and gaining weight effectively. In fact, particular person circumstances could necessitate adaptation, however that is the overall advice.

If you would like (or will want) to present a bottle, round 2-3 weeks is a wonderful time to start out introducing the bottle. It doesn’t should be every single day or a big feeding, however as soon as each few days with an oz of milk will be useful.

Then, round 4 weeks, providing a “snack bottle” (a bottle with .5-1 ounce of milk) day by day will be probably the greatest methods to make sure your child doesn’t refuse the bottle later. This isn’t obligatory for each child and dad or mum – in the event you don’t wish to supply bottles recurrently, you possibly can nurse as you sometimes would!

Alternate options to Bottles

You could ask, “What if my child wants supplementation after start? Are there any alternate options to bottle?”

There are – and I might suggest contemplating the choices if supplementation is required shortly after start. Working with an IBCLC or different lactation skilled will be useful in navigating how you can use these strategies, which embody:

• Finger feeding with a syringe
• Syringe feeding
• Supplemental Nursing System – purchased from the shop or home made
• Cup feeding
• Spoon feeding

You possibly can pump or hand specific breast milk or use method with any of those strategies. I believe that periodontal syringes will be notably helpful.

What’s the greatest bottle for a breastfed child?

There are various completely different bottles available on the market, and at first thought, you might assume, “Does it even matter?”

And the reply is – sure! The kind of bottle you utilize could make a giant distinction in your child’s skill to modify backwards and forwards with ease.

In The Greatest Bottles for Breastfed Infants, I share one of the best bottles for breastfed infants (and sincere – together with insights from different mother and father. Nonetheless, from a lactation skilled’s viewpoint, the three bottles I mostly suggest are:

• Dr. Brown’s with Preemie Nipple
• Lansinoh
• Evenflow Stability+

Understand that not each bottle will work effectively for each little one. Observe how your child feeds to find out one of the best bottle.

For many who are on the lookout for glass bottles, listed below are the greatest glass bottles for breastfed infants.

In that article, I additionally talk about what to search for in a bottle, which incorporates:

• Nipple circulate price
• The form of the nipple

With that stated, you’re having hassle along with your child taking a bottle; you might wish to take a look at this record of bottles of breastfeeding infants who refuse bottles for some suggestions.

What circulate nipple must you use?

You must give the slowest circulate nipple that your child can tolerate. Nipple circulate charges can fluctuate from bottle to bottle, so you might must experiment.

I like to recommend beginning with the slowest circulate obtainable – for example, with Dr. Brown’s bottle, they’ve a preemie nipple. You don’t want to extend your nipple circulate price with age. Most infants are nice at staying on the slowest circulate obtainable.

In case your child is refusing the bottle, typically it might be acceptable to go up a measurement, particularly when you have a sooner circulate on the breast.

Methods to Bottle Feed a Breastfed Child

Bottle feeding your breastfed child is extra than simply filling the bottle with milk and propping it up – the truth is, that could be a surefire strategy to make it tougher to feed from the breast once more.

For one of the best, most in-depth suggestions, I like to recommend studying Methods to Give a Breastfed Child a Bottle and Keep away from Bottle Choice. Listed here are a couple of normal tips:

• Use a slow-flow nipple with a gradual slope.
• Fill the bottle with about 1-1.25 ounces per hour from the final time your nursed or fed
• Maintain the bottle horizontally (parallel to the bottom) and hold the nipple about half full of the milk
• Have your child sitting up. Aspect-lying will be acceptable to
• Faucet the nipple beneath the nostril and above the higher chin and slide it into the mouth
• Swap sides partway by
• Guarantee your child has latch on the nipple and is actively suckling.
• When your child slows down their suckle, twist the nipple out of their mouth after which supply once more after a couple of minutes to see in case your child needs it once more or not.

How A lot Breast Milk Ought to You Put in a Bottle

As talked about above, the overall advice is to supply 1-1.25 ounces per hour from the final time you nursed or fed. For instance, in the event you nursed three hours once more, including 3-3.75 ounces to the bottle could also be acceptable.

You possibly can adapt this as wanted, however breastfed infants don’t want massive bottles. I normally don’t suggest going over 5 ounces in a bottle at a time. You need to use this Free Breast Milk Calculator to find out how much-expressed milk or method you want for a bottle.

You may also get pleasure from: Breastfeeding vs Bottle Feeding: Execs and Cons

Must you put toddler method in a bottle for a breastfed child?

The advice from skilled organizations such because the WHO is the next order of gear for supplementing:

• Mom’s personal expressed milk
• Donor Milk
• Synthetic Milk Substitute (Components)

Components is certainly an choice for feeding your breastfed child if that’s what makes essentially the most sense for your loved ones.

Bottle Feeding Greatest Practices

Paced Feeding

The method described earlier on this article is paced feeding. This primarily permits your child to tempo themselves on the bottle in an identical method to how they’d feed on the breast. Here’s a video demonstration:

Breast Milk Storage

Be sure you deal with your breast milk correctly and with care, in addition to retailer it in keeping with breast milk storage tips to make sure its security and longevity. I sometimes suggest a 4-4-12 methodology:

• 4 hours at room temperature
• 4 days within the fridge
• 12 months within the freezer (six months is perfect)

You wish to be sure you use the appropriate disposable milk luggage or reusable storage containers for breast milk as effectively.

Methods to Heat Breast Milk

Warming breast milk is a fragile course of. A number of tips to bear in mind:

• Don’t heat breast milk within the microwave – microwaving can lead to uneven heating in addition to sizzling spots.
• Defrost/Heat in a bowl of heat water or a bottle hotter
• Use clear fingers
• Solely defrost and heat what you want

Make sure you take a look at this text for extra info on warmed breast milk – How Lengthy is Warmed Breastmilk Good For

Methods to mix method and breast milk

Some mother and father select to combine collectively a method and breast milk. In the event you select to do that, you need to premix your method after which add it with the breast milk except in any other case instructed by your medical supplier.

Bottle Feeding Issues

Bottle Refusal

One of many greatest points you might encounter while you try and feed your breastfed child a bottle is bottle refusal.

This may be very irritating, particularly if taking a bottle is critical. In suggestions for overcoming bottle refusal, I talk about this subject in depth. Right here is an summary of the ten suggestions I share:

1. Get child used to a man-made nipple
2. Select the appropriate nipple
3. Let your child paved the way
4. Begin with a small quantity of milk
5. Feed in a relaxed and quiet space
6. Make it enjoyable
7. Optimistic Reinforcement
8. Attempt various kinds of bottles
9. Distract the infant
10. Attempt completely different instances of day
11. Maintain it quick and candy
12. Time it proper
13. Cease if anybody is annoyed

There are various the explanation why a child could refuse a bottle. Working with a lactation skilled is usually a good spot to start out to determine why!

Breast Refusal

On the flip aspect, you might wrestle with a child who loves the bottle an excessive amount of. That is usually as a result of sooner circulate of the bottle, although there will be numerous components.

Right here are some things to strive in case your child is refusing the breast:

• Begin with the bottle and change to the breast partway by
• Use a slow-flow nipple and paced bottle feed
• Do pores and skin to pores and skin
• Take a shower collectively
• Be sure you don’t strive when the infant is tremendous hungry

Take a look at this text in case you are making an attempt to get your child again to the breast – Methods to Get a Child To Breastfeed After Bottle Feeding.

Excessive Lipase

Lipase is an enzyme that helps to interrupt down the fat in breast milk, and it’s in everybody’s breast milk. Nonetheless, some breast milk reacts in a different way with it, leading to a metallic or bitter style. This occurs after refrigeration or freezing the milk.

Whereas some infants can tolerate excessive lipase in breast milk with no drawback, it causes feeding troubles with some infants. There are completely different strategies for fixing this, however one of the crucial frequent is thru scalding your breast milk.

Bottle Feeding FAQs

It doesn’t matter what you determine, keep in mind that each choices have their very own set of execs and cons. In the event you ever really feel such as you’re struggling or not doing effectively, don’t hesitate to contact a lactation guide or your little one’s pediatrician for assist. They’ll supply extra help and steering particular to your scenario. Have you ever switched backwards and forwards between breastfeeding and bottle feeding earlier than? What suggestions do you’ve got for different mother and father in the identical boat?

Katie Clark is an Worldwide Board Licensed Lactation Marketing consultant (IBCLC). She has helped 1000’s of moms and households across the globe navigate breastfeeding challenges and questions since 2015. She has a ardour for creating research-based, useful breastfeeding schooling and serving to mother and father discover a strategy to make breastfeeding work for them. Katie is a mother of three little boys and lives within the nice state of Colorado. She additionally has a level in Communications with an emphasis in print journalism.