Paced Bottle Feeding
Have you heard of paced bottle feeding?
If a baby is bottle fed (either exclusively, or in addition to direct feeding) then paced bottle feeding is often recommended. This is to ensure that the baby is able to pace their milk intake themselves, and also to avoid a bottle flow preference if the goal is ongoing or exclusive direct feeding (breast/ chest feeding)
1. We usually recommend a narrow necked bottle teat - the sucking action/ jaw movement that a baby uses with a narrow necked teat is more similar to direct feeding than a wide based bottle teat (even though this might seem counterintuitive as the bottles with broad based teats might look more like breasts/ nipples).
Start with a slow flow teat and consider moving to a medium flow one as a baby grows, especially if the bottle teat is collapsing when they suck
2. To start, offer only the volume that has been recommended (on the formula tin or as a top up), rather than offering a larger volume and assuming that the baby will stop when they’re full. Some babies will do this but others will continue to suck and swallow as a reflex
3. Hold the baby relatively upright (younger babies will need to be well supported) and keep the bottle more horizontal - rather than the baby lying flat with the bottle upright
4. If wanting to avoid a bottle flow preference, start with the bottle teat tilted down a little so that the baby has to suck before the milk comes - to mimic stimulating a let down
5. If the baby pauses to take a break, let the bottle teat come away a little so that they pull it back into their mouth for more milk
Finally, if bottles are being used for short term “top ups”, it’s important to ensure that the underlying reason for needing top ups is being assessed and addressed. This might relate to milk supply, latch and position or certain conditions affecting the baby
It’s also important to have some help and a plan for weaning back top ups as direct feeding improves and a baby is gaining weight appropriately, if this is possible and a family’s preference.
Dr Eliza has a video of Paced Bottle feeding available on her instagram
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