Many encourage mamas to not incorporate bottles until baby is several weeks old as to avoid nipple confusion. However, it's just as important to prevent bottle aversion as this can have disastrous consequences, especially for a working mother. IÂ know several mamas whom were forced to stay home or have to attend to every feeding because baby refused to take a bottle.
Here are some tips to preventing nipple confusion, but also prevent bottle aversion.Â
I recommend starting bottles as early as day 3 of life with one
feeding per day for a week. This can increase to 2 bottles per day after
week 1. After a few weeks, increase to 3 bottles per day. If at any
point baby starts to show preference or refuse the breast, remove a
bottle feeding.
I incorporate something called paced feeding. Paced feeding can be helpful for both formula fed and breastfed babies and is further described below.
Hold bottle as horizontally (parallel) as possible while ensuring that milk is still flowing out This mimics the flow of your breastmilk and the baby learns to recognize when he or she is full and doesn't consume too much.This prevents baby from overfeeding, thus gas and stomachaches. In addition, baby is motivated to return to the breast because milk is flowing at the same rate as the breast.
Unless medically indicated, there is never a need to increase nipple size, since this increases the flow rate of the nipple. Again, you want the bottle to mimic the flow rate of your breastmilk. Always use size "Newborn" or zero depending on the brand. A baby can easily get frustrated at the breast if they perceive a big difference in flow rate.
Make sure baby is taking a breath every 3-5 sucks/swallows. If not, remove the nipple.
Please feel free to bring your breastpump to your newborn session, and don't forget to schedule it with me soon!
