At one point, you might contemplate introducing a bottle to your baby. For example, you may want to start using a bottle so that you can start feeding your little one some expressed breast milk; or, know that you will need to leave your baby when returning to work, and you want to ensure they have some milk while you’re away from them.
With our top tips and tricks, we have produced a guide on how you can go about introducing your little one to their first bottle:
Top techniques on bottle feeding your baby for the first time
It won’t only be a change for how you feed your baby, but it will be a big change for your baby and how they take the bottle. They will need to use a different sucking technique compared to the one they used when they were breastfed. Therefore, it will likely take them time to get the hang of this new feeling.
To try and help your baby with this change, we would advise that the first few bottle feeds are more like a testing ground. Try and give your baby the bottle when they are more joyful because if they are agitated and hungry, they will probably want to take the bottle in the way that they’re used to taking it. It could also be wise to offer your baby a bottle in the evening once their regular feeding has been complete — you don’t need to give them that much milk in this instance, as it will be more about getting your child used to the feel of a bottle’s nipple.
It Is a good idea to let the first few bottle feeds be given by someone other than the mother because the baby might be able to smell your breastmilk if they are near you. It may also be best if the mother is out of the house while the baby is being bottle fed, as many youngsters can smell their mother even from a distance. You only need to do this a handful of times until your child is used to drinking from a bottle.
Let your baby be in control, don’t force your baby to drink too much. They will let you know when they’ve had enough. This needs to be a smooth transition, so your child will be more likely to rebel if they aren’t enjoying their bottle in the early stages.
Be patient
In some cases, a baby might resist the transition from being breastfed to bottle fed.
Don’t rush into things when you’re making this big change in your baby’s life, find the perfect product. A bottle with a teat that is similar to your child’s dummy will likely make it more appealing to your little one, for instance. While a slow-flow teat can get around times when your baby gags due to regular bottle teats delivering them with too much milk at once.
Let your little one become familiar with the bottle, it’s a new tool for them that they don’t initially know how to use. Don’t be quick to take the product away from them if they begin to chew on the teat — let them do this for now as they may switch to sucking on it once they are familiar with the feeling.
When you make the transition and you are feeding your baby, try and hold them in a different position than you would when you breastfed. Feed them from a bottle when they are in a semi-upright position in a car seat, for example, or by having them on your lap but with their back to your chest.
If you follow this advice, we will hopefully have your baby wanting their bottle in no time.
Sips Sippy Cup from Tommee Tippee should be the next move. Designed for those very first important sips, these cups may well be known to you following a dad’s desperate search last year to find a replacement cup for Ben, his autistic son. The full story can be read on the BBC website.The plea also received over 12,000 retweets and
