Bottle-Feeding Baby

Families choose to bottle-feed their babies for many reasons. While bottle-feeding is not difficult, you need to know several things to feed your baby safely and ensure that he or she receives the nutrition and bonding needed for proper growth and development. If you are considering bottle-feeding your baby or have decided that bottle-feeding is the best option for your situation, this publication will help you learn about bottle-feeding.

Bottle-feeding may be a great option for you and your baby. Bottle-feeding provides flexibility for the mother, which may be desirable because of work obligations or a busy schedule. Bottle-feeding also gives the baby’s father, older siblings, and grandparents the opportunity to bond with the baby, and it can also provide the mother with free time to rest. Bottle-feeding allows families to monitor how much formula the infant is consuming. Breastfeeding in public may be inconvenient or embarrassing for some mothers, so bottle-feeding may be the best choice for them.

Sometimes bottle-feeding is necessary. Some mothers may choose to bottle-feed if they have discomfort or pain from breastfeeding. In addition, some babies who cannot digest certain components of human milk will need to be bottle-fed with a formula that does not contain those substances.

In the United States, bottle-feeding is advised if the mother has certain medical conditions such as HIV or untreated tuberculosis. Mothers receiving chemotherapy treatments should also bottle-feed.

For more information, down load our complete publication at  http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/FY/FY135900.pdf

Bonding with your Bottle-fed Baby

For some new parents, breastfeeding is simply not an option. While experts agree breastfeeding is the healthiest choice, when it's not an option, such as for adoptive parents and the 5% of new moms who physically cannot breastfeed their babies, feeding time can and should still be prime time for bonding with a baby.

Most research on infant feeding discusses the mother/baby relationship, but dads can play an important role too. One of the positive aspects of bottle-feeding, either with expressed breast milk or formula, is that both moms and dads can be involved in feeding their baby.

Experts recommend a number of ways for new parents to bond with their baby during feeding time. For example, babies should be cuddled while being fed. Give them a little wiggle room, but not too much. Babies need to be held firmly enough that they don't feel like they're falling. Likewise, hold a baby so that he or she can look into your face while eating.

Research has shown that if babies don't get their emotional needs met by being held and talked to during feeding, they are more likely to eat too much or too little. Never prop a bottle during feeding, as propping does not satisfy the baby's emotional needs and can lead to earache, choking, and tooth decay. But feeding time is not just about meeting the baby's nutritional and emotional needs. Some experts suggest that the health of the parent/child relationship is determined to a large extent by what happens at feeding time.