Breastfeeding and bottle-feeding are very different for both you and your baby! However, when you learn how to appropriately introduce a bottle to your baby, you can minimize these vast differences! Keep reading to check out “when should I introduce a bottle,” introducing a bottle at 2 weeks, how to paced bottle feed, and more!
“When Should I Introduce a Bottle and Breast Pump?”
First, I know you’re wondering when should you introduce a bottle and your breast pump?
I recommend to my clients to avoid pumping and bottles for at least the first 2 weeks after birth. You do not need to pump to get your milk to come in and it’s not beneficial to start breastfeeding off this way unless it needs to be started this way!
If you and your baby need to be separated after birth, your baby isn’t gaining weight well, etc. and you need to add in pumping, donor breastmilk, or formula supplementation, that’s a different story that you need to be working with a lactation consultant on.
Furthermore, if you’re returning to work, I recommend my healthy breastfeeding moms and babies to introduce bottles and the pump halfway from when you need to return to work. For example, if you’re returning to work at 3 months postpartum, then you should wait until 6 weeks after birth.
During the time that you aren’t yet concerned about bottles and the pump, simply hang out with your baby, do lots of skin-to-skin, and remember to give yourself grace with everything.
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Never More Than 4 Ounces… EVER!
Yes, I do mean that you never need to give your baby more than 4 ounces of breastmilk in a bottle. Even if your baby is 6 months old, 9 months old, or beyond, they don’t ever need more than 4 oz of milk.
The beautiful thing (one of them!) about breastmilk is that it constantly changes to accommodate what your baby needs. Formula does not do that, and therefore formula feeding parents must keep increasing the amounts of formula made to give their babies what they need. However, with breastmilk, your body is constantly producing the milk when it’s needed with everything your baby needs at that current time!
Plus, breastmilk has high bioavailability meaning your baby gets more benefits from the nutrients in breastmilk because it’s absorbed better in the body.
It’s also possible for your baby’s norm to lie a little under 4oz and this can be totally normal. All babies are a bit different!
Check out “Is My Breastfed Baby Getting Enough Iron? What Supplements Does My Baby Need?” (Coming soon!)
“But when my baby was offered more than 4oz they drank the whole bottle!”
For the first 3 months of your baby’s life, their suck reflex is involuntary. Each suck facilitates a swallow, which facilitates another swallow, and so on until before you know it they sucked the entire bottle down!
Overfeeding can lead to spitting up, fussiness, rapid weight gain, and gagging or choking.
And this can be a dangerous cycle because it can lead to moms feeling like they can’t pump enough to keep up with their baby but that’s because that’s not how much the baby should be eating! If your baby is being fed properly using paced bottle feeding (which I’m teaching you right here, right now!) you will feel confident that you can keep up with your baby.
Start with 2oz in each bottle when your baby is under 3 months old and that should be plenty.
How to Pick the Right Kind of Bottle
Try multiple brands of bottles! Each baby’s preferences vary, however, bottles with a wide base tend to work well for breastfed babies.
Moreover, watch for advertising of bottles saying things like “this nipple is the best for the breastfed baby” because they all can say that and it doesn’t mean anything.
Every baby is different so try multiple bottles until you find the right one for your baby. Plus remember that it’s totally okay to borrow some from friends to try! Just boil them to sterilize.
Furthermore, when it comes to bottle-feeding a breastfed baby, you only need slow flow nipples because they will be the most similar to the pace at which your breastmilk flows from your breasts (unless you have an oversupply and/or fast let-down)
Is Bottle-Feeding Easier Than Breastfeeding?
Many people say if you give your baby too many bottles they will start to prefer the bottle because the breastmilk is easier for them to get out. Whereas during breastfeeding, your baby has to work more at the breast to stimulate a letdown and suck the milk out. (If you’re using a slow flow nipple then your baby will need to suck out the breastmilk too however, anything faster they really don’t have to suck much to get any out).
Believe it or not, bottle feeding is actually physiologically more difficult for babies. Babies are biologically meant to breastfeed so when they are, their breathing is better, their blood sugar is regulated, and they’re working their oral-facial muscles properly.
Their muscles are crucial to the natural evolution of the face, mouth, teeth, and overall oral-fascial development.
The masseter muscle is a rectangular-shaped muscle in the jaw area that facilitates jaw growth and positioning. Bottle-feeding reduces the activity of the masseter muscle, therefore, reducing jaw movement and this may cause the jaw to retract.
While Breastfeeding, breathing is combined with sucking and swallowing that occurs in bursts to help infants manipulate their breathing patterns to control and accommodate breathing. Whereas sucking during bottle-feeding can interrupt breathing more frequently and for longer durations of time.
Breastfeeding also promotes your baby’s ability to breathe through the nose which aids in heating and filtering air before reaching the lungs. Furthermore, the air coming in through the nose puts additional pressure on the palate which encourages and accompanies the growth of facial muscles and the body.
Who Should Introduce the Bottles?
Before preparing your baby’s caregivers to introduce a bottle to your baby from them, ensure you are the one doing it with them first.
It’s a myth that you shouldn’t feed your baby their bottles because they’re used to breastfeeding on you.
There’s a lot of trust that goes into feeding and your baby will feel the most comfortable having that from you while they’re still getting used to it.
What Are Hunger Cues?
Before beginning paced bottle feeding, you want to look for hunger cues before attempting to feed your baby. These hunger cues include:
- Rooting
- Active alert state. Your baby may be fussy and have irregular breathing which indicates your baby is starting to need something.
- Flexing arms/legs
- Clenching hands
- Sucking motions with their mouth
- Sucking on finger or fist. This can also be a normal developmental milestone around 3 months old, so look for more than only this cue if your baby is around this age.
- Crying (late cue)
Paced Bottle Feeding
Paced bottle feeding mimics the speed of breastfeeding. This way of bottle feeding will allow your baby to realize when they’re full to ensure they’re not overfed.
How to Paced Bottle Feed:
- Hold your baby in an upright (semi-reclined) position on your lap while supporting their neck and shoulders so that baby still has mobility of their head and neck.
- Keep the bottle parallel with the floor, and use the slowest flow nipple. When looking at the bottle nipple it should only be partially full of milk. This slows the flow of breastmilk and allows your baby to feed at their own pace.
- Allow your baby to latch to the bottle nipple, don’t force the bottle into their mouth. If they need guidance, gently tickle the bottle nipple on their upper lip to encourage them to open their mouth wide.
- If your baby is 0-6 months old you should only need to have 2-3oz of breastmilk in the bottle. Feed baby no more than 3-4oz.
- Count your baby’s sucks and swallows. As we talked about above, bottle feeding is physiologically more difficult for babies. Therefore, if your baby doesn’t take a breath every 3-5 seconds then take a break.
- About every half-ounce, keep the nipple in your baby’s mouth but turn the bottle from the horizontal position to more upright and allow your baby to suck for about a minute on the empty nipple. Then burp your baby and go back to step 1.
- Switch the direction your baby is facing to mimic switching breasts (if that’s what you do). Then continue this process of bottle-feeding, allowing your baby to suck on air for about a minute, and burping until your baby is showing fullness cues. This should take your baby around 10-20 minutes to finish, similar to breastfeeding!
What Are Fullness Cues?
Fullness Cues include:
- Letting go of the nipple
- Turning their head to the side
- No longer sucking or taking long pauses between sucks and swallows
- Falling asleep
- Baby’s body is relaxed, hands unclenched
Why It’s Okay for Your Baby to Swallow Air From the Bottle
The idea that “babies swallowing air is bad and causes gassiness” is not true and it was made up by formula companies. We all swallow air when we’re eating and it’s okay! To get that air out it’s normal to become a bit gassy and burp!
So, remember how we talked about how your baby doesn’t have a suck reflex until around 3 months old? And how this can lead to overfeeding babies breastmilk and all of the sudden you’re not able to keep up with what your baby “needs”?
What happens when moms cannot keep up with the breastmilk demands from their babies? They often go to formula. Therefore, if parents like you know how to pace feed your baby, you will not run into this problem! (Unless something is going on that you need to talk to a lactation counselor about).
If you are ever worried that you aren’t producing enough milk, or your baby isn’t getting enough, or anything at all that might be breastfeeding or bottle-feeding related, always reach out to a lactation consultant before making substantial changes.
Things to Watch Out for While Paced Bottle Feeding
During the feeding, watch for signs of overfeeding or choking such as:
- Swallowing quickly without taking a breath
- Milk spilling out of their mouth
- Flaring nostrils
- Wide eyes
- Stiffening of arms and legs
- Lips turning blue
If you notice any of these signs, remove the bottle immediately.
Signs that your baby needs to be burped and you need to take a break to do so.
- Cranky
- Pulling or bending their legs
- Arching their back
- Pulling away from the bottle
Breastmilk Storage Safety Guide (FREEBIE!)
To introduce a bottle to your baby and begin using your breast pump it’s crucial to learn breastmilk storage safety.
In The Balanced Breastfeeding Course, I made a Storage Safety Guide just for you, as one of the many bonuses you get with this course! Check out the course reviews here!
You can easily put this guide on your fridge so that you never forget how long your breastmilk can be at room temperature, in the fridge, freezer, or how long you can use it once it’s defrosted!
If you have any comments or questions please leave them below or message me on my Instagram!
You are encouraged, educated, and empowered. ♡
DISCLAIMER: This post is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding you or your baby’s health. Please read my Medical Disclaimer for more info
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