Bottle Feeding – Let’s look at Paced Responsive Bottle Feeding.

Babies receiving expressed milk or formula milk by bottle, should be fed slowly and carefully, ideally using paced bottle feeding.

This way of bottle feeding facilitates good development of the oral-facial muscles in the baby, as well as providing lots of opportunities for communication with your baby, both verbal and non-verbal.

How to bottle feed a baby correctly is often not taught to those expecting a baby, and may not be something you have thought of, especially if you intended to breastfeed/chestfeed.

Paced bottle feeding is appropriate for all bottle-fed babies regardless of whether the bottle contains expressed breastmilk or formula milk, as this feeding style supports the baby’s normal physiology.

One of the benefits of paced bottle-feeding includes the baby having control over their feed, meaning overfeeding is reduced. This is simply because the baby has opportunities to recognise when they are full and therefore paced bottle feeding can help to reduce reflux and colic-like symptoms.

Responsive Feeding – What does this mean?

Responsive feeding means feeding a baby whenever their cues indicate that they are hungry, not to a predetermined schedule. This is whether a baby is breastfed/chest-fed or bottle-fed.

Young babies on formula milk should have their feeds divided into a minimum of 8 feeds in 24 hours, (breast milk-fed babies may be more, anything between 8-14 feeds in a 24-hour period is normal) NOT 6 (or even 5) larger feeds as indicated on a formula milk packet.

Small frequent feeds are a lot better for your baby’s digestion and help avoid wind and reflux symptoms.

How to bottle feed using paced feeding technique

Hold the baby in an upright position when feeding from a bottle (laying baby down in the crook of your arm allows gravity to do all the work, therefore not allowing the baby to control their feed, or develop their oral-facial muscles in the same way as a breast/chest fed baby).

Gently invite the baby to take the bottle teat into the mouth, (so that baby controls when the feed begins) by stroking their upper lip with the teat to stimulate the rooting reflex.

When the baby is ready and opens their mouth wide, allow the baby to “accept” the teat. Do not force the teat into their mouth.

With the baby held close and upright, the bottle should be held horizontally with just enough milk in the teat to cover the hole. As soon as the baby starts to suck, milk will be delivered.

Give your baby frequent pauses by lowering the bottle in the baby’s mouth or taking it out of their mouth completely.

Allow the baby to drink in short bursts, giving frequent breaks consistent with a breastfed rhythm; this mimics how the breast releases milk and avoids overwhelming the baby with a fast flow of milk.

Frequent pauses also discourage the baby from taking the whole bottle too quickly and will support the baby to recognise when they are full.

If your baby is a healthy term infant that is gaining weight as expected, do not force them to finish the milk in the bottle, allow them to stop feeding when they have had enough.

You will need to estimate how much milk to put in the bottle to avoid having to discard too much at the end. If you are using both breastmilk and infant formula during the same feed, always use the breast milk first then follow with the formula, so that any milk that is discarded is not breastmilk.

As with breastfeeding it is important to switch which side the baby is fed from. This encourages normal muscle development of the head and neck on both sides and discourages your baby from having a feeding preference.

A whole feed when paced bottle feeding should take 10-20 minutes – this is a minimum.

Many babies will take a lot longer than 10-15 minutes when allowed to take bottle feeding at their own pace.

By feeding at an appropriate speed, and allowing frequent breaks, the baby will recognise when it has had enough, before the stomach becomes overfilled, causing discomfort and vomiting.

Signs that the baby has had enough milk:

• Turning away from the teat
• No longer routing when the bottle is placed to the lips
• Appearing distracted or disinterested
• Slowing their suckling down
• Falling asleep

Signs that the milk flow is too fast:

• Widening of the eyes
• Farrowing of the brow
• Turning or pulling away

Watch the video

With thanks to my mentor Dee Bell from Birth Baby and You. This information is based on her brilliant teaching.

If you should require any further information please do not hesitate to contact me.