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Beginning Bottle Feeding

This is a list I've compiled from my own experiences and from email from other breastfeeding moms over the past few years. If you have other suggestions to offer for beginning bottlefeeding of the previously exclusively breastfed baby, please email me.

• You might have to experiment with a number of different types and sizes of bottle nipples. My son rejected certain nipples for some reason. We started out with slow-flow, *newborn* size Nuk nipples and eventually went to Avent nipples. He would tolerate the Nuks but really preferred the Avents.

• Make sure whatever kind of nipple you choose has a single hole rather than multiple holes so that the flow is slow. Many babies are uncomfortable if the milk flows too fast. They may choke and refuse the nipple again.

• Have the caregiver squeeze the nipple to dribble a little of the milk into baby's mouth... NOT a bunch... just enough to give her a taste so she'll know why they're sticking that strange object into her mouth. Sometimes, after the baby realizes she's getting some nice, warm, familiar Mommy milk, she'll latch onto the bottle.

• If the baby absolutely refuses bottles, your caregiver may have to use finger feeding techniques or cup feeding technique for the first few weeks. Sometimes, after baby gets accustomed to taking milk from a source other than Mama's breast, she'll adapt to a bottle. Dr. Newman describes these techniques here.

• Have the caregivers try a sippy cup, just dribbling small amounts of milk into baby's mouth. I've read about preemies being fed from sippy cups (that link above is about one of them, in fact). And my son started taking most of his expressed breastmilk from a sippy cup at about 4.5 months old so it's worth a try.

• Be sure the caregivers are heating the milk enough but not too much. Many babies are reluctant to take milk that is too hot or too cold.

• Take some item of your clothing - something that smells like you - to the caregiver, and have her hold that between her and baby while she's giving the baby his bottle. Sometimes, when the baby can smell Mama, he'll take the bottle more readily.

• Have the caregiver hold the baby in the position you use while nursing. Often, the baby will associate that position with feeding and catch onto bottle-feeding. Holding the bottle near the caregiver's breast may help, but some folks are sort of squicked out by that idea for some odd reason.

• On the other hand, if the caregiver is already holding the baby in the position you normally use, have her try something slightly different. Maybe baby is mad because, when she's held that way, she expects a Mama breast.

• Have the caregiver offer the bottle at a time when baby isn't ravenously hungry. She may be more likely to experiment with something new if she hasn't already gotten to the "starving" point. Once she gets that hungry, though, all she wants is Mama... and she doesn't realize she can get Mama's milk from that funny-tasting, funny-feeling object they're offering her.

• Try to feed when baby starts getting drowsy or when she is just beginning to wake up.

• Some babies seem to adapt best to the bottle when sleeping. Have the caregiver just pop the nipple into his mouth when he's asleep, and often he'll take in a couple of ounces that way and become more forgiving of the dreaded artificial nipple.

• Encourage nighttime nursing during this trying time. Lots of babies just reverse-cycle in the early months, choosing to sleep away the day and nurse all night. My son did this in the early months after I went back to work.

• Mom should not be the one giving the bottle. That can be really confusing to the baby (and to the mother, who may let down).

• Obviously, dealing with a reluctant bottlefeeder often requires a bit of trial-and-error. Don't be afraid to try anything you think may work. You know your baby best!

Bottle Feeding a Breastfed Baby and Safe Handling and Storage of Your Milk: a free handout from La Leche League International covering the storage and handling of breastmilk as well as paced-feeding technique of bottle-feeding.

Milk Storage for Your Healthy Full-Term Infant: a free handout from La Leche League International