You will generally need:
• Six bottles with teats and caps
• A bottle brush
• A breast pump (ideally) or formula feeds (depending on your situation)
• Sterilizing equipment
How to bottle feed
Before the feed
Feeding breast milk:
While most babies prefer warm milk, some are happy with it at room temperature. Should you decide to heat up your milk, always check the temperature on the inside of your wrist before you feed your baby, to make sure you do not scald your baby’s mouth. Warm the milk only 20 minutes before feeding to avoid bacterial build-up. To cool the milk, cover the teat with a cap and hold the bottle under cold running water. Some babies don’t mind cold milk. Others prefer it warm. Never warm the milk in a microwave as there is a risk of uneven heating and this could scald your baby’s mouth.
For formula feeds:
Check the sell-by date. Always make up each feed as required, put boiling water into the bottle first and not cooled boiled water and do not store it once made as the powder itself is not sterile. Never use more or less than what is instructed to make the feed and don’t add other ingredients such as sugar, honey, rusks or baby rice. Your baby will eventually settle into a routine but be sure to respond to your baby’s need (i.e don’t force your baby to finish the bottle)
During the feed
Find a comfortable position in which you can keep up holding your baby while you are feeding.
Some babies take a little milk, might pause for some sleep, and wake up for more. So be patient.Encourage your baby to open wide by touching the teat of the bottle to your baby’s lower lip. As your baby opens their mouth, gently introduce the teat by making sure your baby’s tongue is down. Your baby’s lips should be around the wide part of the teat at the bottom. This is an important feature of the design, encouraging a natural jaw and tongue movement in order to maintain the natural suckling behaviour. As you feed, keep the bottle tilted so that the teat is always full of milk to prevent your baby taking in air. Gently pull the bottle from the baby’s mouth to release the vacuum if the teat becomes flattened. Should the teat become blocked, immediately replace it with another sterile teat so your baby does not become frustrated.
After the feed (Burping)
Gently pat your baby’s back to help remove any air that has been taken in while feeding. All unused milk should be thrown away to reduce the risk of bacterial infection.
Article taken from the Avent Website...
• Six bottles with teats and caps
• A bottle brush
• A breast pump (ideally) or formula feeds (depending on your situation)
• Sterilizing equipment
How to bottle feed
Before the feed
Feeding breast milk:
While most babies prefer warm milk, some are happy with it at room temperature. Should you decide to heat up your milk, always check the temperature on the inside of your wrist before you feed your baby, to make sure you do not scald your baby’s mouth. Warm the milk only 20 minutes before feeding to avoid bacterial build-up. To cool the milk, cover the teat with a cap and hold the bottle under cold running water. Some babies don’t mind cold milk. Others prefer it warm. Never warm the milk in a microwave as there is a risk of uneven heating and this could scald your baby’s mouth.
For formula feeds:
Check the sell-by date. Always make up each feed as required, put boiling water into the bottle first and not cooled boiled water and do not store it once made as the powder itself is not sterile. Never use more or less than what is instructed to make the feed and don’t add other ingredients such as sugar, honey, rusks or baby rice. Your baby will eventually settle into a routine but be sure to respond to your baby’s need (i.e don’t force your baby to finish the bottle)
During the feed
Find a comfortable position in which you can keep up holding your baby while you are feeding.
Some babies take a little milk, might pause for some sleep, and wake up for more. So be patient.Encourage your baby to open wide by touching the teat of the bottle to your baby’s lower lip. As your baby opens their mouth, gently introduce the teat by making sure your baby’s tongue is down. Your baby’s lips should be around the wide part of the teat at the bottom. This is an important feature of the design, encouraging a natural jaw and tongue movement in order to maintain the natural suckling behaviour. As you feed, keep the bottle tilted so that the teat is always full of milk to prevent your baby taking in air. Gently pull the bottle from the baby’s mouth to release the vacuum if the teat becomes flattened. Should the teat become blocked, immediately replace it with another sterile teat so your baby does not become frustrated.
After the feed (Burping)
Gently pat your baby’s back to help remove any air that has been taken in while feeding. All unused milk should be thrown away to reduce the risk of bacterial infection.
Article taken from the Avent Website...