Bottle feeding do's and don'ts

Finding the right position

Do

• Make yourself as comfortable as possible; you could be there for a while.
• Hold your baby at a 45 degree angle so their bottom rests on your lap. This can reduce the amount of air baby consumes while feeding.
• Bond with your baby. Enjoy this experience while it lasts; talk, or even sing, to baby while making eye contact.

Don't

• Leave your baby unattended, even when they are able to hold the bottle themselves.
• Hold the bottle too flat. Tilt the bottle so the teat is filled with milkto avoid baby ingesting too much air.

Making a bottle feed and bottle care

Do

• Buy new bottles for each new baby.
• Make up bottles one at a time. It may be easier to store the cooled, boiled water sealed in the bottles and then add the formula at feeding time.
• heck the temperature of the milk in your baby's bottle before feeding. Squirt a few drops on the top of your hand - it should be body temperature.
• Wash the bottles you have used in warm soapy water before sterilising using your Bottle and Teat Brush (there is no need to sterilise the brush itself), then rinse.
• Inspect bottles and teats before and after each feed for signs of wear and tear.
• Discard any unused milk after baby has been fed.

Don't

• Use bottles that are badly worn or scuffed or scratched.
• Put boiling water straight from the kettle into your bottles. Allow it to cool for approximately 30 minutes.
• Heat bottles in a microwave. This can lead to hot spots and destroy nutrients in your formula milk.
• Use the door compartments when storing bottles in the refrigerator as the temperature changes every time you open the door.
• Thaw breast milk in a microwave. Allow it to defrost at room temperature.
• Mix formula and breast milk. Breast milk can be kept whereas formula milk must be discarded soon after preparation. Mixing the two can thus lead to wasted breast milk.