Most experts on lactation state that the mother should wait at least till her baby is 3 to even 4 weeks old and comfortably established before she starts to introduce the bottle to her child. For those mothers who are working it is recommended that they introduce the bottle to their baby at least a couple of weeks prior to them rejoining work. This will help to ease any glitches that might develop in the transition to the bottle. Sucking milk from a baby bottle and sucking milk from a mother’s breast both require different tongue and mouth movements. Hence this new process may take the baby time to get used to. Some of the main tips that experts give to help in the transition or the introduction of a baby to a bottle is firstly to start of by offering the baby the bottle a little before the child id usually breast fed. This will be near the feeding time when the baby is hungry and hence the baby may accept it more easily than when it is not hungry. Read more on stop breastfeeding tips. Read about best nipple cream for breastfeeding
When choosing bottles for a new born, there are a wide range of bottles available, that one can choose from. Some of these bottles are the Avent bottles that many parents find suitable in helping their babies to drink from, else there are the Dr Brown bottles or the Mothercare ones. For the very small babies, getting a slow flow nipple is recommended. These nipples ensure that the milk does not come out too fast and hence in that sense emulates the breast. These nipples also require the baby to suck hard on like the way they would need to do when drinking from their mother’s breast. As the baby gets bigger, the parent can switch from the slow flow nipple to the nipple that is ideal for a six month old. These nipples allow the milk flow to come out faster. When trying to get the baby to drink from a bottle, it is advised that some one other than the mother feed the child the bottle. This proves to be less confusing for the child. It is even recommended that the mother stay out of the house or in another room at the time the baby is being bottle fed. If the baby is not accepting the milk bottle too easily, try changing the nipples on the bottle until one arrives at the nipple that is most closely simulates the breast.
Submitted by N on November 9, 2010 at 04:24