How to Bottle Feed a Breastfed Baby: Pediatrician & OB/GYN Parents Explain Paced Bottle Feeds

Hi, we're the Doctors Bjorkman. I'm Kurt. I'm a board-certified pediatrician. I'm Sarah. I am a board-certified OBGYN. And we have detailed our own journeys this past year and a half through pregnancy, childbirth, and being new parents. And this week, we're going to talk about something that was really important for us, and that is paste bottle feeding. High five for paste bottle feeding. Yeah, high five. All right, welcome back. So this week, we are talking all about paste bottle feeding. And so if you are someone who is breastfeeding, but wants to introduce the bottle or is going back to work, this is extremely important for you. Because learning how to paste bottle feed helps to support the breastfeeding relationship and that transition back and forth between the breast and the bottle. Yeah, and so the big goal of paste bottle feeding is to mimic breastfeeding. Helps avoid some of that confusion and switching back and forth. Really kind of slowing the rate at which that baby's getting that milk from the bottle so that they can kind of do that normal extra work like they would at the breast. Also helping them recognize some of those cues of fullness a little bit sooner. So before we get into the keys of how to do paste bottle feeding and then show you an example of paste bottle feeding at the end of this video, we just want to go through some of the benefits of paste bottle Right. So the first thing is that the baby is going to be consuming an amount that is appropriate for their age and their size. Again, by pacing and slowing things down, it allows them to realize, hey, I'm full. And so they are not going to be underfed or overfed. Yeah. And that really supports a pumping mom to be able to keep up with the appropriate amount of milk for her little one. Yeah. It can also help if you are exclusively bottle feeding your baby too, to help prevent them from being an overweight baby in terms of just getting extra calories that they don't need because it's so easy for those calories to get in. Yeah. There's also some thoughts that in doing paste bottle feeding, it's going to kind of minimize the risk of colic like symptoms, overfeed, overfed, over kind of distended stomachs and gassiness that can come with really fast, rapid feeds. Yeah. And so most importantly, the goal of paste bottle feeding is really to support that breastfeeding relationship so that hopefully breastfeeding moms are able to go for longer durations and continue breastfeeding for longer, even if they have to be away from their baby frequently because they're going back to work or because you're gone on a weekend trip or whatever. It is important that the caregivers or people who are giving the babies these bottles, try to do this paste bottle feeding again, so that mom can also keep breastfeeding. So with that, we're going to go through six important tips for you who are trying to do paste bottle feeding of your baby. Yeah. So the first thing to think about is to make sure you are using a slow flow infant nipple. We are trying to mimic what is happening at the breast. And so if baby gets used to guzzling a bunch of milk at the bottle quickly, then they can get very frustrated at the breast when the milk, there isn't as much coming out that fast. Yeah. And you'd expect this feeding to take about the same amount of time feeding as a breastfeeding would. So 10 to 20 minutes for this bottle feed. And the other piece of that is make sure the amount of milk is the right amount too. So we kind of cover this in our feeding our newborn video, but thinking about kind of one to one and a quarter ounces for every hour in between feeds. So if it's been three hours between feeds, you'd expect that bottle to have three to three and a half ounces of milk in it for that 10 to 20 minute bottle feeding. So our second important tip is to make sure you are holding baby in an upright position. Again, it is really important to avoid letting baby drink from a bottle laying down because you don't want gravity kind of helping baby have that milk flow really fast into their mouth. You want them just to be sitting up doing the work like they would be at the breast. Again, if they are laying back guzzling milk, they can get very frustrated at the breast when it's not happening that fast. So number three is probably the most important part of pace bottle feeding, and that is just keeping the bottle as level as possible so that the baby is kind of pulling the milk into their mouth rather than having gravity having that milk pour into their mouth. The other piece of this is allowing the the baby to pull the nipple into their mouth itself rather than forcing the nipple of that bottle into the baby's mouth. Again, getting them to do the work mimicking the work that they have to do to empty your breast rather than having gravity like kind of forcing that mouth flowing into their mouth. So I want to take a quick moment to talk about what we mean by keeping the bottle level. So the goal here is that the milk is just filling the nipple. We don't want it so steep that the milk is pouring into the baby's mouth. We don't want it so shallow that the baby's sucking in air, but rather so that the milk is filling this nipple so the baby's able to draw the milk into their mouth, but they have to do all the work much like they're drawing milk out of the breast. Again, simulating what it would be like to breastfeed. Number four, again, we're trying to mimic breastfeeding as much as possible. So halfway through these paced bottle feedings, you're going to want to switch sides. So you start on the left. Halfway through, you're going to want to switch to the other side. This helps with eye and position development and also helps them to not develop a side preference, which is really important for breastfeeding moms. Number five, pause frequently, take breaks throughout this paced bottle feeding. Again, kind of mimicking those letdown patterns of breastfeeding, giving that baby kind of time to kind of feel the feelings of fullness as they're going through this paced feeding. Number six, our final tip is to just remember that the baby does not need to finish the bottle. You want them to eat till they are full. You do not need to do anything aggressive or coax them to finish that bottle. Let them take your time, pace the feeding. When they are showing signs they're full, then they can be done. You don't have to coax them or convince them to finish it. And you may notice when you're first starting this process that like learning to eat from a bottle is a process that your baby needs to learn. So be patient with them. Again, it's not a race. You don't have to do anything to force it. The biggest thing is you don't want to have them be averse to having this bottle in their mouth. And so just take your time, try to be as relaxed with it as possible. Okay. So again, thinking about paced bottle feeding, um, we did this. I wanted to be able to give baby Cece a bottle every day. So of course she's much bigger now and an advanced eater. Um, but when she was a little, this was more important. So, uh, we liked the Comotomo bottles again, having a slow flow nipple when she was younger, she got about four or five months of age and she wanted to be a bit faster. Again, we're letting her take the nipple, keeping the bottle flat. She's upright and letting her draw the milk into her mouth rather than letting the milk pour into it. Other things to remember is giving her chances for frequent pauses. Again, you're trying to mimic the breastfeeding experience as much as possible. Having it take roughly about the same amount of time for her to finish the bottle. Again, if she doesn't take the whole bottle either, if she says she feeds her about five to 15 minutes or 10 to 15 minutes and it's done. Sometimes it can also be helpful to switch sides where I'm feeding her on my left arm for, for half the time and then switching to the other side for the other half of time again to have it so she's not developing a preference for one side over the other. Um, again, mimicking breastfeeding just so like when she's going to feed off both sides from mom. That's it. So that is our six tips. Hopefully they help you as you are transitioning and teaching your baby to use that bottle. Um, hopefully this helps with that transition between breastfeeding and bottle feeding. Um, and if you have any questions or even tips, things that have helped you, your favorite bottle, please leave them in the comments below. We love to hear from you and we'll see you guys next week. Good job video. Can I get a high five? High five for paste bottle feeding. Yeah. High five. We're doctors, but not your doctors. Anything we've said in this video is for education or entertainment purposes only. It is not medical advice. Any specific medical questions you have should be directed to your provider.