Babies need a variety of products from the moment they take birth to stay safe and comfortable. One such product is a feeding bottle. Although babies don’t need it from the first day of birth, it becomes an inseparable part of their lives for a few years.
Most experts recommend using a bottle to feed babies once they turn three to four weeks old. Whether your child drinks breast milk or baby formula, you can switch them to a bottle without any hesitation. Drinking milk from a bottle has its own advantages. As a parent, you must understand these advantages and more about feeding bottles.
A feeding bottle, which is also known by other names, such as a baby bottle and a nursing bottle, is a bottle used for feeding milk and other liquids to infants. Even some young children use baby bottles to consume breast milk, baby formula, and other types of drinks.
Just like many other baby care products, baby bottles are also available from various companies in the market. Shopping for a product meant to be used by a baby is quite different than shopping for a product meant to be used by teenagers or adults. Babies require extreme care as they are physically weak. They are prone to various infectious diseases.
Thus, you must show due diligence when it comes to buying, using, cleaning, and maintaining baby care products. You should buy products that are safe for your child. The products you buy should be hassle-free to use and easy to clean and maintain. These principles apply to baby bottles as well.
How is Bottle Feeding Beneficial for Your Kid?
A feeding bottle is designed in a way that the child latches on to the nipple easily and drinks the liquid contained therein. A nipple or a teat is a part of the feeding bottle. Containing a hole from which the liquid flows, the nipple is a flexible part. It flexes and elongates when the baby tries to suck the liquid from the bottle. A nipple or a teat is attached to the top opening of the bottle.
Bottle feeding benefits both mother and the child. When infants drink milk or any other liquid from the bottle, they develop oral motor skills associated with sucking from a bottle. Mothers can get flexibility by using baby bottles for feeding their kids.
You don’t have to be around your child all the time if he or she depends on your breast milk. You can pump out the milk in a bottle, and anyone can use the bottle to feed your child. When you use a baby bottle instead of breastfeeding, you don’t feel physically worn out. Other members of your family get a chance to bond with the baby while feeding him or her using a bottle.
Feeding bottles can be used to feed babies with both breast milk and baby formula. Parents need to follow a proper feeding schedule to ensure that their babies stay full. As per the recommendations from medical experts, babies should be fed every three to four hours.
Therefore, it’s easy to understand that the task of feeding a baby can turn out to be hectic. You enjoy great convenience when you choose to feed your baby from a bottle. You can feed your baby easily, even when you are out with your baby. Even though people try to normalize breastfeeding in public, some mothers don’t feel comfortable feeding their children in public.
What to Consider Before Starting Bottle Feeding?
If you are a first-time mother, one of the issues you will most likely hear from other mothers is that they have faced severe difficulty transitioning from breastfeeding to bottle feeding. Well, it’s true that some mothers do face problems when they start feeding their babies from a bottle.
However, you can avoid such a problem by paying consideration to the important and relevant points related to bottle feeding. One of the points is that you should choose a baby bottle carefully. You need to select a bottle that is not only high-quality but comfortable for your child. You should conduct due research to find out which are the best bottles for newborns.
Then, you should select the one that suits your needs the most. You should buy a feeding bottle whose nipple is wide and short. You can compare different options available in the market to see which bottle has a nipple similar in shape to the human breast.
Another point that you need to consider is the way of feeding. You should use a slow-flow method for feeding your baby. In simple words, you need to remove the bottle from the mouth of your kid after every five to ten sucks. It will give your baby enough time to swallow the milk or formula properly and breathe. Then, you can put the bottle in the mouth of your baby again. The rationale behind this feeding method is that babies suck breast milk slowly as the milk comes slowly from the human breast.
So, bottle feeding should also be slow. The next point that you should remember is that you need to show patience. Your baby might not adapt to drinking milk from a bottle right away, but you need to continue using the bottle.
You should make sure that the process of switching from breastfeeding to bottle feeding is seamless. It can become possible only when you choose the right bottle for your child. You need to pay attention to various factors, such as material, size, shape, ease of cleaning, and price, while comparing different feeding bottles. You can buy bottles from an offline store or an online store.
When you buy the best bottles for newborns, half of the battle is already won. You can win the rest of the battle by feeding your baby on a timely basis. If you are feeding baby formula to your kid, you should choose the formula that contains the required nutrients.
Conclusion
Newborn babies need special care and round-the-clock attention. You should protect your newborn baby from infectious diseases by appropriately cleaning the feeding bottles and products.
