You might find attending one of our Early Days groups helpful as they give you the opportunity to explore different approaches to important parenting issues with a qualified group leader and other new parents in your area. Slow flow is generally preferable for newborns, while you’re both learning how to feed. If the flow rate is too fast it makes paced feeding more difficult. In which case babies would have very little control over how they feed: milk would flow into their mouth faster than they can swallow it. This might make your baby cough or splutter, or struggle to keep up with the flow of milk so it dribbles to the side of their mouth. This could also mean they feel upset, get indigestion and bring up lots of milk. If your maternity unit is not yet on this list, you can speak to their infant feeding lead or call the NCT infant feeding support line on 0300 330 0700. What size bottle will my baby need?

Kellymom (2020) How to bottle feed the breastfed baby. Available at https://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/feeding-tools/bottle-feeding/ [Accessed 6 December 2021] If you’re planning to breastfeed it isn't necessary to buy bottles ‘just in case’. Over 90% of maternity units in the UK are now Baby Friendly Accredited, which means a midwife on the infant feeding team should be able to support you if you do have any difficulties with breastfeeding straight after birth (UNICEF 2017). They’ll help you with hand-expressing your colostrum and feeding it to your baby using a spoon, syringe or feeding cup (Unicef 2017). Find out whether your maternity unit is accredited here. Consider using a teat that is more suited to paced bottle feeding. This means it will hold enough milk when held in a horizontal position, rather than have to be tipped up so your baby can access the milk. Scheel, C. E., Schanler, R. J., & Lau, C. (2005). Does the choice of bottle nipple affect the oral feeding performance of very-low-birthweight (VLBW) infants?. Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992), 94(9), 1266–1272. Available at https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1651-2227.2005.tb02087.xBefore sterilising, all bottles and teats need to be washed, either by hand or in the dishwasher (NHS, 2018). If washing by hand, you will need a separate brush for cleaning bottles and teats (NHS, 2019b). When should I throw away my baby’s bottle? This will depend on how frequently you’re planning to use bottles to feed your baby. Newborn babies generally feed between 10 and 14 times in 24 hours, with feeds becoming a little less frequent as they grow. If you are exclusively bottle feeding your baby, whether formula or expressed breastmilk, you might want around four to six bottles and teats to get you started. This allows for sterilising them between feeds. Wood, C. T., Skinner, A. C., Yin, H. S., Rothman, R. L., Sanders, L. M., Delamater, A., Ravanbakht, S. N., & Perrin, E. M. (2016). Association Between Bottle Size and Formula Intake in 2-Month-Old Infants. Academic pediatrics, 16(3), 254–259. Available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2015.08.001 [Accessed 3 December 2021] It’s also recommended that babies stop drinking from bottles with teats by the time they are one year old as drinking through a teat leaves the teeth coated in milk and can lead to tooth decay (NHS Choices, 2015; Oral Health Foundation, 2017). Read more about this here. Practical and emotional support with feeding your baby and general enquiries for parents, members and volunteers.

When it comes to content, our aim is simple: every parent should have access to information they can trust. Some parents are cautious about using latex teats due to the risk of developing a latex allergy, particularly if there is a family history of allergy to latex (Kimata, 2004). These bottles are shorter and fatter than the basic ones but you can put the same amount of milk in them. They usually come with silicone rather than latex teats and have a self-sealing lid.You may hear that you should keep the teat full of milk to avoid swallowing air. However where the milk flow is too fast and not in your baby's control, it is more likely to cause indigestion or gas (Kellymom, 2020). Anecdotally, babies whose parents use paced feeding suffer less from gas (Herman, 2021).

Herman (2021) How you offer a bottle can be more important than what’s inside, Available at https://www.todaysparent.com/baby/breastfeeding/paced-bottle-feeding/ [Accessed 6 December 2021] Since 2011, the European Commission has banned the use of Bisphenol A (BPA) in baby bottles. This was due to concerns that the chemical could leach out of the plastic and be absorbed by babies. None of the bottles for sale in the UK should have BPA (NCT, 2011). Make-up and skincare services, BrowBar benefit, gifting and personalisation workshop, Sephora offers you a whole range of services to come and discover in store Parents who bottle feed find that they may need to move onto using larger bottles as their baby grows and milk consumption increases. Every baby is different so there isn’t a set age for when this should happen (Unicef, 2019). It’s important to follow your baby’s feeding cues and signs that they need more milk, such as finishing each feed and seeming to want more (NHS, 2015; Unicef, 2016). What type of feeding bottle is best? If they can't control the rate of feeding, they are more likely to over-feed. Non-responsive feeding has been associated with discomfort and fussiness in the short term (NHS 2021) and linked to obesity in the longer term (Hurley, 2011; Watchmaker 2020).We support all parents, however they feed their baby. If you have questions, concerns or need support, you can speak to a breastfeeding counsellor by calling our helpline on 0300 330 0700, whether you are exclusively breastfeeding or using formula milk. Breastfeeding counsellors have had extensive training, will listen without judging or criticising and will offer relevant information and suggestions. You can also find more useful articles here.