I've talked before about different positions for breastfeeding your baby, but what about bottle feeding?

Oh Ellie! Everyone knows how to feed a baby a bottle! Even a 2 year old with a doll will cradle baby, tipping up the clever bottle that genuinely looks like its pouring milk (those doll bottles were just great!)...

But there's a better way of feeding your little one, so they can be more in control of how much they take and how fast?! 

Encouraging your baby to play an active part in sucking the milk out gives them more control over stopping for a break, identifying they feel full and turning their head away or closing their mouth, and avoiding gulping big mouthfuls down leading to wind and discomfort 

It also means they're less likely to decide "this bottle malarkey is much easier than feeding from mum, I'm just not going to anymore!"...

So, how do we do this? 

• Have baby sat in an upright, supported position - this could be them propped against your knees facing you, or even on their side along your knees in an elevated position. Sometimes I simply support baby's neck in the palm of my hand, sat on my lap.

• Ensure your hand isn't on baby's head - just like with breastfeeding - so they are able to move their head back as needed

• Offer the teat, running the nipple over the baby's top lip and encouraging them to root

• Offer an empty teat first and let them suck before tipping the bottle to a horizontal position

• Pause regularly - if they've been sucking for a while then you can instigate a break by tipping the bottle back down so milk isn't in the teat 

• Give baby a bigger break occasionally to see if they need to burp, then position baby on the other side and offer the bottle again. This can help prevent baby developing a side preference if also breastfeeding.

• Actively engage with your baby feeding: look at them, making eye contact. Chat and ensure you respond to baby's signs of needing a break or being full

• Never force your baby to finish a bottle. If you've paused and offered the teat again and they don't want it, don't force it just to avoid wasting milk...we all know the saying "no point crying over....milk?". Offering smaller quantities at a time and then more as needed is an additional way of pacing baby's feed as it's so easy to determinedly try and finish a full bottle once it's started.

And there you have it!