There is whole panoply of little things one could try. First
of all, try to experiment with different types of baby bottles for newborns
regarding its nipples and flow as one don’t know exactly what type of nipple
baby may prefer. One needs to look at the flow of the nipple. It might have a
flow that’s too slow or that might be frustrating for newborns and on the other
side, too fast. So, there is a need to look at numbers and try to find out the
right flow.
Finally, with the right bottle, what else needs to do?
Don’t be the one to give a baby the bottle. Get out of the
house! If baby feels like Madam Breast is nearby, he will sniff that baby out
and he will want the breast. He will never take the bottle from you. Babies are
so smart and they can smell that breast milk on you. So, this is the perfect
time to get your partner or mom, or mother-in-law or best friends to come out
and deal with your baby while you go out and have a good time. Just kidding,
but mom should take a break and get out of the house because mom would not be
able to handle the screaming. In addition, you will be tempted to give in and
give your baby the breast because you will be worried that the baby will
starve.
Next, do this as the first bottle of the day. When babies
were the hungriest and they were desperate, then if you are set up with the
bottle, they’ll be more likely to take it then, than at other points during the
day when they might be less hungry.
Don’t be exclusively breastfeeding your baby and then be
like “oh, here’s a bottle and here’s some formula”. Why don’t you try it out?
No, no! Never going to go for that. Baby needs nice and warmed mom’s breast
milk and very close to the breastfeeding experience. What you can start to do
once your baby takes the bottle, is to a mix in tiny little bits of formula.
Finally, once your baby is taking the bottle, how many
bottles should you give? Well, this is also a basic problem and make it sure
that you give as few baby bottles for newborns as necessary. So, if you are at home,
then you have an opportunity to directly give the breast, always do that. Don’t
then give bottles at night and on the weekend because it is very, very likely
that a baby will wean from the breast.
At last, the normal rule to introduce bottle to baby is that
you shouldn’t introduce a bottle to your breastfeeding baby before
breastfeeding is well established and, in any event, no earlier until the baby
is one month old. Try to really avoid bottles in the early months. Every mom is
different and don’t necessarily have to be paranoid about the bottles in those
early weeks.
