hi we're the doctors bjorkman i'm kurt i'm a board-certified pediatrician i'm sarah i am a
board-certified ob-gyn 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 pace 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 um but wants to introduce the bottle or is going back to work
this is extremely important for you um 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
right 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 yep
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 feeding and why should you even do it 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 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 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 over feed over fed over to
kind of distended stomachs and gassiness that can come with really fast rapid feeds yeah um
and so most importantly the goal of paste bottle feeding is really to support that
breastfeeding relationship so that hopefully um breastfeeding moms are able to go for longer
durations and continue breastfeeding for longer even if they have to be away from their baby um
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 gonna go through six important tips for you who are trying to
do pace 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 feedings 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 feed 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 um it is really important to avoid letting baby drink
from a bottle laying down because you don't want gravity kind of helping the baby have that milk
flow really fast into their mouth you want them 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 paste
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 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 a breast rather than having gravity up like kind
of forcing that milk flowing into their mouth right 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 is 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 paste
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 paste 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 paste feeding and number six our final tip
is to just remember that the baby does not need to finish the bottle okay 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 that 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 um 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 paste bottle feeding we did this i wanted to be able to
give baby cease a bottle every day so of course she's much bigger now in an advanced eater
but when she was little this was more important so we liked the komotomo bottles again having a slow
flow nipple when she was younger she got about four or five months of age and she wanted to feel
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 she says
she feeds her about five to 15 minutes or 10 to 15 minutes and
sometimes it can also be helpful to switch sides where i'm feeding her in 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 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 bye
good job way to go can i get a high five high five for pace 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