Paced Bottle Feeding
Ever heard of paced bottle feeding? I hadn’t… no one along the way told me. It’s something I learned during lactation training and it is so simple and so helpful. It is exactly what is sounds like: pacing a bottle feeding. It can help minimize reflux symptoms, mimic a baby’s time at the breast, prevent over-feeding, etc.
I cannot stress this technique enough! Whether bottle feeding a breastfed baby, giving exclusively breastmilk bottles, or formula feeding paced bottle feeding is the way to go!
Keep your baby upright, not flat on their back. (Gravity often causes milk to flow into your babies mouth more quickly while laying flat, so this helps the baby pull milk into their mouth instead)
Allow baby to draw the bottle nipple into their own mouth
Keep bottle parallel with the floor (again, this helps manage milk flow related to gravity)
Burp frequently. This allows any air that has been swallowed an opportunity to escape and mimics pauses at the breast.
Switch sides in the middle of feeding or for each feeding.
All of these steps allow your baby to slow down their feeding and better mimic the breastfeeding experience. When a baby is prevented from chugging a bottle and given the opportunity to burp intermittently it results in a baby that is not overly full or full of air... both of which can translate into less reflux, crying, and gas. It also can help a baby more easily transition between breast and bottle.
Sounds like a win to me!
