For various reasons it may not be possible to breast feed your newborn baby, or for your own personal reasons you may choose not to breast feed (which is your choice to make without feelings of guilt), so the next best is to formula feed your infant. Here are some tips for bottle-feeding your newborn:
- A newborn baby really needs very little to begin with; so don’t be worried and don’t try to feed baby more than they ask for.
- Try and figure out if your baby wants the feed at room temperature or a little warmer; this can save a lot of time and effort.
- Prepare baby formula exactly according to instructions. If the milk is too dilute, your baby won’t get enough nutrition and if too concentrated, baby may become constipated.
- After sterilizing in boiling water (or any other method you find more convenient), keep bottles to dry in a clean place.
- If you are supplementing breast milk with a bottle or two in a day, don’t mix formula in or with breast milk, there is really no benefit in this.
- Try every three hours to bottle feed, the baby will take as much or as little as he or she wants.
