Paced bottle feeding is an easy method of offering formula or expressed breast milk that puts your baby in charge of how much they want to drink and the speed at which they do it. By letting your baby take the lead with the bottle, their paced feedings mean they can eat safely, without overfeeding or discomfort.
IN THIS ARTICLE
- What is paced bottle feeding?
- How to start paced bottle feeding
- The benefits of paced bottle feeding
Paced feedings of either formula or expressed breast milk are a safe and effective baby-led method of taking a bottle. It’s easy to start paced bottled feeding and experts say the benefits are plentiful. Read on to see if paced feeding might be right for you and your baby.
What is paced bottle feeding?
Paced bottle feeding is a bottle-feeding technique that prompts your baby to drink at the speed they find most comfortable. This feeding method, which is also called responsive or cue-based feeding, is a purposefully slowed, baby-led pace. It’s similar to the way breastfeeding works, as your infant can drink at their own pace and take breaks whenever needed. Paced feedings work for both formula-fed and breastfed babies, whether they drink out of bottles exclusively or you’re doing combination feeding (mixing breast milk and formula).
How to start paced bottle feeding
If you want to give paced feeding a try, here’s how to get started.
- Choose the right bottle. Because paced bottle feeding is slower on purpose, you’ll want a bottle and nipple to match. Look for a wide, slow-flow nipple.
- Support your baby. Hold your baby in your lap and support their head and neck. Try out different positions to see what works best and what’s most comfortable for you and your baby – some babies may prefer sitting almost fully upright as they eat, while others may want to recline more.
- Tickle to open. Rather than pushing the nipple in, tickle your baby’s lips so they’ll open their mouth. Let the nipple slide in and check to be sure they latch on securely.
- Watch the angle. Make sure the nipple isn’t filled with milk before it goes into your baby’s mouth by keeping the bottle rather level. Once your baby latches, tip the bottle up a bit so some of the liquid goes into the nipple.
- Go slowly. The whole point of paced bottle feeding is to let your baby tell you when they’re full. Feed slowly and take breaks every 20 to 30 seconds to check if your baby wants more.
- Take breathers. Just as you would at the breast and with other bottle-feeding methods, take breaks to burp along the way.
- Check the flow. Keep an eye on how quickly your baby is swallowing and breathing, and whether milk is seeping out of their mouth. You don’t want to rush.
- Stop when your baby does. Don’t prompt your baby to keep eating if they’ve turned their head away or drifted off to sleep. When your baby stops, paced feeding is over.
The benefits of paced bottle feeding
The benefits of letting your baby drink at their own pace are many. You’ll be teaching your infant to self-regulate, eating just what they want without overdoing it or draining a bottle because you’re encouraging it. And babies who drink slowly may swallow less air, which can reduce gas and spit up. The result: a more comfortable belly and less fussing (hurray!).
And with a more upright position, which paced feeding encourages, your infant is less likely to gag on formula or breast milk. It may decrease their risk of getting earaches, too, since drinking while lying down can cause fluids to flow into the eustachian tubes (which connect the middle ear to the back of the ear and throat) and lead to infections.
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Since paced feeding mimics the routine of breastfeeding, it may help if you’re breastfeeding and want to start bottle feeding your baby. Some babies who are combination fed (breastfed and bottle-fed) start to prefer bottles because the liquid comes out faster from a bottle and babies don’t have to work as hard to get it out. If you want to keep breastfeeding while also giving your baby a bottle, paced feeding may make it easier to toggle back and forth between the two.
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