Bottle Feeding in the First Weeks

by T. Berry Brazelton, M.D., author of Feeding: The Brazelton Way

Although the baby will miss out on the colostrum and the antibodies contained in breast milk, formulas today are adjusted to babies' needs. Certainly, you should consult your physician in choosing the right formula for your baby. The cow's milk (or soybean milk) will have been modified or processed extensively to make it more digestible. Vitamins and minerals are added. You can be sure that they will cover your baby's nutritional needs. (Evaporated milk formulas are no longer recommended.)

A bottle of formula can be prepared from powdered formula or canned liquid formula, ready to give in just a few minutes. Follow the instructions on the box or can for preparing it. Be sure to use the amount of water called for by the instructions so that your baby gets a balance of nutrients and water with each feed. Some mothers have used less water than the instructions advise, in order to make the formula stronger so the baby will gain weight more rapidly. Don't. The baby's immature kidneys cannot tolerate the extra load of too much protein and salts. They need the water to dilute the salts and protein break-down products and form urine to rid the body of waste. If too much water is mixed in with formula, your baby will feel full too soon and stop feeding before he's taken in all the nutrients he needs.

The instructions should also tell you how long your formula will keep once it is opened, and once prepared. An opened box of powdered formula will stay fresh for a month if covered. A can of liquid formula should also be covered once opened, but must be refrigerated, and discarded after 48 hours. Even when refrigerated, a bottle of prepared formula won't keep for more than a day. Be sure also to read expiration dates on formula cans and packages.

What water to use: If you can't count on your local water supply, you can buy sterilized water for making baby formula. You can boil tap water for 5 minutes if it is otherwise safe to drink—if it contains no lead or other known contaminants. Be sure to let it cool down before mixing it with formula, to avoid destroying nutrients. You don't need to sterilize your baby's bottles and nipples as long as you wash them with hot, soapy water and scrub them with a bottle brush. Rinse carefully.

Watch out for lead: Lead, Lead Poisoning and Pica can harm the baby's developing brain and nervous system. If there is lead in your water supply (you can have it tested if you're not sure), you'll want to buy lead-free sterilized water or a special lead filter. Boiling it won't get the lead out. Also, don't boil water to be used to make formula in pots that contain lead. Pots made in the United States are supposed to be lead free.

Warming your baby's formula: If you want to warm your baby's formula, you can heat it by putting the bottle in a pan of water and warming it on the stove for a few minutes. Boiling or microwaving formula—or, for that matter, breast milk—can wreck some of the nutrients and vitamins it contains. Before you start feeding, squirt a few drops from the bottle onto the inside of your wrist to be sure it is warm, but not hot.

Feeding position: Formulas and bottles may be easier to give because even a semi-awake baby is likely to start sucking on a bottle nipple. But try to get the baby awake and responsive before you begin to feed with formula. Rock and sing to get the baby alert.

As we've said, careful positioning can make all the difference as a newborn baby first learns to feed. Even if your baby is squawking eagerly for food, take your time to get settled. Sit in a comfortable chair, preferably a rocking chair. Tilt him up to a 30 degree angle. Talk to him so he knows you are there. When he's really alert, and maybe even beginning to recognize the sensation of hunger, you can start the feeding. Hold him close. Be with him and enjoy it! Never feed a baby by leaving the bottle propped for him. Not only is it cold and impersonal, but he may choke and you wouldn't be there to rescue him.

As he suckles on the bottle, his face will soften, his hands will come up around the bottle, he will look up in your face as he works to suck down an ounce or two.

Excerpted from:

Excerpted from Feeding: The Brazelton Way © 2004 by T. Berry Brazelton, M.D., and Joshua D. Sparrow, M.D. All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. Used by arrangement with Perseus.

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