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May 2016 Moms
araecasey
member
Paced Bottle Feeding
araecasey
member
Spin off of the bottle post from earlier, I thought I'd give more info about how and why to do paced bottle feeds, which as I mentioned in the Bottles thread is really important for protecting the breastfeeding relationship if you choose to nurse your baby and also need baby to take bottles regularly. Or if you plan to exclusively bottle feed and just prefer a more baby-led approach to feeding rather than the more traditional caregiver-led approach. @kbrands7 mentioned the paced bottle feed fact sheet from kellymom.com (KellyMom is wealth of researched, evidence based breastfeeding knowledge if you haven't discovered it yet!), it's an awesome resource to print off and give to your caregivers so they're on board with how/why you'd like your little one pace fed.
What is paced bottle feeding? In short, a stretched out bottle feed that mimics nursing at the breast. It should take about 10-20 minutes for a baby to finish a 2-4 ounce bottle using the paced feeding method.
How does paced bottle feeding protect the nursing relationship? When you breastfeed, your milk doesn't come out in a constant flow for the entire feeding. At the very beginning, at the 2-5 minute mark, and again at the 10-20 minute mark, your milk flow will be relatively fast for about 30 seconds. Between those 30 second bursts (called a "letdown"), your milk flow is much slower, and your baby has to work harder to get milk. Contrast this with when you bottle feed, milk comes out quicker than at the breast and with no work required; all baby has to do is gulp. So when we do a paced feeding, we hold baby upright and hold the bottle horizontally so baby DOES have to suckle in order to get milk. Versus the traditional method of bottle feeding when little one lies flat in caregiver's arms, and the nipple is upright and completely filled with milk, baby has very little control over the feeding and satiety and tends to gulp a large amount of milk in a short amount of time, which often leads to unintentionally overfeeding. Paced feeding also encourages several pauses in baby's feeding pattern (suck, gulp, pause), similar to the slower rhythm of breastfeeding.
This video by IBCLC (internationally board certified lactation consultant--the highest qualification of LC) Jessica Barton demonstrates the technique really well and gives really good info about the importance of paced feeds.
This video shows a variation of the paced bottle feed technique, also done by an IBCLC, and pictures an actual baby being fed rather than a doll like in the above video.
If you've used this method, did I forget anything important? Share your experience! Clarify my thoughts if needed. I was distracted with laundry and cleaning up cat puke while I was typing this up...
What is paced bottle feeding? In short, a stretched out bottle feed that mimics nursing at the breast. It should take about 10-20 minutes for a baby to finish a 2-4 ounce bottle using the paced feeding method.
How does paced bottle feeding protect the nursing relationship? When you breastfeed, your milk doesn't come out in a constant flow for the entire feeding. At the very beginning, at the 2-5 minute mark, and again at the 10-20 minute mark, your milk flow will be relatively fast for about 30 seconds. Between those 30 second bursts (called a "letdown"), your milk flow is much slower, and your baby has to work harder to get milk. Contrast this with when you bottle feed, milk comes out quicker than at the breast and with no work required; all baby has to do is gulp. So when we do a paced feeding, we hold baby upright and hold the bottle horizontally so baby DOES have to suckle in order to get milk. Versus the traditional method of bottle feeding when little one lies flat in caregiver's arms, and the nipple is upright and completely filled with milk, baby has very little control over the feeding and satiety and tends to gulp a large amount of milk in a short amount of time, which often leads to unintentionally overfeeding. Paced feeding also encourages several pauses in baby's feeding pattern (suck, gulp, pause), similar to the slower rhythm of breastfeeding.
This video by IBCLC (internationally board certified lactation consultant--the highest qualification of LC) Jessica Barton demonstrates the technique really well and gives really good info about the importance of paced feeds.
This video shows a variation of the paced bottle feed technique, also done by an IBCLC, and pictures an actual baby being fed rather than a doll like in the above video.
If you've used this method, did I forget anything important? Share your experience! Clarify my thoughts if needed. I was distracted with laundry and cleaning up cat puke while I was typing this up...
Re: Paced Bottle Feeding
But really, thanks for the explanation!
I agree with you. Breastfeeding is natural and wonderful, but it's not necessarily intuitive. Mammals actually learn how to nurse their young from others in their species, it's not hardwired into us. From what I can tell so far, we have some very knowledgeable nursing mamas in our BMB who are here to walk this journey with you. Myself included. But it's also really important to get connected with other breastfeeding mamas locally to you if you can.
Edit: Ack, not trying to brag about my bfing knowledge^^ was saying I'd love to help fellow moms reach their nursing goals. Came off boasty, not was I was going for.
DS: Born 5-17-16
DS: Born 5-17-16