Dr. Jennifer Trachtenberg: One of the important decisions you will need to make as a parent is whether to breast feed or bottle feed your new born and even if you decide to breast feed you are still on occasions make use to get the supplemental bottle. Hi! I am Dr. Jennifer Trachtenberg, author of Good Kids Bad Habits, the real age guide to raising healthy children and I am going to give you some tips on bottle feeding your baby.
For a variety of reasons moms may choose to breast feed and bottle feed at the same time. When breast feeding it's okay to give a supplemental bottle of either express breast milk or formula. Not only if you are just breast feeding it's good to give the baby a few weeks to get used to just breast feeding and then you can give a supplemental bottle. on average a new born drinks about 2-3 ounces every 2-3 hours and that's about 8 times a day.
Choosing a bottle for your baby is really a personal preference. There are many different types of bottles out there on the market. For a new born it's really important to get a new born nipple. I mean you wanted to be a so close that the baby doesn't choke or have difficultly swallowing. Some moms prefer to use a disposable liners in the bottle and those are very safe, they are fine to use they are actually very convenient, but they do cost more money.
Well it's important to hold the baby correctly when you are feeding a baby. You want to make sure that the baby is up right and you are supporting the baby's head and this again will help the flow so that the baby doesn't choke. You want to really make sure that the baby is not lying flat because the baby can choke, but also the formula can get into the middle ear and that actually potentially can cause the infections.
There are many types of formulas on the market. The majority are cow's milk based formulas. There are also Soya formulas for those allergic to lactose or if you are a vegetarian preferred your child not to have anything milk based. And there is also specialty formulas too for serve allergies. You need to speak to your pediatrician, but also the formulas coming in variety of different forms. There is ready to feed formulas which basically just pour right to the bottle and feed and there is also powder and concentrate formulas which you need to make them up and add water to.
Room temperature is perfectly fine to feed your baby. In fact it's preferable. You don't need to heat up the bottles. If you are taking them right out of the refrigerator you can just let them stand it up a few minutes and that will be perfectly fine. It's not dangerous at all and it also makes easier for mom.
Definitely do not microwave the bottles. You really have to be careful about that because when your microwave the heat is uneven and it could be very dangerous so it can burn the baby so no microwaving the bottles.
So it's important to burp your baby to remove any swallowed air that they may have and it will make them just feel more comfortable. So there are a quite a few different ways to burp your baby. You can put it up to your shoulder, just make sure you support the head and then just pat or rub the back. Another method that I like is to sit the baby up on your lap with one hand support their chin and their neck and then with other hand on your back again, you can pat and burn the baby. And the last method is to put the baby above your legs and with their tummy facing down and then you can pat their back as well and that will help them to burp, so if one doesn't work you can try another method.
There are so many bottles and formulas to choose from in the market. You should have no trouble finding the right combination for you and your baby. I am Dr. Jennifer Trachtenberg for Parents TV.
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