Bottle feeding and Bonding

Feeding your baby is not just about ensuring he gets all the right nutrition: It’s also a perfect opportunity for some all-important bonding.

Giving your baby your undivided attention during feeds is a great way to build your baby’s self-esteem and emotional development, even at such a young age. So talking to them, with lots of lovely eye contact, lots of smiles and a few gentle songs, some strokes and some cuddles are all wonderful ways of building this confidence right from the start.

After you’ve finished feeding, if you have time, you might then want keep baby on your lap and play with a toy together, sing some songs and continue to enjoy each other’s company.

The good news is that this all important bonding is not just for breastfed babies. Bonding is often mentioned as one of the benefits of breastfeeding, but there’s no reason why your bottle fed baby can’t experience it during feeding time too.

It may be that breastfeeding hasn’t worked out for you and you’ve had to stop sooner than you’d planned to, or you may have chosen not to breastfeed at all. In either case, here are some ways you can maximise the bonding benefits for your baby.

1. For many of us, mealtimes are one of life’s pleasures! It probably is for your baby too. Make his feed time cosy and relaxed if you’re at home and try not to multi-task while he’s taking his bottle. Give your baby your undivided attention.
2. Make eye contact with your baby while he feeds, hold his hands and stroke his body. Skin to skin contact is important to young babies as it helps them to feel loved & secure.
3. Talk to your baby during & after his feed – even if he doesn’t understand everything you say! Just the sound of your voice and your attention are enough. As he gets older, the more you talk to your baby, the more he will learn to talk back.
4. Dad’s can do this too! Feeding baby is a good opportunity for dad and baby to get to know one another.
5. Avoid the temptation to prop your baby’s bottle instead of holding it for him. Your baby could struggle to breathe if he falls asleep on it, or needs to burp.
6. Even if your baby can hold the bottle himself and prefers to feed himself as he gets older, he may still enjoy being in your lap and spending some quality time with you.

Hope that gives you a few tips. Most importantly of all, enjoy it!