All you need to know about paced bottle feeding

Paced bottle-feeding is a method to slow the flow of a bottle, and encourage breastfeeding behaviors of a wide mouth and an active suck.  This method is used to help prevent babies from getting used to a fast flow (which the breast often cannot compete with).  Pacing the bottle allows babies to not only have more control of their intake of milk but also begin to understand when they are full (i.e self-regulation, which is very beneficial as they grow beyond infancy to adulthood). Additionally, this paced bottle feeding encourages many other positive feeding behaviors such as:

• Mimics breastfeeding feedings times, which will help to maintain the breastfeeding relationship and encourage the baby to continue to actively suck for milk, and not get too comfortable with a faster feeding rate and/or chugging milk.

• Eases digestive issues by preventing excessive swallowing and trapped gas.

• As mentioned above, helps your baby to understand when they are full and prevents overeating.

Simple instructions for paced bottle feeding

• Start with a slow flow nipple (such as a Dr. Brown’s preemie nipple).

• Hold your baby in a fairly upright position.

• Aim the bottle to the baby's nose and let it touch above the baby's top lip, wait for the baby to root, and open wide.

• Allow your baby to take the entire bottle nipple into his/her mouth.

• Keep the bottle horizontal (tilting only as the milk gets to the end).

• One ounce should take about 7-8 minutes.

• Pause about halfway through to burp. Switch baby from one side to the

other.

You should slow or stop the feeding if you see signs that the flow is too fast and the baby is stressed:

• splaying of the hands

• widening of the eyes,

• flaring nostrils, and/ or milk spilling out of the corner of the baby's mouth. 

Signs that baby is satisfied:

• falling asleep

• turning head to the side,

• no longer sucking

• letting go of the nipple.