7 Bottle Feeding Tips to Help Babies Feel Loved

Breast is best, but what if you’re bottle feeding a baby? Even babies who are breastfed often take bottles from a spouse, a relative, or a caregiver. When bottle feeding, there are several ways to emulate breastfeeding that benefit the infant—in both body and mind.

These days, many parents and caregivers hold the infant in a sitting position while bottle feeding. Sometimes, one hand cups the back of the baby’s neck while the other administers the bottle. Sometimes, the infant is held on a lap facing outward. Oftentimes these methods are recommended due to regurgitation, but if not, there are some better ways to hold the baby while giving a bottle.

Looking back, I wish I had breastfed all three of my children, but I bottle fed the first two and breastfed the third. Other than the nutritional benefits of breastfeeding, I believe all of my babies felt equally secure and loved because of the way my spouse and I learned to bottle feed in a 1980s childbirth-education class. These tips are still valid today.

Here are seven bottle-feeding techniques that can help babies feel loved and secure:

1. Assume a cradling position. Newborn vision is best at about eight to ten inches, so cradling the baby as if they are being breastfed gives them practice in focusing on the adult’s face and also helps encourage human interaction.
2. Make eye contact. Infants who breastfeed often observe the mother’s face. This is a great opportunity to help the baby feel comfortable with eye contact and intimacy.
3. Talk to the baby. Or sing. This is the time to let the baby know that it’s all about them for the next 40 minutes or so.
4. Switch sides. If you decide to feed your baby a bottle in a way that simulates breast feeding, make sure to switch sides halfway through the feeding. This will ensure that both eyes are exercised equally.
5. Hold the bottle. Propping the bottle can cause choking, and besides, who likes to eat alone?
6. Burb gently. Burping is especially important when bottle feeding. Halfway through the bottle, it’s time to burb the baby. Put a cloth on your shoulder and lay the baby upright on your chest. Lean your cheek close to the baby’s head and talk soothingly. Rubbing the baby’s back with upward strokes, rather than vigorous patting, may take a minute more, but it’s easier on the baby.
7. Anyone can do it. What if the baby is in daycare or has a caregiver? It’s very important that anyone giving the bottle helps the baby feel secure and loved.

(Note: For gender neutrality, the pronouns they/them were used in this post.)

Did you bottle feed your baby? What are some ways you helped them feel loved?