The bottle is a familiar and important tool used by babies to receive milk from their parents. Whether you are breastfeeding or using formula, it is important to properly prepare your baby for the transition from breast to bottle and understand some of the factors that affect a baby’s success with a bottle.
The earliest recorded examples of baby bottles are terracotta feeders that were used by ancient Greeks to feed wine and honey to infants. Other examples appear in medieval European woodcuts where babies are shown feeding from a nipple made of leather or dried cow’s teats. Bottle feeding has been an integral part of human life for as long as we have been recognized as humans and is not in any way unnatural.
For newborns, it can be hard to get them comfortable with a bottle, and for older babies who are already bottle-fed, some struggle to adapt to the new shape of the bottle or find the process stressful. In addition, the process of switching to a bottle can be difficult for a breastfeeding mom who returns to work, especially if she feels that her nursing-only child is ready to begin trying a bottle.
To help ensure a positive experience, it is best to introduce the bottle early and work slowly. If possible, try leaving your child with another caregiver or friend a few times a week (for lunch or to go shopping) so they can trial a few bottles before you return to work and they will have an opportunity to practice and get familiar with the process without you being around. This will also allow you to focus on directly feeding your baby so that you can make sure he is getting enough milk.
If you do decide to use a bottle, choose one with a wide neck and as few parts as possible for proper cleaning. “The most universal tip I give parents is to stick with a single bottle design as much as possible, as the more parts there are, the harder it is to clean,” says O’Day. “Look for a bottle with a nipple and collar that can be taken apart and then sanitized.”
Other important considerations include the volume of milk you need to store each day and a target amount per feeding. To determine the daily volume needed, divide the average number of ounces your baby consumes in a 24-hour period by the number of times per day that you typically feed him. Then store a few small volumes to cover this expected range – see the storing volume of milk page for more information.
Ghost seams – Lightly imprinted and meandering mold seams on the body, neck, and sometimes the base of a bottle that result from the distortion caused by expansion of the parison in the second blow molding process. See the Bottle Dating page for more detail on this and other bottle features that are conclusive evidence of machine production.
