Let’s talk about bottle feeding your baby. Whether you are expressing breastmilk into the bottle or formula feeding, these same rules are a must know.

As easy as bottle feeding seems, there are some common mistakes new mums make unknowingly.

Common feeding mistakes to avoid

Don’t feed your baby laying down: Make sure your baby is seated uprightly and not laying down to avoid rushing the baby.
Don’t tilt your baby’s bottle while feeding. Keep the bottle horizontally. This encourages your baby to suck at the right pace for him or her.
Don’t force a baby to finish a feed. When your baby shows signs of being full, end the feed.

Newborns should be fed on demand, but crying usually isn’t the first sign an hungry baby shows. In fact, it is the last and it happens when the baby is upset after showing many hunger cues with no response.

Feeding/Hunger cues babies show when hungry

Fist in mouth
Staring out of the crib
Tugging at your shirt
Rooting (opening mouth and turning neck)
Making sucking sounds and smacking lips
Sucking on everything around.

Signs your baby is full

Don’t force a full baby to finish a feed/bottle of milk. It will only make the baby spit up. A full baby would usually show signs of fullness such as;