It takes a lot of time for babies to get adapted to life outside the mother's womb. Mother’s breasts give massive comfort to babies in their initial days. Breastfeeding is a source of nutrition for babies as it enhances growth and helps soothe your child. It is an excellent way of feeding your baby, but at some point, babies will still need to learn to bottle feed.

 Bottle-feeding a breastfed baby can be challenging since no bottle nipple looks and feels like a mother's breast. Learning how to train your baby how to bottle feed is an essential child developmental phase; your baby should eventually learn to accept milk from something other than the breast.

Ways to train your baby how to bottle feed

The transitions from breastfeeding to bottle feeding require some training as follows:

• Start  early

Breast milk is the best and most recommended meal for infants. However, with age advancement, parents should incorporate bottle or cup feeding for easy transition. One can press the milk to allow the child to feed from an early age.

• Help them relax

Always use the bottle when the child is relaxed and comfortable. During their restless sessions, mothers can calm the child with breastmilk. However, for kids past the breastmilk stage, parents must encourage them to feed from a cup or bottle.

• Look for the proper chance.

When the baby is too hungry, presenting the bottle will do the trick. It’s the right moment where the child won’t throw a fit.

• Feed on cue

It is essential not to starve your baby before offering a bottle. They tend to be more demanding and challenging when they want to eat. Be aware of your baby's hunger cue, and be ready with a milk bottle when the baby is hungry. Try squeezing a little milk into the baby's mouth to stimulate the baby's appetite and excite the baby about the milk bottle.

• Use a brown nipple.

A brown nipple matches the color of a normal nipple, creating a sense of familiarity for the baby. This looks more realistic to babies who are afraid of unfamiliar items.

• Use different positions

With bottle feeding, you should be more flexible regarding your feeding position. Changing how you hold the baby might encourage your baby to eat. Try strolling around when feeding your baby.

• Customize your milk

Babies have different preferences for milk temperature; some prefer warm, cold, and room-temperature milk. Try giving your baby a chance to choose their preferred type. For a teething baby, put the nipple in the fridge before the feeding.

• Use the correct pacifier.

A baby on breastmilk might need something extra to calm down after a bottle feeding. Pacifiers are specially designed like nipples to trick the baby and help keep the baby happy after bottle feeding.

• Give someone other than mom to offer the bottle.

Naturally, the baby recognizes people through their smell. If your baby smells your scent, they tend to breastfeed rather than bottle-fed. This makes the child refuse to take a bottle feed, fussing to get their favorite breast milk. To introduce the bottle, have someone else feed the baby and keep a distance while they eat. It helps make feeding easy and diversified, thus creating bonds with other people and better social skills.

• Regular bottle feed within the day.

After breastfeeding in a day, give your baby a small amount of formula or breast milk in a bottle. This helps your baby to get used to bottle feeding gradually. Offer the bottle when they aren't hungry and feel relaxed rather than when they are hungry. However, based on your child's appetite, one can offer the bottle when hungry and willing to take milk.

• Use a breastfeeding-friendly bottle.

It’s easy to train your baby how to bottle feed using baby friendly bottles. The type of bottle and nipple you choose can play an essential role in the baby's acceptance. If you want to imitate the breastfeeding experience as much as possible, use a specifically designed bottle to simulate breastfeeding for babies who exchange from breast to bottle and vice versa.

• Check the flow

It takes time for babies to consume the milk. If the flow of your bottle is not on par with the baby's sucking capacity, this might suffocate the baby, making the baby refuse to use the bottle. Therefore, ensure that the flow of the bottle is not too strong for the baby to deal with.

Conclusion

Moving from breast to bottled milk will not happen overnight. You need to let the baby adopt the nipple at its own pace. All babies are different, but they share a great bond with their mothers. But it is difficult for babies to part from the comfort of the mother's breast to bottle feed. It only takes a matter of time for babies to adapt to bottle feeds.