Mums and Babies

Advantages and disadvantages of Bottle Feeding

While the breastfeeding is most favorable and desirable way to feed baby, there are some circumstances, which require bottle feeding. They are medical evidences and social necessity. The absolute medical evidences for bottle feeding are:

• AIDS
• Anticancer drugs therapy
• Contact with radioactive materials

In all other cases breastfeeding is possible, but it needs some precautions, if there are some health problems. Some time ago hepatitis B and C was considered like an absolute contra indication for breastfeeding, but the latest researches has shown that breastfeeding do not increase the risk of infection.

The lack of milk, or the idea, that woman can not breast feed the baby is not the reason for start immediate bottle feeding. By statistic only 3 percent of all women cannot have lactation because of medical problems.

The social necessity for bottle feeding could be

• Adoption: There are data, however, that the breastfeeding is possible, even for foster mother, so may be it make sense to think of mixed feeding (partly bottle feeding and partly breastfeeding if possible)
• Lonely male parent (in this case there are no any other option)
• The need to work long hours for mother. This situation allows feed the baby with breast milk, using breast pump and the bottle.

Following are some of the basic guidelines for bottle feeding

• Take baby on arms, he must see your eyes and feel your touch
• For milk preparation use only sterilized bottles
• Follow thoroughly instruction on the milk package. Do not try to reduce or increase the percentage of any components.
• Before giving the bottle to your baby, shake the bottle and check the milk temperature by dropping some quantity on your wrist. It mast be warm, but not hot.
• Offer some water between feedings. While the baby is on breastfeeding, usually he has no need in water, as the structure of breast milk changes and conforms to the baby’s needs. But powdered baby milk cannot do this, as well as you.

The advantages of bottle feeding are

• Mother can get some rest while somebody else feeds the baby
• If somebody is the father it can help him to build more close contact with the baby

There are some disadvantages for bottle feeding as well:

• If you use the bottle, because you feed baby with powdered milk it can be quite expensive. You should buy at least two bottles, four nipples, and the powdered milk itself, that is not cheap at all. The nipples have to be changed every one or two months, plus you would perhaps buy a sterilizer.
• You can get a lot of supplemental work with bottle feeding. The bottles need to be sterilized after every usage. For this purpose you can use a special sterilizer, a pan with boiling water or dish wash machine, if there is a function of sterilization. If you haven’t got the possibility o0f sterilize by some of these ways, you can wash bottles in hot water with cooking soda.
• Some times, when your baby sobs and yells of hanger it can be quite hard to prepare calmly the bottle.
• If you are going out or traveling with your baby you can get such problem as where and how to prepare the meal.
• If you have got the mixed feeding, the usage of bottle can lead to total failure of breastfeeding.

It is up to parents to decide how to feed their baby, but if you have got to use bottle, you should however try to get the best possible nutrition. The ideal one should stay the strained breast milk, but if there is no such possibility, then consult your baby doctor to choose the best feeding scheme.