The World Health Organization does not recommend the use of nipples and pacifiers for newborn babies on natural feeding, that is, in children of the first month. At this age, enough milk and mother's milk. But from the month of the child you can drink water or special children's teas, for example tea with chamomile or fennel. It is at this time often a question arises how to teach a child to a bottle. After all, he was already used to sucking my mother's breast. But the children, who from birth on artificial feeding, as a rule, do not have problems with bottles.
The child in breast milk in most cases up to 3-4 months is enough of mother's milk and he just does not want to receive any more food or drink. In this case, you do not need to specially teach the baby to a bottle, you only need to offer it to him every day. When a child still has a thirst, he probably will not give up the bottle. But if you still need to give something other than mother's milk, for example a medicine, or for some reason you need to switch to artificial feeding, you'll have to find out why the child refuses the bottle, and, accordingly, take action. This will be discussed further.
Why does the child abandon the bottle?
- Often a child may not like the taste or temperature of what is given from the bottle. This applies, above all, to water, tea and medicine. But even children's milk mixtures are different in taste: some are sweeter than others. Try different options. As for the temperature, it is better to heat the liquid in the bottle to 36-37 degrees (to the temperature of the mother's milk), it is this temperature that is familiar to the child.
- The child does not drink from the bottle, because it does not like the shape of the nipples, too fast or slow flow from it. Now there is a huge number of different nipples for bottles: silicone and latex, ordinary round, flat and orthodonically shaped, they vary in size and flow rate. Pick up until you find a suitable nipple for your child.
- An unsuitable time in which the baby is offered a bottle. If the baby is full, then do not offer him a drink from the bottle, most likely he will refuse. The age of the child also matters. By four to five months, children begin to actively move, the need for liquid increases. It is likely that a child who did not take a bottle in two months, at four already will drink from it.
- Even the position in which the child is fed, sometimes matters. There is no specific technique for bottle feeding. But one child should be given it the same way as the mother's breast, lying down, the other - better sitting on his hands. After experimenting a little, you will understand how to properly give a bottle to your child.
It happens that the baby ate well or drank from a bottle, and then stopped taking it. Perhaps you changed the pacifier or the bottle itself, or maybe something scared him during feeding, for example, a sharp loud sound. It is better to use the usual nipples. If the external factors are to blame for the refusal of the bottle, then the mother just needs to be patient and find a quiet quiet place where nothing will interfere with feeding.
When the child begins to keep the bottle, he can be distracted from feeding and play with it. Watch the child and do not let him do it, after all, the bottle is not a toy.
If you do not need to constantly feed a child from a bottle, but you need, for example, only to give him a medicine several times, then you do not need to accustom the baby to her, you can use a spoon or a disposable syringe without needles (they are often used in hospitals).
There are situations when the mother can no longer feed the child. Then you just need to feed the baby from the bottle. The most extreme case is not giving the child anything other than it. In the end, he will have to agree, but before that, you are likely waiting for more than one hour of loud crying. It is better not to injure the child's psyche in this way, but to try to feed the baby from a spoon or syringe.
It should also be noted that some pediatricians and children's dentists consider the use of bottles harmful to children's teeth and bite. Therefore, without special need, it is still not necessary to accustom a child to them. Instead, you can offer him a spoon, drinker or mug, depending on the age.