There are so many reasons why you choose to start bottle feeding, either for a supplement to your breastmilk or because your baby feeds only on Formula.
Our mission at Organicbabyfood.shop is to import what we believe to be the absolute best Organic Baby Formula available from Europe to the US. But hopefully, by now, we have proven to you that you and your baby's well being is our main priority.
As parents to two beautiful little girls, both under two, we had to go through a lot of learning, and still learn every day. We love being able to share with our fellow parents, friends, and customers not only the best Organic Formulas, but also a bit of what we have learned, and hopefully help you avoid some of the “hiccups” we encountered.
One of the many struggles we overcame when becoming new parents was switching from breastfeeding to bottle feeding. As many of you know, we had to make the decision of supplementing our first born with formula due to a low breastmilk supply. Once we found the perfect formula for Eleanora, which in our case was Lebenswert Stage 1, we needed to figure out this entire “bottle feeding thing” which we really wanted to avoid until we found Lebenswert. Here is what we learned:
- Find the right formula: Read, investigate and research, we can not stress this enough! Make sure you are well aware of all the ingredients the formula you are about to choose includes. There are so many different variations, and even if something (especially in the US) is called Organic, it still may contain many ingredients that are an absolute no-go in Europe and can be harmful to your baby. We have a lot of information about this on our blog, we are happy to answer any questions you might have before choosing your formula, just reach out to us anytime.
- Choose the right stage: Once you decided on a formula, make sure to choose the right stage for your baby. You can find more information here. Not all stages are the same and your baby needs different amounts of nutrients depending on how old she/ he is.
- Find the right bottle: This is a personal choice, but for us, it made no sense to feed our baby the best formula available if we would feed it in a bottle that contains plastic or other harmful components. Once the decision to use an organic bottle was made, we had a look at all the different bottles out there, and there are plenty to choose from, from Anti Colic bottles (which we feel are not needed if you choose the right formula from the start) to self sterilizing bottles and the list goes on. Our personal choice was to go with a breastfeeding mimic bottle, and it worked great. Be prepared though to try a few different bottles until you find the ideal one for your baby.
- Stay positive: Your baby might not warm up to bottle feeding straight away. It's a different texture, smell and taste than your breast milk… Rather than “forcing” your baby to drink out of the bottle, give it some time to adapt. Make sure your baby feels relaxed and give it another try, it will warm up to the idea eventually.
- Prepare the bottle right: Make sure you prepare the bottle according to the instructions of your formula and also check the temperature before serving it. The best way to do so is on the inside of your wrist. If the temperature feels pleasant to you, it is good to go.
- Position: To avoid your baby swallowing air, make sure to always tilt the bottle so that the teat is full of the formula before putting it in your baby's mouth. Babies will prefer to stay close to your breast (either from mommy or daddy) so make sure its close to your chest and that your baby burps after feeding.
There a probably one million more tips we could share, but for us, these were the essentials.
What was your experience? We would love to learn from you too.