How to Feed Breast Milk from a Bottle

Pumping when away from your baby can help maintain your milk supply.

While breast milk is best for babies, the reality is that moms are not always able to breastfeed their babies in person. Feeding a baby breast milk that a mother has expressed, either manually or with a breast pump, gives the baby the nutritional benefits of breast milk when Mom is away.

Things You'll Need

• Expressed or pumped breast milk, properly stored
• Sterilized bottle, bottle nipple and bottle collar

Instructions

1. Pump breast milk into a sterile container according to the instructions on the pump, or express milk manually with clean hands.

2. Store breast milk at room temperature for six to eight hours, in the refrigerator for five days, in the freezer compartment of a fridge for two weeks or in a deep freezer for six to 12 months. Do not re-freeze unused breast milk---it should be discarded.

3. If breast milk has been frozen, allow it to defrost in the fridge overnight before feeding, if possible.

4. Place the breast milk in a bottle that has been sterilized.

5. Warm breast milk up to body temperature by immersing the bottle in warm water. Although not medically necessary, a breastfed baby may prefer warm milk over cold.

6. Check the temperature of the milk by shaking a drop or two onto your fingertip or wrist. If it is too cold, immerse the bottle in warm water a bit longer. If it is too hot, put the bottle back in the fridge for a minute or two to cool it down.

7. Holding the baby up at a 45-degree angle, tickle the baby's bottom lip with the bottle nipple until the baby opens her mouth. Place the bottle in the baby's mouth so that the bottle nipple is completely filled with milk .

8. Allow the baby to drink from the bottle until he has finished all the milk, or until the baby turns his head away from the bottle, indicating that he is full.

Tips & Warnings

• It is normal for breast milk to be bluish or watery in appearance compared to formula or cow's milk, and for the fat to separate and float to the top.

• Do not heat breast milk in the microwave as this can destroy the health-improving antibodies found in the milk. Microwaving the milk also increases the risk of hot spots in the bottle that can burn the baby.

References

• Baby Center: Bottle Feeding Basics
• Baby Center: Pumping Your Breastmilk: An Overview

Resources

• BabyCenter: Introducing Your Breastfed Baby To The Bottle or Cup