Successful Bottle Feeding Baby Tip for Dad: Pretend To Be Mom

It's true and it apparently worked for this dad who put on mom's bath robe and nursing pillow before offering the bottle to baby. Baby was sufficiently deceived by this deviousness to take it. Or maybe felt pity for poor dad resorting to such measures :)

Since being rudely shoved into the world of bottle feeding a week ago, I've devoured any information I could find on how to bottle feed successfully and in a way that supports Meili going back to my boob. 

Lots of interesting stuff out there. Some helpful, some just really funny too. 

I didn't think baby could smell mama from 50 feet away thus refuse the bottle knowing the real stuff, the good stuff, is nearby. Is this factoid for real?

What's been working for us is to offer baby her bottle while she is showing early signs of hunger (rooting, lip smacking, tongue sticking out), before she gets too hungry. 

We get into position with Feeder in comfy recliner and Feedee semi-reclining in Feeder's arm. We touch the nipple to her upper lip. She usually opens wide and takes it easily. Then we let her draw the nipple all the way in to the back of her throat and settle in for the feed with good strong sucks. 

Sometimes she'll squirm and fuss while feeding but we try to keep the nipple in her mouth. The squirming usually results in a loud and fragrant fart after which she immediately settles down to feed some more. If the fussing continues, we try burping her and that also helps. Actually she seems to need a burp break after every ounce. 

If she dozes off we tickle her cheek and she'll wake up half the time to resume her feed. We try to do paced feeding, so her feed takes about twenty minutes like it would at the breast. 

Every ounce we get into her is a worthy cause for celebration haha. Never even thought of any of this when I was direct latching her because she'd self-service. Bottle feeding has given me a deep appreciation for what so many mommies (and daddies) go through every day.