About Bottle Feeding
Bottle feeding has been around since prehistory. The first bottles had hard spouts and were an urn that had two openings—one to fill the container and the other to put in the baby’s mouth. With the invention of vulcanized rubber came a nipple which could be sterilized. This led to the invention of softer nipples which gave rise to the bottle feeding trend.
A baby bottle is specially designed for an infant or a toddler. Most bottles are made up of a bottle, a nipple, a ring to seal the nipple and bottle together, a cap to keep the nipple clean, and sometimes a disposable liner. Bottles can differ in size depending on what stage of development they are for; the smallest bottles hold approximately 150 ml whereas larger bottles can hold 270 ml. Baby bottles are available in both plastic and glass. Recent controversy over the chemical bisphenol-A (BPA), which can leech out of plastics, has caused a movement to promote BPA free bottles. Nipples can also vary in size and function. Smaller sized nipples with slow flows are made for newborns, while larger nipples often have increased flow for toddlers. Nipples can be made out of latex, silicone, or rubber and come in numerous shapes to help accommodate different mouth types.
When bottle feeding an infant, it is important to never leave them alone with a bottle. This can cause choking and ear infections, and if they are allowed to fall asleep with the bottle, tooth decay can occur. Bottles can be used with infant formula, expressed breast milk, and water. Sweetened drinks should never be given to a baby, and juice should only be allowed for those over six months of age in a cup. Because of the risk of bacterial contamination, bottles need to be cleaned and sterilized after each use. Hot soapy water and sterilizing via a microwave steam sterilizer or a pan of boiling water are recommended. During the feeding, just as with breast feeding, the baby should be burped. This should be done after approximately half of the bottle is fed, but some babies need to be burped more frequently.
Much controversy surrounds bottle feeding—those in support of bottles cite disease reduction transmission, practicality of allowing others to feed babies other than mothers, and the freedom that it gives to mothers. Conversely, breastfeeding advocates believe that bottle feeding provides inferior nutrients, can be costly (especially if purchasing infant formula), and does not deliver benefits to the mother that breastfeeding can provide.