Feeding times should be relaxing, comforting, and enjoyable for both you and your baby. They provide opportunities to show your love and to get to know each other. If you are calm and content, your infant will respond in kind. If you are nervous or uninterested, he may pick up these negative feelings and a feeding problem can result.
You probably will be most comfortable in a chair with arms or in one with pillows that let you prop up your own arms as you feed your infant. Cradle him in a semi-upright position and support his head. Don’t feed him when he’s lying down totally flat, because this will increase the risk of choking; it also may cause formula to flow into the middle ear, where it can lead to an infection.
Hold the bottle so that formula fills the neck of the bottle and covers the nipple. This will prevent your baby from swallowing air as he sucks. To get him to open his mouth and grasp the nipple, stimulate his rooting reflex by stroking the nipple against the lower lip or cheek. Once the nipple is in his mouth, he will begin to suck and swallow naturally.
