How to Feed Your Baby a Bottle While In the Incubator

It is possible that your baby was not able to drink from a bottle or that you were not able to breastfeed him or her for a while since the baby up until that point was not able to or didn’t know how to suck.

If your baby is drinking from the bottle in this new learning stage, don’t forget that for the baby this is an achievement of having learned how to suck, swallow and breathe. Not only this, but that it is still an important and considerable challenge to drink twenty five CC’s of milk, so we suggest you do not lose your patience.

When you have to feed your baby the bottle while inside the incubator, first place the bottle inside the incubator, and before placing the baby into a sitting position, in other words with the head slightly back so that the baby keeps his or her air passages open, place your hand on the comfort zone of your baby’s body until he or she recognizes you.

It is important that the neck and back of your baby are completely leaning on the palm of your left hand (if you are right handed). Use your index fingers and thumb to hold the baby’s head as if your hand were a headrest in a closed “u” shape.

Before feeding your baby the bottle, make sure that he or she is comfortable and relaxed and that you are too. Sometimes, it might even be practical to keep your elbow and forearm inside, over the base of the incubator.

If you are right handed, while you get used to doing these movements loosely, it is better that you use that hand to accommodate the baby’s body; later on you will see how you will be able to do it with either hand. Either way, no matter what hand you use to accommodate the baby, just remember these things:

• The index fingers and thumb should be used to control the baby’s head.
• The palm of your hand to keep the baby’s neck and back in a straight position and while the baby is in a sitting position.

You should have your baby sit in this same “sitting position” when you are going to feed him or her the bottle out of the incubator as well, and we can assure you that it will be much easier than doing it inside the incubator!

Use the nipple of the bottle to wet the baby’s lower lip a little with some milk until the baby detects it and starts to suck. If the baby does not do this, place a drop of milk on his or her lips and slightly rub his or her lips with the nipple of the bottle.

Sometimes when a baby is really small, it’s possible that after having sucked a few times, the baby will fall soundly asleep. What could be better for the baby than to smell his or her mother and drink a little bit of warm milk? And not to mention if the milk he or she is drinking is the mom’s breast milk!

If the nurses that are in charge of taking care of your baby tell you that your baby needs to be woken up, listen to them. As opposed to what generally is advised with full term babies, premature babies need to eat well and each of the meals should be a complete one. The baby is not completely asleep or blocking contact with the exterior to recover him or herself on other levels, the baby will only be half way satisfied, and in an hour he or she might cry of hunger again.

In the same way, between suction and suction and between sleeping moments and other sleeping moments, when mothers are not experts in this matter, time might go by without us even realizing it and on occasions we might even put two meal times together; however, your ability and training will depend on avoiding this from happening.

If your baby falls asleep because he or she is very agitated, allow the baby to rest for a little while. But only enough time so that he or she continues to eat afterwards.

At the end of your baby’s meal time, keep your baby in the same “sitting position”, until he or she burps up the air he or she might have swallowed; not doing so may cause the baby to vomit or choke when he or she regurgitates. You will need to follow this same step when the baby drinks the bottle outside of the incubator or when you are able to breast feed the baby as well. In the last case, it will be easier for you to burp the baby if you place the baby over your shoulder.

If the baby cannot be outside of the incubator for a long time, after this last step place the baby on his or her side, and lean the baby’s back on a rolled up towel, making sure the incubator is well closed. Don’t forget to sing to the baby or talk to him or her before saying goodbye.

In the case of my daughter, even after three months of having been out of the hospital, this was the only way she accepted to drink her bottle.