Bottle Feeding Your Baby: Clean Supplies, Getting Started and Safe Habits

You can feed your baby breast milk or infant formula from a bottle. Keep all the supplies clean, and expect it to take your baby some time to learn.

Keep the supplies clean

Clean supplies keep germs out of your baby's milk or formula. That means the bottles, nipples, rings and caps, and any valves or membranes that are part of the bottle. CDC has guidance on how to clean them.

Getting started

• Pick a calm moment. Introduce the bottle when your baby is calm and not too hungry or too full.
• Start small. Offer small amounts of breast milk or formula, and more if your baby shows signs of hunger. It may take a while to learn how much your baby usually drinks.
• Let someone else try. A breastfed baby may take a bottle more readily from someone other than you.

How to feed

• Hold your baby close during feeds.
• Tilt the bottle at an angle rather than holding it straight up and down, so milk comes out only when your baby sucks.
• Let your baby take breaks whenever they seem to want them.
• Watch for signs that your baby is full, and stop — even if the bottle is not empty. Pushing them to finish can lead to eating more than they need.

What to avoid

• Anything but milk or formula in the bottle. Infant cereal or other solid food in a bottle will not make a baby sleep longer, and it can raise the risk of choking.
• Propping the bottle or leaving it in your baby's mouth. This raises the risk of choking, ear infections and tooth decay, and your baby may drink more than they need.
• Putting your baby to bed with a bottle. Milk can pool around the teeth and cause tooth decay.

Sources

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "About Feeding From a Bottle." https://www.cdc.gov/infant-toddler-nutrition/bottle-feeding/index.html
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