FAQ’s

If you’re giving your baby expressed or formula milk, you’ll need to buy some bottles.

• Standard – widely available, and the least expensive option
• Wide-necked – easier to clean, but take up more space
• Anti-colic – reduce the amount of air your baby takes in while they’re drinking
• Shaped – some bottles come with holes in the middle or special handles to make them easier for your baby to hold
• Heat-sensitive – change colour if the milk is too hot
• Self-sterilising – you just need a microwave to sterilise these bottles
• Disposable – sterilised bags that fit inside bottles and are thrown away after feeds
• Glass – more environmentally friendly than plastic bottles, but more breakable You can choose between silicone and latex teats for most of these bottle types.
• Silicone is more durable.
• Latex is softer and more flexible, but needs to be replaced more often.

The teats come in a bell shape, or a bulbous shape that’s designed to feel more like a nipple.

You might want to try both shapes when your baby first starts bottle feeding to see which one they prefer.

The teats often come with different flow rates. To find out which flow rate is best for your baby takes a bit of trial and error. If they’re spluttering or choking with their current bottle, they need a slower flow. But if they’re sucking quite hard and seem to be getting frustrated while they’re feeding, you might want to try a faster flow.

You can also get variflow teats – some of these can be manually adjusted, while others automatically increase in flow as your baby’s sucking gets stronger.

• Talk to your baby about anything and everything
• Spend time together face-to-face
• See if your baby can copy you when you stick out your tongue or blink your eyes
• Respond to your baby when they make noises – try saying things like “wow, you can make loud noises!”
• Sing songs and rhymes with your baby – try songs with actions and lots of repetition, like “round and round the garden”

• Newborn babies can see large shapes and faces when they are near them
• At about 1 month, they may be able to briefly hold your gaze
• Between 4 and 6 months babies start seeing in 3D and can focus on people further away
• By 12 months most babies can see clearly

While you can’t always tell exactly how much your baby is drinking, there are positive signs that they’re feeding well, including:

• Feeds begin with a few rapid sucks followed by long, rhythmic sucks and swallows with occasional pauses
• Your baby’s cheeks stay rounded, not hollow, during sucking and you can hear and see them swallowing
• Your baby seems calm and relaxed during feeds, comes off the breast by themselves when they’ve had enough, and appears content and satisfied after most feeds
• After feeds your breasts feel softer and your nipples should look the same (not flattened, pinched or white)
• You may feel sleepy and relaxed after feeds In the first 48 hours, your baby is likely to have only 2 or 3 wet nappies. Wet nappies should then become more frequent, with at least 6 every 24 hours from the fifth day onwards. If your baby is feeding well, they should start gaining weight steadily after the first 2 weeks (it’s normal for babies to lose some of their birth weight in the first 2 weeks).

Newborns love it when you tickle their face or count their fingers and toes. Most babies love playing peek-a-boo over and over again. When they are really little, they love just wriggling around on the floor – it’s like baby exercise for them and great for their muscle development. Other great ways to play and interact with your baby include:

• Singing to your baby: they love the sound of your voice (no matter how off-key!), so sing a song, nursery rhyme or just freestyle and make your own songs up.
• Talking to your baby: describe the things around you, recite a nursery rhyme or read a book. It doesn’t really matter what you talk about – it all helps with their communication skills.
• Clapping: take turns clapping your hands and their hands together. Clapping is actually a pretty big milestone once they can do it themselves. It requires a fair amount of muscle control, fine motor skills and hand-eye co-ordination!
• Dancing: put some music on and dance with your baby in your arms. Most babies love the gentle rocking motion and being so close to you. This is great for bonding with your baby and their emotional development.
• Play with toys: encourage your baby to reach for, push and pull their toys. This is a simple way to stimulate your baby and improve their co-ordination.

From birth, all breastfed babies should be given a daily supplement of vitamin D (8.5 to 10mcg). But if your baby is having more than 500ml (about a pint) of first infant formula a day, they do not need a supplement because formula is already fortified with vitamin D. Once your baby is six months old, and up until they are five years, daily vitamin A, C and D supplements are recommended (unless they’re having 500ml or more of first infant formula each day).

When you buy your baby vitamin supplements, make sure you read the label to check they are age appropriate.