You can cup feed a baby !
Baby’s are so clever !
Why would you Cup Feed a newborn baby ?
Your baby needs to have additional colostrum/ breastmilk/formula
You are seperated from your baby
A brief period of time where your nipples need to heal
Advantages off cup feeding vs bottle/teat
It is an active feeding process of using tongue to come forward and control the flow, taking only what they need for appetite and stomach capacity
Depending on the type of teat used baby will often place the teat only in the anterior of their oral cavity, resulting in doing the same to the nipple when breastfeeding and causing pain.
What can you cup feed with ?
small open cups with soft/smooth rim that can be easily cleaned - this can be a medicine cup, shot glass, special cup designed for cup feeding , small lid/cap from feeding bottle
How to
Baby needs to be awake and calm and upright
Sometimes it can help to lightly wrap their hands
cloth /bib to catch dribbles
half fill the cup with breastmilk
hold the cup so it rests gently on the lower lip
have just enough milk on the edge so the baby can lap up the milk by bringing the tongue forward
Don’t pour the milk in to baby’s mouth
Keep the cup in this position
Pause when they pause
It can take a few goes for everyone to feel like they are getting the hang of it