Baby bottle

Many healthcare professionals think that breastfeeding is preferable to bottle feeding for most babies. Breast-feeding may not be possible or preferable for all mothers. For these mothers the alternative requires bottle feeding their baby-stored breast milk or formula. A baby nursing bottle is a means for supplying the nutrition which is needed for a growing baby instead of the mother’s milk. It is a common practice for caretakers of infants to feed the infant a milk-like formula, which is poured into a bottle having a pliable nipple type closure from which the infant sucks the formula. The formula is a substitute for mother’s breast milk and as such should be warmed before feeding to the infant.

Baby bottles have been in use in the liquid feeding of infant children for many years. Baby nursing bottles typically are elongate tubes with a threaded open end and graduations marked on the side wall of the bottle. A resilient nipple having exit holes in a distal end is received on the open end. An annular cap with a threaded skirt couples the nipple to the bottle. Other containers suited for drinking materials include a ported spout that selectively opens. One such spout is pulled to move the spout relative to a longitudinal axis of the bottle and thereby open and close the bottle. Over the years, baby bottles have been provided in many shapes, forms and configurations. Baby feeding bottles are typically designed with a parent or guardian in mind. For example, baby bottles have been designed to be disposable or to include markings on the side for easy measuring of a fluids for making milk from a combination of powders and liquids–both of those features tend to be more important to a parent or guardian of a baby, than the baby herself. Disposable baby bottles are marketed wherein the user prepares the beverage at home, then fills the bottle and dispenses it shortly after. The nipples can typically be coupled to a container storing a fluid, such as milk, formula, juice or water. These nipples are typically somewhat elastic and include a hole to allow passage of the fluid from the container to a baby.

Nursing bottles typically comprise a resilient nipple mounted onto a cap or neck ring which is adapted in turn for mounting onto a bottle containing a selected beverage or food product in liquid form for an infant. A resilient nipple comprises a soft and collapsible mouthpiece which is manipulated by the infant with an alternating collapsing and expansion motion in combination with a sucking action to draw the liquid contents of the bottle through a nipple port. Natural breasts generally adjust to a baby’s sucking power so that its nutritional needs are met as it grows. When newborn, an infant’s sucking force is relatively weak and its appetite is relatively small, so the female breast supplies a relatively low flow rate. As the infant grows into a toddler, its sucking force increases along with its appetite. Female breasts are able to adjust to this increased demand by providing a higher flow rate in response to the increased sucking force and appetite. Unlike breast-fed babies, bottle-fed babies often experience feeding related problems associated with conventional nipple products that exhibit substantially fixed milk flow rates. Nipples for newborn babies have relative small holes that support relatively low flow rates, while nipples for toddlers typically include relatively large holes or slits to facilitate greater flow rates. Another common problem generally associated with nursing baby bottles is the presence of air in the bottle and which air can be the cause of gas, coughing, or other gastric intestinal disturbances.

Many baby bottle holders have been designed to help relieve a parent or caretaker from having to maintain a baby bottle in an inclined position for a prolonged period during an infant’s feeding. These holders can be used in a situation where the parent or caretaker has to temporarily attend to other demands while still meeting the needs of a feeding infant. A baby bottle holder is used to support the bottle at an angle that permits the milk to flow to the nipple-end of the bottle under the force of gravity. Additionally, the angle of the bottle relative to a feeding infant should be adjustable to ensure that the nipple attached to the bottle is presented at the optimum angle to facilitate feeding. A baby bottle holder must be stably attached to a support surface in order to prevent an infant from inadvertently pushing the bottle holder out of reach, or causing the bottle holder to fall onto the infant’s body.

The importance of proper hygiene when handling and cleaning eating utensils such as baby bottles cannot be overstated. Since the nursing bottle is used for a baby who has a low immunity, the nursing bottle should be sanitarily used and the nursing bottle should be often washed or sterilized. Brushes that are equipped with built-in reservoirs for storing detergent are well represented in the literature. Such brushes are constructed so that detergent is squeezed or gravity fed directly into the bristles of the brush when the handle of the brush is compressed. Ideally, baby feeding bottles should be thoroughly scrubbed with detergent, then sterilized by immersion in boiling water between uses. Proper scrubbing is especially important after a bottle has been used to dispense fatty liquids, or liquids having suspended solids therein, such as cereal.

Related information

May 24, 2008 | Filed Under Baby feeding