How is it performed? of Bottle feeding

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You can express breast milk into a bottle, either by hand or using a manual or electric breast pump. This allows you to continue to give your baby all the health benefits of breast milk, whilst being able to share the feeding with your partner or other carer, perhaps if you are returning to work or going out for the evening.

You must sterilise the bottles, teats and pump in the same way as if using formula milk. Expressed breast milk may be stored in the coolest part of the fridge for up to 24 hours, or frozen (in a sterile container) for up to three months.

If you are using formula milk, make sure you read the instructions printed on the packaging. The ratio of powder to water has been calculated in order to give your baby the right amount of food to water, and prevent your baby becoming constipated or dehydrated.

To make up formula feeds:

Clean the kitchen surface, and wash your hands.
Fill the bottle to the correct level of cooled, boiled water.
Using the scoop provided, take the powder from the tin. Every time you take a scoop, level it off with a clean knife. Don't push the powder down into the scoop.
Tip the powder into the bottle.
Put the teat, ring and cap on the bottle and shake it thoroughly until all the powder is dissolved.

Itâ€™s a good idea to make up a whole day's feeds in one go, immediately after sterilising the feeding equipment. Made-up milk can be kept in the coolest part of the fridge for 24 hours. To warm the milk, stand the bottle in a jug of hot water. (Keep the hot water well away from your baby.) Test a drop of the milk on your wrist or hand â€“ it should be just warm, not hot.

Sterilising

All the equipment that you use to feed your baby must be washed and sterilised after each use. This reduces the chance of your baby getting sickness and diarrhoea.

Sterilising bottle-feeding equipment is essential for at least six months, and preferably throughout your child's first year. An infant's immune system becomes more resistant to germs after the age of 12 months.

Clean the bottle and teat in hot clean soapy water as soon as possible after a feed, using a clean bottle brush that reaches to the bottom of the bottle to remove all traces of milk. Rinse thoroughly before sterilising it.

Cold water sterilising

Put the equipment into a container with cold water and a sterilising tablet for a prescribed length of time (usually at least 30 minutes).
Check that there are no air bubbles trapped in the bottles or teats, and that they are totally submerged in the solution by using a floating cover or plate.
Wash your hands before removing the equipment from the container,
Make sure that you change the sterilising solution every 24 hours.
Fill the bottles with milk and refrigerate as soon as possible after removing them from the solution.

Cold water sterilising is a very effective method against bacteria, and also proves a good standby method for those occasions when you do not have a microwave or steam steriliser available.

Microwave/Steam sterilising

Pour the correct amount of water into the steriliser. Place the bottles and teats in the steriliser, put the lid on, and switch on the microwave/steam steriliser for the recommended time.

Ensure that you only put in equipment that is safe to boil. Bottles, teats and so on must be placed upside down to make sure they are fully sterilised.

Be careful of steam when removing the lid. Microwave sterilisers can keep feeding equipment sterile for up to 3 hours if the lid is kept on, and can be useful when staying away from home if a microwave is available.

Boiling

You can also sterilise equipment by boiling it in water for at least 10 minutes. Again, this is a useful standby method, although teats tend to rot faster and you must ensure that whatever you sterilise in this way is safe to boil.