Bottlefeeding in hospital

Breast or bottle – it’s important to decide how you plan to feed your baby, and communicate it to the hospital in advance. Here are some of the things you need to think about when deciding on your baby’s first feeds.

If you are thinking about bottlefeeding your newborn remember to ask the hospital whether or not they provide milk and, if so, which kind. Even if you’re planning on breastfeeding but want to keep your options open, packing a few extras in your hospital bag now will allow you to be more prepared when the big day comes.

How much you should bottlefeed

Every baby is different and their appetites vary massively – it can be normal for them to take more or less feeds than what’s recommended in the table, and rarely will they wake exactly three hours after the previous feed is finished.

The table below provides a guide to how often you should feed your baby, relative to their age.

If your baby is premature or of a low birth weight, their feeding requirements will be different. Your doctor will be able to advise you if you are at all unsure.

How to time feeds

If you’re trying to gauge how long your baby is feeding for, and how long they are going between feeds, time feeds from the moment they start until the beginning of the next feed. With winding and changing, every feed may last about an hour.

If you begin feeding your baby at 11am, then you would probably expect them to be hungry again at about 2pm. If you have any questions about your baby’s feeding habits, you can call our Careline team on 009647723342222 (Other Countries) between the hours of 9am and 6pm Saturday to Thursday.