Responsive Feeding: Baby-friendly Feeding Tips
Transcript
Heading: Responsive Feeding: Baby-friendly Feeding Tips
Super: I'm Hungry
Narrator: Responsive feeding: Baby-friendly feeding tips.
When should babies be fed? Pay attention to your babies' facial expressions and reactions to determine if they are hungry. Once you notice your babies' hunger cues, feed them right away. Forget about strict schedules. They will tell you when it' s feeding time. Feed them quickly to avoid agitation. This is called "Responsive Feeding".
Super: "Responsive Feeding"
Narrator: It means feeding your babies according to their needs and following their feeding pace to let them decide how much food to eat.
Super: Let Babies Take the Lead in Feeding
Narrator: Responsive feeding fosters mutual loving and trusting parent-baby relationships. It also helps to build babies' sense of security
Super: Builds Babies' Sense of Security
Narrator: and promotes healthy brain development.
Super: Healthy Brain Development
Subheading: Babies' Hunger Cues
Super: I'm Hungry!
Narrator: The best way to feed babies responsively is to understand their feeding cues.
Super: Early Hunger Cues
Super: I' m Hungry!
Narrator: When babies start feeling hungry, they show early hunger cues, such as stirring after waking,
Super: Stirring
Narrator: smacking their lips,
Super: Smacking Lips
Narrator: turning their head from side to side and opening their mouth.
Super: Turning Head and Opening Mouth
Narrator: If not fed, they will progress to showing mid-hunger cues,
Super: Mid-Hunger Cues
Super: I' m REALLY Hungry!
Narrator: such as sucking their hands
Super: Sucking Hands
Narrator: or moving their arms and legs
Super: Moving Limbs
Narrator: to show you how hungry they are.
Super: Late Hunger Cues
Super: I'm STARVING!
Narrator: Babies who haven' t been fed yet will become agitated and start crying.
Super: Agitated and Crying
Narrator: If you notice late hunger cues like this, soothe your babies before feeding.
Super: Calm Babies before Feeding
Narrator: Babies are easier to feed when calm. The best time to feed them is during early hunger cues.
Super: Early Cues - Best Feeding Time!
Narrator: Feeding isn' t just about nutrition, it' s also a precious opportunity to bond with your babies.
Super: Feedings are Precious Bonding Moments
Narrator: Feeding helps you understand each other. When feeding, your babies will feel safest when held close. Talk gently while looking into their eyes. Intimate interactions help stabilise emotions.
Super: Intimate Interactions
Narrator: Always feed your babies by yourself if possible.
Super: Feed Babies by Yourself
Narrator: If you need others to feed your babies, ensure they follow the same feeding practices.
Super: Consistent Feeding Practices
Subheading: How to Bottle Feed Babies?
Super: I Want Milk!
Narrator: How to bottle feed babies? Wash your hands before feeding.
Super: Wash Hands before Feeding
Narrator: Sit on a chair with a firm back and tuck a cushion under your elbow.
Super: Sit on a Firm-backed Chair
Narrator: Hold your babies close in a semi-upright position. Make them feel comfortable by supporting their head and neck with your elbow.
Super: Support Babies with your Elbow
Narrator: Cradling your babies in a semi-upright or semi-reclined position, ensures they can breathe and swallow smoothly and comfortably. This also allows you to see your babies' facial expressions and reactions better, making it easier to understand and follow their feeding pace and rhythm.
Super: Semi-upright or Semi-reclined Cradling
Narrator: Before feeding, test the milk temperature on the inside of your wrist. Let your babies see the feeding bottle so they know it' s mealtime. When they open their mouth, gently insert the teat. If their mouth won' t open, don' t try and force the teat inside. Instead, gently brush the teat against their upper lip.
Super: Gently Brush Teat against Babies' Upper Lip
Narrator: Once their mouth opens wide, they can draw in the teat more easily.
Super: Let babies draw in the teat when they open their mouth wide
Narrator: Keep the bottle horizontal
Super: Keep the Bottle Horizontal
Narrator: or just slightly tipped
Super: or Slightly Tipped
Narrator: to ensure the tip of the teat is filled with milk
Super: Fill the Tip of the Teat with Milk
Narrator: and they can feed smoothly at their own pace. Don' t over-tilt the bottle or the milk will flow too quickly and they may choke. Over-tilting will also make baby take in too much milk.
Super: Don' t Over-tilt the Bottle
Narrator: As the milk inside the bottle runs lower, slightly tipping the bottle further until the tip of the teat fills with milk will prevent them from swallowing too much air, which may cause spitting up. Rising air bubbles in the milk as you feed indicates that your babies are sucking from the bottle properly. While babies suck and swallow rhythmically during feeding, it is normal for them to pause occasionally. Let them take the lead during feedings. They will decide how much milk to take in, just follow their feeding pace.
Super: Follow Babies' Feeding Pace and Needs
Subheading: Signals to Stop Feeding
Super: I Need a Break!
Narrator: Sometimes, they will need a break from feeding. If milk starts spilling from your babies' mouth, it' s time for a rest. Other than milk spilling from their mouth,
Super: Milk Spilling from Mouth
Narrator: splayed fingers and toes,
Super: Splayed Fingers and Toes
Narrator: not sucking,
Super: Not Sucking
Narrator: pushing the bottle away
Super: Pushing Bottle Away
Narrator: and turning the head
Super: Head Turning
Narrator: are all signs that it is time to remove the teat and give your babies a break. Do not tap or shake the bottle to force them to take in more milk.
Super: No Tapping or Shaking the Bottle
Narrator: Try burping your babies during breaks. If they want more milk, they will start sucking on the teat again. Try switching arms you were holding your babies in after the break so they can see their surroundings from different angles.
Super: Switching Feeding Sides Stimulates Babies' Eyes
Subheading: Fullness Cues
Super: I' m Full!
Narrator: Signs that your babies are full and you can stop feeding, include closing of the mouth,
Super: Mouth Closing
Narrator: letting go or spitting out the teat,
Super: Letting Go or Spitting Out the Teat
Narrator: arching the back,
Super: Back Arching
Narrator: turning of the head
Super: Head Turning
Narrator: or even relaxing and falling asleep.
Super: Relaxing
Super: Falling Asleep
Narrator: Your babies' appetite will vary from meal to meal and day to day. As babies stop feeding when full, they sometimes drink less than usual. Dispose of leftover milk.
Subheading: Bottle Feeding Tips
Super: Let Me Tell You!
Narrator: Here are some more important feeding do' s and don' t' s. Never use towels or pillows to prop up feeding bottles or leave babies unattended during feedings
Super: Never Prop up Bottles or Leave Babies Unattended
Narrator: to eliminate the risk of choking or suffocation.
Super: Never Let Babies Sleep with a Bottle
Narrator: Letting babies sleep with a bottle in their mouth is another no-no, as they will start associating bottles with sleep and will have difficulty dozing off without it. It can also cause cavities when they start teething. To recap, follow your babies' hunger and fullness cues when feeding.
Super: Follow Babies' Hunger and Fullness Cues
Narrator: Keep bottles as horizontal as possible during feedings to keep the tip of the teat filled with milk.
Super: Keep Bottles Horizontal When Feeding (keep the tip of the teat filled with milk)
Narrator: Following your babies' feeding pace.
Super: Following Babies' Feeding Pace
Narrator: These are the keys to “Responsive Feeding”.
Super: Following your Babies' Lead is Key to “Responsive Feeding”
Super: Family Health Service
Department of Health
www.fhs.gov.hk
June 2024
Narrator: This video is produced by the Family Health Service of the Department of Health.