Feeding Your Baby: Breastfeeding, Bottle Feeding and What to Expect (Session Six)
- Hannah Ketcher
- Apr 8
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 10
Feeding Your Baby: Breastfeeding, Bottle Feeding and Finding What Works for You
As you reach the final stage of your preparation, we turn our focus to feeding your baby.
This is an area that is incredibly important — and at times, can feel overwhelming.
The aim of this session is to give you clear, balanced, and practical information, so that you feel confident in whatever feeding journey feels right for you and your baby.
Understanding Feeding in the Early Days
In the early days after birth, feeding is often frequent and can feel unpredictable. Newborns typically:
Feed little and often
May cluster feed (feeding very frequently over certain periods)
Use feeding for both nutrition and comfort
Understanding this can help set realistic expectations and reduce unnecessary worry.
Breastfeeding and Bottle Feeding
We explore both breastfeeding and bottle feeding, so that you have a full understanding of your options. This includes:
How feeding works physiologically
What to expect in the first few days
How feeding patterns may evolve over time
Rather than promoting one single approach, the focus is on helping you make informed choices that feel right for you.
Recognising When Feeding Is Going Well
One of the most common concerns for new parents is whether their baby is getting enough milk. We will look at practical signs to help guide you, such as:
Your baby’s feeding behaviour
Wet and dirty nappies
Periods of contentment between feeds
These can often be more helpful than focusing on specific timings or quantities. Understanding this can stop the 3am panic to switch feeding methods because your doubting yourself.
Common Challenges and How to Navigate Them
Feeding doesn’t always feel straightforward at first — and that’s something many parents experience. We talk through some common challenges, and how they can be supported, so that you feel less alone if things don’t immediately fall into place.
Expressing and Combination Feeding
We also spend time looking at expressing milk, including:
Different ways to express (hand expressing and pumps)
When expressing might be helpful
How expressing can fit alongside feeding
If you choose — or need — to combine feeding methods, we explore how to do this in a way that supports both you and your baby.
Paced bottle feeding
We introduce paced bottle feeding as an approach that helps to avoid common problems associated with bottle feeding. This method:
Slows the pace of feeding
Supports your baby’s ability to regulate intake
Can help maintain a more natural feeding rhythm
A Balanced Approach to Feeding
As with everything we’ve covered throughout the course, this session is not about pressure or perfection. There is no one “right” way to feed your baby.
What matters most is that:
You are informed about your choices
Your baby is nourished
You feel supported
Your feeding approach works for your individual circumstances
There is no one “right” way to feed your baby.
A Final Thought
Feeding your baby is not just about technique — it’s about relationship, responsiveness, and finding what works for you both over time.
You don’t need to have it all figured out from the beginning. Actually the realistic expectation is that you won't. Support is always available, and this is something you will grow into.
Support is always available, and this is something you will grow into.
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