Possibility of successful breastfeeding if supplementary bottle feeding is required

Introduction. The article discusses the problem of bottle feeding – a method of feeding infants with breast milk or formula, which has been used for many years and plays an important role in feeding a newborn, and this fact cannot be ignored.

Aim. To evaluate the possibility of maintaining breastfeeding when temporary feeding of the child is necessary using the bottle.

Materials and methods. A non-comparative observational prospective study was conducted in 30 full-term and late preterm infants, as well as in premature infants who reached 38–40 weeks of postconceptual age.

Results and discussion. Prior to discharge, all 29 mothers (100%) awarded 5 scores for the appearance, ease of feeding, ease of washing and sterilizing feeding nipples and bottles. Everybody reported the overall impression as positive. The assessment was based on the questionnaire results. Also, we evaluated the following parameters: general assessment of infant’s bottle sucking activity – satisfactory; infant’s breast sucking activity after transition to breastfeeding – satisfactory. The risk of aerophagia has been reduced, no symptoms were observed in 95% of cases, according to questionnaire results. The use of Pigeon SofTouch Peristaltic PLUS allows to the possibility of breastfeeding during mother’s transition to lactation, mixed feeding, temporary weaning because of mother’s health condition or for other reasons, and during transition from tube feeding to breastfeeding.

Conclusions. The results demonstrate the safety and efficacy of Pigeon SofTouch Peristaltic PLUS, the use of which reduces the risk of aerophagia and discomfort in newborns during temporary weaning due to the mother's health or other reasons. The most important factor in maintaining successful breastfeeding is that mothers receive quality counselling and appropriate training with a special emphasis on the child's behaviour and the practice of so-called “responsive feeding”.

1. Prentice AM. Breastfeeding in the modern world. Ann Nutr Metab. 2022;78(Suppl 2):29–38. https://doi.org/10.1159/000524354.

2. Victora CG, Bahl R, Barros AJ, França GV, Horton S, Krasevec J et al. Breastfeeding in the 21st century: epidemiology, mechanisms, and lifelong effect. Lancet. 2016;387(10017):475–490. https://doi.org/10.1016/S01406736(15)01024-7.

3. Rollins NC, Bhandari N, Hajeebhoy N, Horton S, Lutter CK, Martines JC et al. Why invest, and what it will take to improve breastfeeding practices? Lancet. 2016;387(10017):491–504. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(15)01044-2.

4. Kotowski J, Fowler C, Hourigan C, Orr F. Bottle-feeding an infant feeding modality: an integrative literature review. Matern Child Nutr. 2020;16(2):e12939. https://doi.org/10.1111/mcn.12939.

5. Zimmerman E, Thompson K. Clarifying nipple confusion. J Perinatol. 2015;35(11):895–899. https://doi.org/10.1038/jp.2015.83.

6. Bobrova AM, Ryumina II, Kukhartseva MV, Narogan MV. The value of non-nutritive sucking in the development of enteral feeding of a premature baby. Neonatology: News, Opinions, Training. 2023;11(2):53–57. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.33029/2308-2402-2023-11-2-53-57.

7. Kukhartseva MV, Bobrova AM, Ryumina II, Narogan MV. Oral stimulation as a part of developmental care in the practice of a neonatologist. Neonatology: News, Opinions, Training. 2023;11(2):30–38. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.33029/2308-2402-2023-11-2-30-38.

8. Phillips R, VanNatta D, Chu J, Best A, Ruiz P, Oswalt T et al. Breastfeeding Practice Before Bottle-Feeding An Initiative to Increase the Rate of Breastfeeding for Preterm Infants at the Time of Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Discharge. Crit Care Nurs Clin North Am. 2024;36(2):251–260. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cnc.2023.12.005.

9. Geddes DT, Sakalidis VS, Hepworth AR, McClellan HL, Kent JC, Lai CT, Hartmann PE. Tongue movement and intra‐oral vacuum of term infants during breastfeeding and feeding from an experimental teat that released milk under vacuum only. Early Hum Dev. 2012;88(6):443–449. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2011.10.012.

10. da Costa SP, van der Schans CP, Boelema SR, van der Meij E, Boerman MA, Bos AF. Sucking patterns in fullterm infants between birth and 10 weeks of age. Infant Behav Dev. 2010;33(1):61–67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infbeh.2009.11.007.

11. Ardran GM, Kemp FH, Lind J. A cineradiographic study of bottle feeding. Br J Radiol. 1958;31(361):11–22. https://doi.org/10.1259/0007-1285-31-361-11.

12. Goldfield EC, Richardson MJ, Lee KG, Margetts S. Coordination of sucking, swallowing, and breathing and oxygen saturation during early infant breast‐feeding and bottle‐feeding. Pediatr Res. 2006;60(4):450–455. https://doi.org/10.1203/01.pdr.0000238378.24238.9d.

13. Mathew OP. Nipple units for newborn infants: A functional comparison. Pediatrics. 1988;81(5):688–691. Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ 3357729/.

14. Pados BF, Park J, Dodrill P. Know the flow: Milk flow rates from bottle nipples used in the hospital and after discharge. Adv Neonatal Care. 2019;19(1):32–41. https://doi.org/10.1097/ANC.0000000000000538.

15. Pados BF, Park J, Thoyre SM, Estrem H, Nix WB. Milk Flow Rates from bottle nipples used after hospital discharge. MCN Am J Matern Child Nurs. 2016;41(4):237–243. https://doi.org/10.1097/NMC.0000000000000244.

16. Weber F, Woolridge MW, Baum JD. An ultrasonographic study of the organisation of sucking and swallowing by newborn infants. Dev Med Child Neurol. 1986;28(1):19–24. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8749.1986.tb03825.x.

17. McGrattan KE, Jansen GP, Barrera JM, Beckstrandhttps M. Exploring Alternative Methods to Reduce Milk Flow Rate From Infant Bottle Systems: Bottle Angle, Milk Volume, and Bottle Ventilation. Am J Speech Lang Pathol. 2023;32(5):2245–2253. https://doi.org/10.1044/2023_AJSLP-23-00109.

18. Matsubara M, Inoue M. A comparison of the movement of the mandible in infants between breastfeeding and bottle-feeding. J Nurs Sci Engineer. 2019;6(2):54–62. https://doi.org/10.24462/jnse.6.2_54.

19. Jiang L, Hassanipour F. Bio-Inspired Breastfeeding Simulator (BIBS): A Tool for Studying the Infant Feeding Mechanism. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 2020;67(11):3242–3252. https://doi.org/10.1109/TBME.2020.2980545.

20. Chanprapaph P, Sutchritpongsa S, Rojmahamongkol P, Chuchoang S, Arthan J, Komoltri C. The impact of teat and bottle design on nipple confusion: a double-blind randomized controlled trial. 2022. PREPRINT (Version 1). https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1494783/v1.

21. Whitfield KC, Ventura AK. Exploration of responsive feeding during breastfeeding versus bottle feeding of human milk: A within‐subject pilot study. Breastfeed Med. 2019;14(7):482–486. https://doi.org/10.1089/bfm.2019.0069.