What’s included in a bottle consultation?
Is your baby or refusing the bottle? A bottle consultation with a certified feeding counselor at Bumblebaby can reverse that! Read on to learn more about one of our most popular services.
One of our most popular consultation services is a bottle consultation. These consultations are great for babies who are struggling to transition to taking a bottle or for parents who would like to get their baby started on the right track when introducing a bottle. Other common reasons for a bottle consultation would be if your baby is taking a bottle but is struggling to take it comfortably, only consuming small volumes from the bottle, or is getting extremely fussy/irritated after taking a bottle. Read more below about what you can expect during a typical bottle consultation!
Who do you recommend bottle consults for?
We recommend our bottle consultations for babies who are under the age of 6 months. The younger your baby is, the greater the chance that we can help you get them back to taking a bottle more comfortably. After the age of 6 months we typically recommend a sippy cup consultation- you can read more about that service here.
After you have booked your bottle consultation appointment, we will send you an email with set up instructions along with bottle recommendations so you are prepared before our in-home visit or video call. We typically like to have your bottle consultation be during a normal feeding time for your baby so we may need to adjust the timing slightly to fit your baby’s schedule.
A bottle consultation includes:
- An initial video call or in-home visit which typically lasts around 30-45 minutes
- A follow up email that includes a recap of all the key points we discussed along with your “homework” for bottle practice. We know you’re a busy parent so we plan to check in with you every 2-3 days to make sure practice is going well and to see if you have any questions or concerns.
- Your consultation also includes 2 weeks of unlimited email/texting with us so please feel free to reach out to us at any time with questions or concerns! After about a week of bottle practice we typically like to do a quick video call check in to see how things are going and to give additional tips/techniques to try if your baby is still having issues with the bottle.
During our bottle consultation we start with getting some background information about your baby’s feeding journey, including history on both breast and bottle feeding along with any medical or other important factors that could potentially be affecting their feeding. Next, we will discuss positioning and different ways and techniques to offer the bottle to your baby in a positive manner. Most babies do not take the bottle on the first try- do not panic! It can oftentimes take consistent practice for the next 1-2 weeks (sometimes longer!) for your baby to master the new skills we are teaching them.
We will also discuss exactly what we would like you to practice with your baby and different variables to issues that you may experience along the way including:
- how long bottle practice should last
- what to do if your baby is refusing to practice the bottle
- what to do if your baby is at daycare or with another caregiver and is refusing the bottle
- Next steps once your baby is taking the bottle again, yay!
Over the next 2 weeks we will expect you to practice the techniques with your baby every single day- the more practice and consistency you can give your baby the greater the outcome usually is! Please remember that this is a new skill for your baby so we do not expect most babies to learn how to take a bottle overnight. It takes consistent practice for them to build upon the skills we are teaching them and we need to be patient.
After 2 weeks of practicing the bottle and communicating with your consultant we are confident that your baby will be back on the right track with bottle feeding! We do have a very high success rate (about 90%) but occasionally we will have a baby who takes a little bit longer to catch on to bottle feeding or who is still struggling. If after the 2 weeks of your bottle consultation your baby still isn’t taking a bottle we will give you other options and recommendations including:
- Setting up an evaluation with a speech therapist
- Extending our consultation time for another 2 weeks to continue practicing the bottle along with troubleshooting
- Discussing a sippy cup and solids plan if appropriate for your baby’s age
Not sure if a bottle consultation is right for you/your baby? Please reach out to us to discuss options! We can relate to feeding being a stressful task to navigate alone, that’s why we are here to help you! You do not have to struggle alone, we want to make your life easier as a parent while offering support, advice and encouragement as needed. Reach out and book a consultation today, we would love to hear from you!
Book here with Lauren, Natalie, or Kate (bottle consultations, bottle introduction, 15 min video chat).
Check out our bottle webinar with Lauren as well.
Other blog posts you will love:
- Correctly bottle feeding your baby and why it’s important
- High lipase breastmilk and how it relates to bottle refusal
- How to supplement with formula
- Everything you need to know about acid reflux
- Transitioning from formula to milk
- Everything you need to know about formula
