Most breast-feeding moms need to give supplemental feedings once in a while. If you want to breast-feed exclusively, you may not want to give your baby any bottles, even when giving supplemental formula or pumped breast milk. Talk to your doctor before using a cup to supplement formula or to give pumped breast milk when you're not available to nurse.
Reasons
Although the mouth movements of a baby sucking from a bottle or from a human nipple may look the same to the casual observer, they're actually quite different. Bottle-feeding requires a different set of muscles and tongue action, which can lead to nipple confusion. When a baby nurses, he holds his mouth in a different position. Sucking requires the use of different jaw muscles in breast-feeding. A bottle-fed baby must push his tongue against the nipple to stop the flow of milk, while in breast-feeding the baby's sucking determines the milk flow. Because bottle-feeding takes less effort, with milk flowing by gravity, many infants start to prefer the bottle's easier milk supply and may refuse to nurse.
Method
A newborn can't chug a glass of formula or breast milk like an older child would. She can, however, drink small sips from a small glass. Use a glass that holds no more than 1 to 2 ounces of liquid. If you have a plastic glass with a flexible rim, you can bend in into a spout shape, which makes it easier to direct the liquid into the baby's mouth. You can also purchase special feeder cups from organizations such as Le Leche League International. Have several cups already filled if you plan to feed more than 1 to 2 ounces so you don't have to interrupt the feeding to pour more. Don't lay the baby down; hold her in a sitting or semi-sitting position, and tilt the cup just so the milk flows to her lips. Let her go at her own pace.
Risks
If you give the baby too much at once or try to pour in the liquid rather than just having it touch the baby's lips, he could choke and aspirate the fluid into his lungs. Stop immediately if the baby starts to sputter or spits back the milk. The baby, not the amount still left in the cup, should determine the length of the feeding.
Considerations
Cup-feeding a newborn takes time and patience. In many developing countries, hospitals and parents use this method of feeding when babies can't breast-feed, so it can and does work. Infants as young as 30 weeks gestation have maintained adequate oxygenation and have not tired as quickly when drinking from a cup compared to bottle-feeding, according to a British study published in the 1994 "Archives of Disease in Childhood."
