Newborn Cup Feeding

Cup feeding is a safe alternative feeding method that is used for many reasons including: * Babies are born prematurely as young as 29 weeks. * Babies are temporarily unable to breastfeed due to separation from their mother. * Babies have medical conditions like cleft palates, tongue tie or weak sucking muscles. * Babies refuse the breast. * Mother takes a break from breastfeeding for any reason. * Baby needs supplemented and families want to avoid using bottles Cup feeding does not require a lot of equipment and cups can be cleaned and sterilized easier than bottles. Before feeding, make sure your baby is in a quiet, awake and alert state. Hold baby upright so they don’t choke on the milk as they drink. Never have baby on their back while feeding. If they’re moving around a lot or their hands are you in the way, consider swaddling or wrapping their arms in a blanket, but not too tightly. The best way to describe cup drinking is for baby to “slurp”, sip, or lap the milk up,