Cup feeding serves as an alternative method of feeding a baby. Instead of using bottles to feed a baby, you would be using a shot glass or any cup to feed him milk.
Most of the time, this is being done to premature babies who are not able to breastfeed. Mothers have used it for hundreds of years all around the world.
There are several pros and cons to cub feeding a baby, and we will cover it here.
How do you cup feed?
When cup feeding, the baby should be seated in an upright position, and the opening of the cup will be placed in between his lips while slowly tipping cup until the milk touches the baby's upper lip, with tongue not being suppressed by the cup.
Make sure to attach a bib to prevent your baby from getting wet. You may use silicone or plastic bib.
You may wrap the baby to keep their arms from knocking off the cup. Avoid putting pressure on his lower lip. Lots and lots of patience are needed to cup feed.
Do not ever pour the milk into the baby's mouth, as this may cause choking or worse; the fluid might get into his lungs.
Continue to feed the baby at his own pace until the cup is empty. Pour more milk if still needed.
Who can be cup fed?
Any baby can be cup fed. However, this only goes to those babies who are not able to breastfeed.
- Premature babies who have not yet developed sucking
- Weak or sick babies who do not have enough strength to suck through the breasts
- If the mother has to leave the baby in someone else's care
Advantages of Cup Feeding
- Does not interfere with breastfeeding: Some breastfeeding babies get nipple confusion if they also drink milk through the bottle. Since the artificial teats require less effort when it comes to sucking, the baby will get used to the plastic nipple and would hesitate to suck through the breasts.
- Prevents misalignment of the teeth and abnormal development of jaws: With feeding bottles, the teeth and jaws are affected, resulting in poor performance of oral functions such as speech, eating, and even breathing.
- Reduces dental caries: Bottle-feeding may cause tooth decay, especially when the artificial nipple gets soaked in their teeth.
- Prevents overfeeding: With cup feeding, babies need to exert more effort to get milk. And since our brains take some time to know that we are full, the cup feeding baby may be able to regulate the amount of fluid that he drinks through the cup.
- No training cups needed: Sooner or later, your baby will have to learn how to drink through the cup. Cup-fed babies skip this one training period.
- Affordable: With cup feeding, you only need a small cup to feed. Sometimes others only use any ordinary cup. You save money for buying bottles, teats, cleaning brush, and sterilizer.
Disadvantages of Cup Feeding
While cup feeding has a lot of advantages, it also has its cons. Just make sure to learn the basics to prevent them from occurring. Here are what you should note:
- Risk of choking or spitting up
- More milk is wasted due to spilling
- Longer time to feed
If you are a breastfeeding mom and have to leave your baby for work or any other stuff, you might want to let your household member cup feed your baby. Though it has some disadvantages, the benefits it has to your baby far outweigh the cons.
But then again, whichever method you choose to feed your baby, be it breastfeeding, cup feeding or bottle feeding, what matters most is that you are doing what you think is best for your baby.
