Deciding to bottle-feed your breast-feeding baby is a conscious step taken by mothers when they want to return to their original routines. Either they want some time off from their babies or want to go back to working. It is better to think carefully about bottle-feeding as many children learn to use a cup for drinking without going through the bottle phase. Bottles need to be sterilized very well, otherwise they will breed germs and your baby will easily fall ill. Not all babies need to be taught to bottle-feed, a number of them take to it without much fuss. Timing plays an important role. If bottle-feeding is introduced too soon, then the baby may give up breast-feeding. If introduced too late the baby may not want to give up breast-feeding.

Once you have decided to bottle-feed, you either use expressed breast milk or artificial milk also called formula. Expressing milk can be a tedious task. You can use your hand or a breast pump. Once expressed the milk will have to store it in a previously sterilized container. You will have to express a number to times to collect enough milk for your baby. Formula milk is dried cow' milk which has been modified to suit the baby's digestive abilities. Most doctors recommend a soya-based formulation. It is important to prepare formula milk exactly according to the instructions provided. It this milk is diluted the baby will not receive the required number of calories. If it is too thick it can lead to dehydration.

The bottles and nipples or teats will have to be well sterilized as milk breeds bacteria easily. It must be remembered that formula milk increases the risk of infection and illness. It is best to exclusively breast-feed the baby for the first few months. The baby does not need water or fruit juices till he starts having solids. Giving him these could reduce the efficiency with which breast milk works in protecting the baby against infection. We still have not found a method to artificially produce breast milk. Breast milk produces hormones and antibodies in such a way that it fights germs specific to the baby's environment. Research on these is still in its initial stages.

Even after you start bottle-feeding it is best to continue breast-feeding as well. This is known as mixed feeding. Introduce the bottle after breast-feeding is well established. Once you start bottle-feeding, your milk supply will decrease; as the number of breast-feeds the baby will have decreases. You can increase the supply by breast-feeding often. Whenever you have the time let the baby feed on demand, this will help supply increase. Many working women like to continue breast-feeding their babies once the go back to work, as it helps to bond again after their brief absence.