Breastfeeding is the biological norm of our species. If a baby cannot breastfeed well; we need to know why. Many babies can be dysfunctional at both breast and bottle, but because bottle feeding uses different muscles than the breast and is a more passive feeding method, many babies can still gain weight better when bottle feeding. Families are often told by health care providers that because the weight gain is fine, there is no issue. When in reality there may be massive red flags for feeding dysfunction on the bottle as well.

Dysfunction on a bottle happens for many reasons. It may be from the wrong shape nipple or a flow that is too fast or slow. It may be from how they are being held or positioned. It could be because they were born premature and are still figuring out how to coordinate the complex process of sucking, swallowing and breathing at the same time. Tension or asymmetry in their body from how they were positioned in utero or how they were birthed also contribute. The biggest reason I see for bottle dysfunction in the early weeks after delivery is from undiagnosed tongue and/or lip tie or oral dysfunction.

If your baby truly has an oral dysfunction, switching to bottle feeding isn’t a quick fix, because there’s an issue with the baby’s anatomy and physiology, not the container of the milk.

Having a full, hands on assessment of baby’s oral and body anatomy AND function as well as observed feedings by breast and/or bottle can help get to the root of the dysfunction and properly manage feeding issues.

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