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What is this

When becoming a new parent you will have questions, something as trivial as “lets give them a bath” becomes a 30-minute internet crawl about water temperature, and if you should use shampoo or not. Problem is that much of the information available online is scattered, incomplete or simply factually untrue.

This is the resource I wish I had when becoming a dad in 2024. It focuses on your baby’s first year and is concerned with the practical aspects and minutia of parenting (sleep safety, ambient temperature, car-seat types, types of baby-formula etc).

I will do my best to:

• Aggregate advice from reputable sources, providing citations where possible.
• Keep a clear distinction between what’s advice from me and what’s advice from experts.
• Be concise and to the point.

Note

This document is based on the research I did when my daughter was born. I’m good at researching and as a parent I had a vested interest to “do the right thing”. But I’m not a pediatrician so read this with a healthy dose of skepticism and do your due diligence when in doubt.

There are no paywalls, affiliate links or monetization of any sorts here. This is and will remain a fully free resource.
No AI was used creating this.

You are likely reading the unfinished version of this document, expect some rough edges.

For corrections, questions, feedback, requests and anything else open a new issue or pull request here.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Sleep

This section includes all things related to sleeping:

• Safe sleep and SIDS
• Swaddling and sleeping bags

Safe sleep and SIDS

This is likely the most grim but most important topic you need to know as a new parent.

Sudden infant death syndrome SIDS is an umbrella term for a child under 1 year of age inexplicably dying in their sleep. While the exact cause is unknown, several risk factors were identified and guidelines for prevention issued.

In 1994 the US National Institutes of Health launched the Safe to sleep/Back to sleep public information campaign which resulted in significant drop in SIDS incidence. According to my research most of the recommendations world-wide are based on it.

In 2022, the chance of being affected by SIDS in the US was 0.042%. In europe the data from 2018 shows a probability of 0.015%. The risk is low, but the guidelines have been proven to work, be sure to follow them.

Note

While I researched this topic extensively, I am not an authority on the subject. I include my understanding of “why something is dangerous” as I think it is useful for decision-making, but I do not claim any special expertise. This topic is important enough for you to double and triple check it with your pediatrician.

Place baby on their back for sleep

Young babies can not roll or reposition by themselves. Placing them on their back ensures their airways are straight and the parent does not accidentally obstruct their breathing when putting them down.
This applies for all sleep times including naps.

The danger comes from setting a baby in a position they cant escape from. Once a baby gains the ability to roll on their front (3-6 months) they might choose to sleep on their front, that’s fine, you don’t need to re-set them to their backs. If the baby got into a position by themselves they are likely able to move away from it if they want to.

Infant car seats or any other product that is not designed for extensive sleep operate by different rules.

Under no circumstance a swaddled baby is allowed to sleep on their front!

Share the room, not the bed

Bed sharing aka co-sleeping is another major risk factor. Many people do it and get away with it, that does not mean it’s a good idea.

• A sleeping adult can roll over the baby suffocating them.
• The baby might get tangled on loose bedding like pillows/blankets/sheets etc.
• Baby can fall off the bed.
• Adult mattresses are too soft which is a suffocation hazard if the baby ends up on their front.

I recommend investing in a “sidecar bassinet” (one side of the bassinet is removable or slides down). Installing it next to your bed gives you easy access to the baby at night. It is designed for newborn sleep: mattress is firm, you can’t roll over them, there is no risk of entrapment. This gets you very close to the convenience of co-sleeping without any of the risk associated with it.

Sharing the room is recommended, it is both convenient and allow you to check on your baby during the night.

Use a firm mattress

If the mattress is to soft the baby’s face can sink into it and cause re-breathing.

Fortunately the majority of developed countries heavily regulate baby sleeping surfaces. For example in the EU the EN 16890:2017+A1:2021 requirement for “Mattresses for cots and cribs” amongst other hazards, specifically tests the mattress hardness. It is illegal to sell baby sleep products on European markets without passing this certification.

If it’s a cot or a bassinet from a reputable brand from a developed country, more than likely the mattress is both firm and breathable enough to be safe.

Avoid antique or DYI mattresses and beds. These did not pass any regulatory testing and also might use prohibited materials like formaldehyde or led paint.

There is methodology for a mattress firmness test you can perform at home. I don’t believe it is reasonable to run this test, it is always better to rely on experts and accredited certifications than “to be clever”. I strongly urge you to buy certified products, if that is not possible for any reason, the methodology in the miscellaneous section.

No clutter in the crib

No pillows, blankets, plush toys, cot bumpers, etc. they pose suffocation risk.

Use a fitted sheet over the mattress and swaddle your newborn with a weather appropriate blanket, that’s it. If you don’t want to swaddle a sleeping bag also works.

It does look a bit spartan, but im 100% convinced the baby does not care if they have a nicely decorated bed or not.

Cot bumpers are also considered clutter, posing the same risks and are banned in US since 2022.

Avoid overheating

Young babies have poor temperature regulation, they loose heat quickly but also overheat easily. Overheating is another major risk factor for SIDS that can easily be avoided.

• Avoid placing the bassinet next to a heat source (like a radiator).
• Take off baby’s hat while inside.

Our pediatrician recommended to keep the inside temperature around 21 degrees Celsius and dress our daughter with 1 layer more than we are wearing.

A baby that is too warm will have sweaty clammy back of the neck and their cheeks will flush red. In more severe cases their breathing will become more rapid. A baby that is too cold will usually complain by crying and their cheeks and chest will be cold to the touch. Cold feet and hands are not a good indicator for a baby being cold, their circulatory system is immature and their feet and hands will be normally colder than an adult’s.

Where I am from (eastern-central europe) people tend to overdress their babies both inside and outside. I’m with reddit on this one: Slightly cooler is always better.

No smoking or vaping around the baby

Obviously don’t!

Even after airing out the room the tar from smoke accumulates on surfaces and also counts as second-hand smoking (even if there is no direct smoke inhalation),

Pacifier use is recommended

“Published case-control studies demonstrate a significant reduced risk of SIDS with pacifier use, particularly when placed for sleep”. source

There are some caveats when it comes to pacifiers, breastfeeding and mouth development. Read the chapter dedicated to that before introducing a pacifier.

Do not use baby nests/pods

Several products exist on the market which are advertised “for baby sleep”. Some of them even go as far as to claim they reduce the risk of SIDS when in fact it is the opposite. These products are not regulated the same way bassinets and cots are.

Canada recalled several products in this family specifically because they pose an elevated risk of entrapment.

Less is more.

A note on predatory advertising:

SIDS is very scary (I am reliving the stress even when writing about it) and there are actors trying to capitalize on your fears.

I remember receiving many ads for gadgets that claim to prevent it: oxygen monitors, inclined sleepers, smart baby monitors with breathe rate detection and all other kinds of similar snake oil. These will be advertised as “the definitive preventative measure”, but when inspecting the fine-print you are guaranteed to see keywords like “for comfort” or “fitness tracker” or “not a medical device”.

None of these passed any sort of certification. The ads can claim anything but if something is legally classified as and “infant lounger” (as is the case for the baby nests) it can skip all the testing that is legally required for baby sleep products.

At best, they do nothing, at worst they are actually putting your newborn in danger. For example did you know that oximeters can cause skin burn if not used correctly?

There are of course medical cases where special products are needed, but in this situation an actual medical professional will tell you exactly what to use, where to rent it and how to use it correctly.

Swaddling and sleeping bags

Swaddling has two purposes: It keeps your baby warm, and helps with the baby’s startle relexes.

Since loose blankets are not recommended under safe sleep guidelines, use a swaddle or sleeping bag as a safe alternative for warmth.

Babies under 6 months will do sudden arm movements during their sleep, this is called the Moro reflex and is both normal and expected. However, their own movement can wake up a sleeping baby. Restricting their range of movement generally make a newborn move comfortable and makes them sleep better.

Swaddling is optional and brings no extra benefits other than comfort, you can use a sleep sack as early as you want. For example my daughter hated being swaddled and kept wiggling herself out, we transitioned to a swaddle sleep sack during first or second week after arriving home.

Safety considerations

Immediately stop swaddling as soon as your baby starts showing signs that they will start rolling on their own. Rolling on their face while swaddled is dangerous.

Always put your baby to sleep on their back, this is especially important for swaddled babies as they can’t move their arms to push and reposition themselves.

Don’t wrap the legs. The baby’s legs and hips should have full range of motion.
“Traditional swaddling, which implies restrictive immobilisation of the infant’s lower limbs with the hips in forced extension and adduction, has been shown to be a risk factor for Developmental Dysplasia of Hip”.
In my understanding this was a common practice back in the day and still is somewhat common in some parts of the world. Be careful with well-intentioned but outdated advice on this

These safety rules also apply to “swaddle sleep sacks” or anything that restricts arm movements. Once a baby can “get face down” limiting their arm movement becomes a SIDS risk factor.

The old school swaddle

Versatile and cheap but most technical option. Here is an excellent YouTube tutorial from TheDoctorsBjorkman. Great channel and learning resource by the way.

Around the chest the swaddle should be tight, but not as tight as to restrict breathing. Two or three fingers should fit between baby’s chest and the swaddle, this is known as the “two finger rule”.
Do not wrap the legs.

Velcro swaddles

Same as an old school swaddle but much easier to use. Does not require any dexterity to use and does not/should not allow you to use it incorrectly.

Unlike old-school swaddles, velcro swaddles come in different sized for different baby height and weight.

Swaddle sleep sack (arms-up design)

These are a middle of the road option.
They provide enough restraint to prevent the Moro reflex from waking up the baby, but they still allow some level of movement for babies that do not like being fully restrained.

In our personal case this option worked best: my daughter hated being motion-restrained and had a strong preference to sleep with her hands up.

This looks more like a sleeping bag, but it is still a swaddle and use should be stopped when baby shows signs of rolling.

Some models labeled as “transition bags” allow the option to have one or both arms out of the sleeping bag. This is useful for accommodating your baby to standard non-swaddle sleep sack.

Sleeping Bags

Transition to these when your baby starts showing signs of rolling on their own. At this stage (usually 4-6 months) free arm movement is important for safety and the Moro reflex will mostly disappear.

These can be used up to any age.

TOG rating

A sleep sack or swaddle will normally come with a TOG rating (Thermal Overview Grade).

This should tell you what the ambient temperature this sleep bag was designed for, higher the TOG the warmer the fabric.

While a good point of reference there is no “official” chart telling you which TOG to use for each ambient temperature. Different manufacturers will publish their own charts, which will slightly differ.

Use the TOG rating as a general guide, not as something written in stone. Check baby’s chest and back to gauge if they are too cold or too warm and adjust accordingly.

Miscellaneous

This section includes individual topics that do not fit under a broader group:

• Pacifiers
• Mattress firmness test

Pacifiers

Deciding if you should introduce a pacifier and when to do it is highly situational.

Yes, offering a pacifier before sleep is recommended by the safe sleep guidelines, but the same public health officials acknowledge that introducing one too early can have negative effects on breastfeeding (if this is one of your goals).

In this chapter I will outline the key factors at play, so you can decide for yourself what to do.

In addition, I highly recommend reading the Recommendations for the use of pacifiers from the Canadian Paediatric Society as it treats the topic in much more depth.

Safety and general considerations

Independently of pacifier type and when it is introduced there are some safety rules that must be followed.

Safety

• The pacifier shield should be large enough that it cannot be entirely pulled into the baby’s mouth. Using a pacifier with an undersized shield poses high choking risk.
• Pacifiers degrade with use. Before offering, briefly inspect for cracks or parts coming loose. if you see any structural damage discard it. (We had 2 pacifiers cracking during 1 year).
• Do not attach the pacifier with cords or ribbons to the baby’s clothes or bed during unsupervised sleep. This poses strangulation risks.
• Never forcibly introduce a pacifier into a sleeping baby’s mouth.

The general considerations are mostly about what to look for when buying it. However, it is worth noting that each baby has their own preferences, you can’t force a baby to accept a specific pacifier.

General Considerations

• Each pacifier comes with a manufacturer’s age recommendation (0-3, 3-6, 6-12) on the box. If you are concerned about the sizing these are some rules of thumb.
  • A pacifier that is too big will cause gagging, excessive drooling and its shield will be resting on your baby’s nose.
  • A pacifier that is too small will leave imprint marks on the baby’s cheeks and nose. The baby will have difficulties holding it in their month and is likely to spit it out.
• Prefer soft silicone for the pacifier tip.
  • A pacifier made from tougher materials creates more strain on mouth muscles.
  • Latex can cause allergic reactions and is prone warping when sterilizing.
  • Most silicone pacifiers from reputable brands are made of BPA-free food grade silicone (they will brag about it on the box).
• Avoid unnecessary weight, like plastic decorations on the shield. The extra weight makes it harder to keep in the mouth thus less comfortable.
• The shield should have perforations for airflow.

Breastfeeding and round pacifiers

Suction on a pacifier is mechanically different from a breast. To establish an effective breast latch, your baby needs to shape their mouth and tongue in a specific way that is different from the way they suck on a pacifier Introducing a pacifier too early can cause your baby to get confused and appear to “forget how to latch”, this is usually referred as nipple confusion

If your goal as a family is to breastfeed, the standard recommendation lactation consultants is to introduce a pacifier only after establishing strong breastfeeding patterns (usually 4-6 weeks).

On the other hand, if you are bottle-feeding you can introduce the pacifier from directly from birth. Extracting milk from a bottle demands less skill and effort from a newborn. In addition, a wide selection of bottle shapes exist, if one bottle teat does not work for any reasons you can easily try another. This is why you will sometimes see the term “pacifiers for bottle-fed babies” thrown around: with nipple confusion not being a relevant factor, the manufacturers can focus their design efforts elsewhere.

For breasted babies you should opt for pacifiers that:

• Are symmetrical on all axes.
• Have a rounded tip and a gradual slope.
• Have a wide base.
• Are made of soft silicone.

These designs try to emulate the shape of a nipple, hence should help prevent nipple-confusion. Ninni-co and Dr Brown’s pacifiers seem to be a popular choice in this category (the exact brand does not matter, the shape does).

Example of good shapes:

Avoid pacifiers with a significant “bulb” on the tip and shallow bases, these are sometimes referred as “cherry shaped”. As far as I understand they are easier for the baby to keep in their mount, but they can cause a shallow latch.

Example of bad shape:

Mouth development and Anatomical/Orthodontic Pacifiers

This style of pacifier is advertised as the better option in supporting mouth development and preventing misalignment of the teeth. They are asymmetrical and feature a narrower base with a wider tip.

However, there is little to no scientific evidence supporting this claim. The only relevant study I could find on the subject states the oposite.

According to Adair et al.: “No clinically significant differences were found between 24- to 59-month-old users of conventional and orthodontic pacifiers with respect to sagittal, vertical, and transverse occlusal relationships.”

On the flip side there seems to be consensus among pediatric dentists that early weaning and limiting the hours of use per day has the highest positive impact on preventing mouth and denture development issues.

For example The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry in their policy from
recommends weaning at 18 months with a hard cut-off at 36 month to avoid crossbite, overbite and dental malocclusion.

If mouth development is one of your concerns early weaning and limiting use is the better option.

When to wean off

There are several recommended ages when to wean off the pacifier. None of these except for the last one (3 year mark) are “set in stone”. The correct timing will depend on your particular case.

• 6-7 months: By this age most babies can self-soothe without a pacifier. At this age they have lower emotional attachment towards things (pacifiers included) making the weaning process easier.
• 12 months: The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry states that prolonged pacifier usage after one year of age can increase the risk of acute otitis media (ear infections). Sources AAPD guidelines , Warren et al. and Jackson et al.
• 18 months: Pacifier use after one year and a half was linked to crossbite, overbite and improper teeth alignment.
• 36 months: Using a pacifier after the age of 3 can cause long-term dental issues which require medical intervention to fix. This age is “firm cut-off” point.

In our personal case, we used the pacifier only during sleep and had no complications, neither with ear infections nor with misaligned teeth. Since our daughter used it rarely she did not develop emotional attachment to it and simply stopped asking for the pacifier at around 16 months of age.

Regarding preterm babies

There is a special consideration when it comes to preterm babis that spend time in intensive care after birth. Your neonatologist will most likely suggest introducing a pacifier directly after birth.

When a baby’s moth muscles are not sufficiently developed to extract milk by themselves they will initially receive nutrition via a gastrointestinal tube. Removing the GI tube is one of the priorities on the neonatologist’s list. By introducing a pacifier early,

• The baby gets to exercise their mouth muscles, eventually developing the ability to feed by either breast or bottle.
• Sucking on a pacifier mitigates the risk for the baby loosing their sucking reflex.
• The soothing effects provided by pacifier helps with pain management during procedures and general emotional regulation.

You can read more on the topic here.

Warning

There is no advice in this section. The goal is only to provide some context for people that are in that situation and are wandering what’s the reasoning behind their doctor’s decision.

Mattress firmness test

Disclaimers

Warning

While this test is scientifically sound and designed by specialists it has its limitations. No test performed at home can come close to the rigour of industrial testing done in a laboratory with dedicated equipment. If at all possible, I strongly urge you to buy certified baby sleep products, which makes this test unnecessary.

That said I felt compelled to include this as not everybody has access to the same consumer protections most of us take for granted.

At 18 months old, when we moved our daughter to a floor bed with an adult mattress, at that age she was not in the risk group anymore, and we already had experience using two other baby mattresses. We could tell by “feel” if a mattress is firm enough. Hence, I never did this test myself, nor I can speak about its accuracy.

Methodology

The steps are outlined here.

This methodology was submitted in “Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health” in 2012 by Ronald L. Somers. The original article can be found here.

According to the author, this substitute matches to a high degree the results produced by a specialized device used in “The German case-control scene investigation study on SIDS” by Schlaud M et al.
I can’t find the original Schlaud paper, but it is quoted in A firm recommendation measuring the softness of infant sleep surfaces by Sheena H. Gillani et al.

Schlaud et al. found that 27 of 41 (67%) scene investigation mattresses had > 14.5 mm indentation
...
a surface with an indentation of > 14.5 mm was significantly associated with risk of SIDS

In essence:

• The surface area of the DVD paired with the weight of the milk cartons (2,325 g) simulate the weight distribution of a baby’s head.
• The thickness of a DVD is 1.2 mm, a stack of 12 DVDs is 14.4mm in height. Which matches what was assessed as the maximum safe mattress indentation in the by Shlaud M paper.
• Hence: If the 12 DVD stack fully sinks into the mattress it can be concluded that the mattress is too soft and should not be used for infant sleep.

Nutrition

All things “food” from birth up to 1 year.

• Paced bottle feeding
• Nipple confusion

Nipple confusion

Nipple confusion is when a baby has difficulties switching between the breast and a bottle. Sometimes this is called “flow preference” or “bottle preference”.

It manifests as difficulty latching after introducing bottle feeding in your routine. In order to establish an effective breast latch, your baby needs to shape their mouth and tongue in a specific way that is different from the way they suck on a pacifier or from the bottle. Additionally, bottle feeding requires less coordination, the flow is faster and there is no wait-time for milk let-down.

In some cases the baby will get confused and “loose form” which manifests as them having a shallow and painful latch. In others, they might become fussy or straight-up refuse to breastfeed as they develop a strong preference for the ease of the bottle.

Warning

Very often tongue-tie express itself as nipple confusion. If you are struggling with poor latching I highly recommend getting an “all clear” for that from an ENT specialist or your pediatrician first.

Prevention

To prevent nipple confusion it is most commonly recommended to wait until breastfeeding is well established (usually 4-6 weeks) before introducing a bottle into the feeding routine.

Lactation consultants also advice waiting the same amount before introducing a pacifier. However, there is less consensus about this, with studies showing conflicting outcomes on breastfeeding and the introduction of a pacifier being recommended by the safe sleep guidelines.

When introducing a bottle the paced bottle feeding technique is highly recommended. This technique has multiple advantages but its primary goal is to promote breastfeeding and avoid nipple confusion.

Slow flow bottles are preferred.

Remediation

If you have problems breastfeeding or suspect nipple confusion contact a lactation consultant as soon as possible. Early intervention is critical, the more you delay the less likely the lactation consultant will be able to help.

Tongue-tie

Unlike nipple-confusion which is about baby’s behavior and preference, tongue-tie (ankyloglossia) is a physical condition which can require medical intervention.

In some babies the lingual frenum (the membrane connecting the underside of a tongue to the floor of the mouth) is abnormally short or thick. The abnormal frenum limits the mobility of tongue causing poor latching and inefficient milk extraction. Babies with tongue-tie have low-weight gain and require excessively long and frequent breastfeeding sessions. This condition is common, genetically heritable and often runs in the family.

Tongue tie both exhibits like and reinforces bottle preference:

• Parents introduce supplementary bottle feeds as a means for their baby to gain weight.
• Baby develops a preference for the bottle as extracting milk from the bottle does not require the same tongue mobility needed to breastfeed.

You can read more about it from UK’s NHS.

It is also worth noting that there are different levels of severity for tongue tie, and there is a change for light to mild cases to go undiagnosed for long. In our case, my daughter had a mild manifestation of this abnormality, and it went unnoticed even after several consultations with different lactation specialist. It got finally detected when we went to see a pediatric Otolaryngologist (ENT doctor). Obviously this is an anecdotal example, and it does not mean your case will be the same, it’s just something to be aware of.

Tongue-tie is treated with a frenectomy. A frenectomy is minor surgery where the doctor cuts frenum to restore mobility of the tongue. The procedure is complete within seconds, performed without anesthetic, and does not require hospitalization.

However after the procedure you might be instructed to perform post-frenectomy massages at home for several weeks. These exercises are designed to prevent frenum reattachment and premature closing of the wound. Performing these massage is highly unpleasant, both for the baby and for the caregiver.

There is ongoing debate about the efficacy of these post-frenectomy massages, but this is a discussion you must have with your ENT. More info can be found here.

Paced bottle feeding

Unlike traditional bottle feeding which uses continuous flow, paced feeding replicates breastfeeding’s rhythm of suck–swallow–pause. While this technique is often used to prevent nipple confusion in babies who switch between breast and bottle, its advantages make it a good choice for exclusively bottle-fed babies as well.

The core goal of this technique is to reduce the flow of milk, requiring the baby to actively suck to extract it. This is a shift from traditional feeding, where gravity does the work and milk is essentially poured into the baby’s mouth.

How to

A paced bottle-feed should typically take around 10-20 minutes, similar length as a breastfeeding session. These are not hard numbers, just general reference points to queue you in whether the pace is right.

The baby should be sitting semi-upright in your lap at around 50 degrees angle. Always use your hand to support their neck and upper back.

Alternatively you can place the baby laying down and sideways on a pillow in your lap. They should be facing to the side with their backside touching your abdomen. In my experience this is more conformable both for the baby and the caregiver. The side-laying position is especially good for night feeds since it allows to eat while drowsy.

After placing the baby, touch the bottle tip to their upper lip, and wait for the baby to open the mouth and accept the bottle.

Maintain the bottle is a somewhat horizontal position. The bottle should be inclined enough so the tip is always full but not as inclined so gravity forces the milk out of the bottle. The actual angle of the bottle needs to be constantly adjusted depending on how much milk is left in the bottle.
A good litmus test for the correct angle: The tip of the teat is full, the base of the teat is not.

Bad angle examples:

In the picture to the left the angle is not steep enough, the tip is not full. The baby should ingest air together with the milk, it causes digestive discomfort.

In the picture to the right the angle is slightly too steep, the base of the teat should not be full. A steep angle can make your baby take too much milk in one gulp.

Good angle

In the picture above the angle is correct: The tip is full so no air will be ingested. Bottle is not too inclined so that gravity forces milk out of the teat.

Let the baby suck on the bottle for around 20-30 seconds, then lower the bottle to a horizontal position so the nipple tip is totally empty. This simulates the breastfeeding let-down pause.

Note: During pauses the baby might gulp air by sucking on the empty teat, this is ok. Counterintuitively they swallow less air with a fully empty teat than they would have with a partially filled teat.
If the air swallowed in such a manner becomes problem for you, you can remove the bottle all together from their mouth during breaks. This did not work for me, my daughter got very angry every time I tried removing the bottle from her mouth.

This is an excellent short video demonstration of paced bottle feeding.

Advantages of paced bottle feeding

Prevents over-feeding

You might have heard that “you can’t overfeed a breast-fed baby”. Extracting milk from a breast is an active process, when the baby stops being hungry they can just stop sucking and the meal ends. Receiving milk from a bottle with traditional bottle feeding techniques is a passive activity, gravity pulls the milk into baby’s mouth and their only option is to swallow it. By letting the baby “do the work” and extract the milk by themselves the risk of overfeeding is eliminated.

Reduces Gas and Reflux

Because the milk flow is not continuous, and we include frequent pauses for breathing, the baby avoids gulping or gasping for air. This controlled pace ensures the baby ingests significantly less air, which helps prevent digestive discomfort.

Avoids nipple confusion/flow preference
(This applies only to babies who switch between breast and bottle)

Bottle nipples require less effort the active sucking needed to trigger milk letdown. Flow preference refers to the situation where the baby gets accustomed to the faster flow and refuses to breastfeed. By incorporating regular breaks and encouraging a natural suck–swallow–pause rhythm paced feeding lowers the risk of your baby developing bottle preference .

Prevents the baby choking on milk
Especially early on, some babies have difficulty managing breathing and eating at the same time. They will breathe in while trying to swallow at the same time, which makes them choke. Reducing the flow of milk and offering constant pauses helps them manage better the suck–swallow–breathe rhythm.