Breastfeeding

Supporting Information

Unclean bottles and teats can cause illnesses such as diarrhoea and ear infections. Diarrhoea can be deadly for babies. Illness is less likely if the bottles and teats are sterilized in boiling water before each feed, but bottle-fed babies are still far more susceptible to diarrhoea and other common infections than breastfed babies.

The best food for a baby who cannot be breastfed is milk expressed from the mother's breast or from another healthy mother. The breastmilk should be given from a clean, open cup. Even newborn babies can be fed with an open cup, which can be easily cleaned.

The best food for any baby whose own mother's milk is not available is the breastmilk of another healthy mother.

If breastmilk is not available, a nutritionally adequate breastmilk substitute should be fed to the baby by cup. Infants who are fed breastmilk substitutes are at greater risk of death and disease than breastfed infants.

Feeding the baby breastmilk substitutes can cause poor growth or illness if too much or too little water is added or the water is not clean. It is important to boil and then cool the water and carefully follow the directions for mixing breastmilk substitutes.

Animal's milk and infant formula go bad if left at room temperature for a few hours. Breastmilk can be stored for up to eight hours at room temperature without going bad. Keep it in a clean, covered container.