Whether you're exclusively bottle feeding or combining it with breastfeeding, learning to understand your baby's feeding cues is key to a positive, responsive feeding experience.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to recognise when your baby is hungry, full, or needs a break, and how to apply responsive feeding techniques using a bottle.
What Is Responsive Feeding?
Responsive feeding means feeding your baby in response to their cues, not by the clock, and not by the amount in the bottle. It’s about tuning into:
- When your baby wants to feed
- How long they want to feed for
- When they’ve had enough
This approach promotes bonding, supports self-regulation, and protects breastfeeding relationships for parents who are expressing or combining feeds.
Why Baby Feeding Cues Matter
Babies are born with the ability to communicate hunger and fullness, but these cues can be subtle - especially in the early days.
By learning to spot and respond to them, you help your baby:
- Feel secure and connected
- Develop healthy feeding patterns
- Avoid overfeeding
- Feed in a calm, positive way
Early Hunger Cues to Look Out For
These hunger cues often appear before your baby cries:
- Turning head side to side (rooting)
- Sucking fingers, fists, or clothes
- Lip smacking or mouth opening
- Restlessness or stirring from sleep
- Making soft murmuring or cooing sounds
Crying is a late cue – though not always possible, try to offer the bottle before this stage to help baby feed calmly and effectively.
Signs Your Baby Is Full
Understanding when your baby has had enough is just as important as recognising hunger.
Look for:
- Slowing down or stopping sucking
- Turning head away from the teat
- Spitting out the teat and dribbling milk from the side of their mouth
- Relaxed hands and body
- Falling asleep or becoming distracted
- Pushing the bottle away
Even if there’s milk left in the bottle, stop feeding once your baby shows signs of fullness. Forcing baby to finish a bottle can override their natural hunger cues and increase the risk of overfeeding.
How to Use Responsive Feeding With a Bottle
Responsive feeding works beautifully with bottle feeding, especially if you’re using expressed breastmilk and want to protect your breastfeeding relationship.
1. Let Baby Take the Lead
- Watch for hunger cues instead of feeding to a strict schedule
- Hold your baby close, with eye contact and cuddles
- Wait for baby to open their mouth and draw in the teat, just as they would at the breast
2. Use Paced Bottle Feeding
Paced feeding slows the flow and gives baby more control.
How to do it:
- Hold baby upright and the bottle horizontally
- Allow milk to fill the teat tip, not the entire teat
- Let baby suck rhythmically, with natural pauses
- Gently tip the bottle down during pauses to allow baby to rest
- Switch arms mid-feed to mimic changing breasts
3. Choose a Teat That Passes The ‘Triangle Test’
Bottles that mimic the natural movement of breastfeeding help reduce feeding confusion and encourage a deeper, slower suck.
Choose a teat with a gradual slope that promotes a wide latch (also known as ‘the triangle test’) - similar to how baby attaches at the breast. A bulbous base encourages the lips to flange outward and reduces shallow latching.
4. Never Force a Feed
- Respect when baby pauses or turns away
- Don’t reinsert the teat repeatedly
- Let baby decide how much to take
Remember: babies are the best judges of how much they need.
Day-to-Day Tips for Responsive Bottle Feeding
- Hold baby close, skin-to-skin if possible
- Talk, smile, and make eye contact during the feed
- Avoid distractions like screens or multitasking
- Take your time, make the feed about connection, not just volume
- Burp baby during and after as needed, but gently and without pressure
How Often Should Baby Feed?
Newborns feed 8–12 times in 24 hours, whether breastfed or bottle-fed. As they grow, they may feed less often but for longer.
Responsive feeding supports this natural variation by listening to baby’s cues, not a feeding schedule.
Midwife’s Top Tips
- Offer the bottle as soon as you see early hunger cues
- Don’t pressure baby to finish the bottle
- Use a slow-flow teat to mimic breastfeeding
- Take your time - feeding is a moment for bonding
- Trust your instincts, and you’ll learn your baby’s cues in time
Feeding is more than a transfer of milk, it’s about bonding, communication, and trust. Whether you're expressing breastmilk or using a combination approach, responsive bottle feeding helps your baby feel secure and loved.
By tuning into your baby’s natural hunger and fullness cues, you’re laying the foundations for healthy feeding habits and a strong emotional connection that lasts well beyond the bottle.
