(P18-060-23) Knowledge and Use of Paced Bottle-Feeding Among Mothers of Infants

Objectives: Most families bottle-feed, either exclusively or in combination with breastfeeding, yet many families report receiving inadequate support for healthy bottle-feeding. One promising strategy is to teach caregivers about Paced Bottle-Feeding (PBF). PBF is purported to make bottle-feeding more like breastfeeding by encouraging caregivers to pace feeding in response to infant cues, thereby reducing risk of overfeeding and spitting-up. However, few studies have examined the use and effectiveness of PBF. The present study aimed to describe mothers’ awareness and use of PBF. A secondary aim was to investigate whether use of PBF was associated with maternal characteristics and infant feeding practices.

Methods: Mothers with infants 12 months or younger (N = 197) were recruited through an online survey panel. Measures assessed knowledge and use of PBF, maternal characteristics and family demographics, and feeding patterns and practices.

Results: Thirty percent of participants were primiparous, 26% had a college or graduate degree, and 26% had an annual family income of $75,000 or more. The majority identified their race as White (65%) or Black (17%); 16% identified their race as Hispanic. Average infant age was 4.1 months (SD = 1.6, range = 0.1 – 10 months). Thirty-two percent of participants reported their baby only breastfed, 40% only received milk from bottles, and the remaining 27% received milk both directly from the breast and from bottles. Fifty-nine percent of participants were not familiar with PBF. Of the remaining 41% who indicated they had heard of PBF, 28% always used PBF and 21% sometimes used PBF during bottle-feeding. Use of PBF was not associated with maternal characteristics but was associated with less frequent use of bottles (p = 0.03). Participants who used PBF were significantly less likely to encourage their infant to finish the bottle than those who did not use PBF (OR = 0.28, 95% CI = 0.08, 0.93).

Conclusions: PBF has grown in popularity as an educational tool to support healthy bottle-feeding. Findings from the present study suggest use of PBF is associated with lower use of pressuring bottle-feeding practices, but more research is needed to determine its effectiveness in promoting healthy feeding outcomes for bottle-fed infants.

Funding Sources: Baker-Koob Endowment Award