Knowledge and Use of Paced Bottle-Feeding Among Mothers of Young Infants

Objective: To describe mothers' awareness and use of paced bottle-feeding (PBF) and to investigate whether the use of PBF was associated with maternal characteristics and infant feeding practices.

Methods: Cross-sectional, online survey. Participants were mothers of infants < 12 months of age (n = 197). Participants self-reported their awareness and use of PBF, demographic characteristics, and infant feeding practices.

Results: Of the 41% of participants who indicated they had or maybe had heard of PBF, 23% used PBF and 35% sometimes used PBF. Use of PBF was not associated with mother or infant characteristics. Participants who used PBF were significantly less likely to encourage their infant to finish the bottle (odds ratio, 0.04; 95% confidence interval, 0.01-0.79).

Conclusions And Implications: Paced bottle-feeding was associated with lower likelihood of one dimension of pressuring feeding practices, encouraging infant bottle-emptying. More research is needed to determine the effectiveness of PBF in promoting healthy feeding outcomes.