Kassing Method Or How To Give A Bottle Without Harming Breastfeeding

The Kassing method is a way to bottle feed without interfering with breastfeeding. When applied, the chances of the baby rejecting the mother’s breast or not having adequate suction is almost completely reduced.

Some mothers are unable to breastfeed their babies and are forced to bottle feed them. This occurs mainly when the child is premature or needs to consume a food supplement. There are also women who, for work reasons, express milk and then someone else feeds the child. Similarly, some moms may have health problems that prevent their child from breastfeeding.

The bottle can confuse children and prevent them from taking from the breast. However, the bottle makes it easier to obtain food and requires less effort for the infant . This is because nipples are different from maternal nipples; the holes in these are larger and the milk falls by gravity, therefore, the baby does not have to suck.

The problem that can arise with the bottle is that if the mother wishes to breastfeed, the child does not adapt or has difficulty sucking. This is why American lactation specialist Dee Kassing designed a bottle feeding system that simulates breastfeeding.

How to apply the Kassing method?

The objective of the Kassing method is to reproduce the characteristics of natural breastfeeding and the mother’s breast , especially in terms of the effort made by the baby when sucking. In this way, the negative effects that the bottle can have are considerably reduced and it makes it easier to maintain mixed breastfeeding.

It is necessary to keep the child semi-seated when feeding with a bottle . Breastfeeding posture should not be imitated. The nipple that should be used in this method are the anatomical ones, these are totally different from the nipple. Its orifices are larger and facilitate the work of the little one when it comes to sucking.

It is not only a question of choosing the right bottle for the baby, but it is also important to reproduce the natural stimuli of breastfeeding . It is necessary to stimulate the seeking reflex by touching the child’s cheeks and mouth so that he seeks to latch on to the nipple on his own.

When the baby’s mouth is open, let him suckle several times while keeping his trunk in a vertical direction. Thus, he will make the effort to suck the milk and prevent it from falling directly into his mouth due to gravity.

Likewise, the mother is the one who controls the duration and quantity of the baby’s intake during feeding . This is accomplished by touching your cheeks and pulling the nipple out from time to time to start the process again.

Suitable bottle characteristics

To put the Kassing method into practice, the dimensions and shape of the nipple must be taken into account. This must be completely round to resemble the shape of the mother’s nipple.

It will also need to be long, so that it can touch the point where the hard and soft palate meet, as in breastfeeding. Its base must be narrow, soft and two centimeters long.

The nipple must be slow-flowing , as indicated in this guide for breastfeeding from the Hospital Universitario Granada. With this, the milk will take longer to flow and the baby will have to strain as he would if he were breastfeeding. This will take longer to finish the bottle and your digestion will be slower.

So, you need to buy straight bottles, not curved ones. The recti make it more difficult for the milk to flow out, in this way, the baby will have to work harder to suckle and will reinforce the sucking stimulus.

Postures for feeding the baby

The purpose of this method is not to overfeed the child and that he himself is the one who regulates the flow of milk at each feeding of the bottle . At the time of feeding, the baby must be semi-sitting.

It is not recommended that the little one is lying on his back because this way the milk falls by gravity and the baby does not make any effort to obtain the milk. In addition, in this position there are more risks of choking or ear infections, because milk can enter the middle ear through the eustachian tube.

The most important thing is that the bottle is horizontal, not tilted . With the same objective, that it is the baby who sucks the milk. And this is evidenced by this Guide to healthy breastfeeding .

Before starting with the suction, the ideal is to activate the search reflex, not to put the bottle directly into the infant’s mouth. Rather touch his lips and cheeks with the nipple until he reaches for the pacifier and begins to suckle.

Regarding the Kassing method …

The Kassing method is useful when the baby is premature or on the recommendation of the pediatrician . It requires a supplement and follows a mixed lactation. It is also ideal when the mother has very painful wounds or cracks that do not allow her to breastfeed directly.

Lactation specialists point out that when babies require supplements it is recommended that they consume them through the bottle, as long as the milk used is from the mother and not from formulas. The breast milk is the ideal food for the little ones ; it is full of essential nutrients and vitamins for its development.

This way of feeding the baby seeks to recreate the natural conditions of breastfeeding, mainly at the level of stimulation, effort and attachment. In this way, the bottle will not interfere with mixed breastfeeding. In addition, it will allow you to return to exclusive breastfeeding later.