How it Works

Bottle Buddies was designed to be simple and easy to use. There are only three components (one Baby Bottle Band and two Bottle Buddies handles) Once on the bottle, it can completely change the way you bottle feed your baby! Let Bottle Buddies help your baby start the journey of haptic exploration and allow them to start working on those tiny fingers!

Start early by introducing Bottle Buddies as a grasping toy during playtime. This lets your little one be familiarized with holding Bottle Buddies

Try feeding your baby with the Bottle Buddies in one or both hands. You want to see how their grip is during the feed. This also lets you gauge their arm movements so you can determine if they are ready. Don't rush your baby if they are still having sudden jerky and rigid movements

If you and your baby are ready, attach the Bottle Buddies and position them where your baby's hands are. Get your baby's hand on the Bottle Buddies just before you give them the bottle. When they start suckling, they will grip down if they are hungry.

Now you're feeding your baby with Bottle Buddies! Remember that this is to get your baby to get used to gripping and to exercise their fingers. You want to expose them to this and other haptic exploratory procedures as early and often as possible, as it can dovetail to more complex grips earlier on. Check out common baby grasp types and see what your baby can currently do.

How to Apply

 

Preparation     

Before feeding time, you can take Bottle Buddies and see if your baby grasps onto it. If your baby is not grabbing onto it, you may want to do a few sessions of playtime with Bottle Buddies as a grasping toy to familiarize your little one first. It is recommenced that you start your first Bottle Buddies feed with Bottle Buddies detached to see how they react. Make sure to gauge their arm activity so you can be confident they will not be tossing the bottle around. Safety first! Once you and your baby are ready, move on to step 1.

Step 1     

Before the bottle cap and nipple is on, lightly wet the bottle band with water and lay it over the top of the bottle. Apply pressure on both ball joints to gently push the bottle band down the bottle. The band will flex and expand to fit the size of your baby bottle. For larger bottles, you may need to sleeve the band from the bottom of the bottle. Adjust the band location so that it's neatly horizontal. The band location is ideally a third way down to half way down the bottle, but play around with placement to see what fits your baby best.

Step 2     

Take your first Bottle Buddies and snap on one of the bottle band ball joints. Once connected, it can be rotated to any position.

Step 3     

Take your second Bottle Buddies (it doesn't have to match!) and snap on the other bottle band ball joint. Again, once connected, it can be rotated into any position. 

You are now all ready to bottle feed your baby with Bottle Buddies!

Tips

• Be smart and safe! When using Bottle Buddies for bottle feeding, please only use while your baby is under close supervision and do not leave your baby unattended at any time. Parents should take caution when using Bottle Buddies. Please keep in mind that this product does not absolve parents from typical feeding responsibilities.
• Warm up your baby first with a detached Bottle Buddies as a grasping toy during playtime a few times, so they can transition to bottle feeding with these Bottle Buddies a little easier
• During feeding, if they have already closed their hands without the Bottle Buddies, gently remove the bottle and try to stimulate their hand so they open it and try to get their hand on the Bottle Buddies before giving them the bottle again.
• Don't forget to explore different Bottle Buddies combinations and watch your baby explore!
• Adjust the Bottle Buddies so that your baby can comfortably reach it. If it is sill too far away, move the bottle band closer to the nipple of the bottle.
• If your baby is a little older, try to rotate and spin the Bottle Buddies around to encourage your baby to hold the Bottle Buddies on their own

Remember! Early exploration of your baby's reflexes can dovetail to more complex grips and strength. If your baby does not hold the Bottle Buddies at first, don't give up!