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Even if you did it with your own children, bottle-feeding can be rather daunting. The sterilizing, the mixing, the warming – it can all be too much like a science exam (with the parents as invigilators!). But, happily, it needn’t be like this. Once you are in the routine, it will be as easy as riding the proverbial bicycle. Wash your hands thoroughly, then:

1 WASH THE BOTTLES AND TEATS

Use hot water and detergent in a clean washing-up bowl. With a bottlebrush, wash the bottles, teats, discs, rings and caps inside and out to remove all traces of milk, not forgetting rims and crevasses (force water through the holes in the teats). Now rinse the bottle parts under a cold mains tap.

2 STERILIZE THE BOTTLES AND TEATS BY ONE OF THE FOLLOWING METHODS:

Boiling: immerse the bottle parts in a pan of boiling water, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Then either fish them out on to a plate rinsed in hot water or leave them to cool in the water, keeping the pan covered, and use when required.

Steaming: use a purpose-designed electric steam sterilizer according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Microwaving: use a purpose-designed microwave sterilizer, again according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Chemical sterilization: immerse bottles and teats in a plastic container containing the appropriate mixture of water and sterilization chemicals (either in tablet or liquid form). Rinse with boiled, cooled water before use.

3 MAKE UP THE FEED

Thoroughly wash and dry your hands. Read the instructions on the milk extremely carefully and follow them to the letter. Pour into the bottle (or bottles – you can make enough for one day’s feeding and keep them in the fridge if you like) the recommended amount of boiled, cooled water. Now, with a well-washed and rinsed scoop (filled so as to be level), add the appropriate amount of milk powder. Put the bottle together with the cap firmly on and shake vigorously until the milk has a smooth, even consistency.

4 WARM THE FEED

It’s best to warm the feed the old-fashioned way, in a bowl of warm water, rather than in a microwave, which can heat unevenly; then check the temperature by dropping a little milk on to your wrist. When the drops feel slightly warm, it’s ready for the baby. (If you are in a hurry, and do resort to the microwave, shake the heated bottle very well to mix in any hot spots and never forget to check the temperature of the milk before feeding.)

5 FEED!

With the baby in the crook of your arm, give the bottle for as long as she seems happy sucking. But keep watching (and don’t go to sleep if it’s the middle of the night!). If she seems to be having any trouble swallowing the milk, remove the bottle to give her a breather.

This is the basic routine. The parents may have their own particular variations, such as, for instance, using salt to remove all traces of milk from the teat. It might be a good idea to ask them to give you a quick demonstration before you have to look after the baby and make up feeds on your own.

Try to remember that the breastfeeding/bottle-feeding debate has progressed since you had your children. To breastfeed was extremely unfashionable in the 1960s when, in an upwardly mobile society, it was even thought by some that it betrayed working-class roots! And any mother who had the temerity to breastfeed a baby in public was considered a danger to public morals.