How to Spot a Proper Bottle Latch & Why It Matters

Why A Bottle Latch Matters

If your baby is struggling with feeding and you don’t know how to fix it, it can feel defeating—no matter how you’re feeding them. And when it comes to bottle feeding, there just isn’t a lot of support on how to spot signs of trouble, which can leave you second-guessing yourself.

Even many professionals assume bottle feeding is simple—just put the bottle in, and the baby drinks. But if you’re struggling, you already know that bottle feeding isn't always easy for a baby. That’s because drinking from a bottle takes coordination—more than we often realize. How your baby feeds from a bottle isn't just about how much milk they’re getting. Their bottle latch also shows you how easy or difficult feeding is—when you know what to look for.

A correct latch means feeding is safe, easy, and effective. A poor latch is a sign that something is making feeding harder than it should be—and that’s our cue to figure out what’s getting in the way. Spotting latch problems is simple, and knowing what to look for will help you feel confident about when—and why—to seek outside help. So, let’s dive in and show you exactly how to do that.

Checking Your Baby's Latch

Now that you know your baby’s latch isn’t a judgment on your parenting skills but just their way of communicating with you, let’s talk about what to look for the next time you feed so you can feel more confident in understanding what your baby’s latch is telling you.

Your baby doesn’t need to have a perfect latch every time they feed. If they’re extra tired or already hungry, their latch may reflect that. Remember, it’s just communication. Don’t worry about what happens occasionally—focus on what happens most of the time.

Signs of a Proper Bottle Latch

• Deep – Your baby’s mouth covers the base of the bottle nipple, not just the tip.
• Stable – Your baby can hold the nipple relatively still in their mouth throughout the feed.
• Engaged – Your baby is using their muscles efficiently; their mouth is open wide, their lips are gently flipped outward, and their tongue is cupped around the bottle nipple.
• Easy – Your baby starts feeding right away, without needing much encouragement to latch. They take rhythmic, even sucks throughout the feed.
• Relaxed – Your baby’s hands and body stay loose and comfortable, not tense or struggling.

Signs of a Poor Bottle Latch

• Unlatches frequently – If your baby keeps pulling off it's a sign of discomfort or frustration.
• Milk leaks from their mouth – Milk should flow one way: your baby drinks and swallows.
• Gags, clicks, or chokes – The only sounds you should hear are soft, audible swallows.
• Fusses during feeding – Feeding should feel good for your baby. If they regularly cry during feeding, something may be making them uncomfortable.
• Feeds very slowly – If your baby regularly takes more than 20 minutes to finish 4 oz without intentional pacing, it's worth investigating why.

Why Bad Latches Happen

It’s much easier to identify whether your baby has a good latch on the bottle than it is to pinpoint what’s causing a bad one. But understanding the reason behind the problem is the first step toward helping your baby. Many latch issues can be improved with simple adjustments. And if those don’t work, there are professionals who can help make feeding easier for both you and your baby.

Understanding the causes of latch problems will give you the knowledge to make small, effective changes and make feeding easier for your baby.

Five Common Reasons

1. The bottle isn’t a good fit – Not all bottles support a deep, effective latch. Since there’s no standard regulation for baby bottles, choosing the right one can be confusing. Some bottles—even expensive ones—can make it impossible for your baby to get a good latch.
2. The flow rate isn’t right for your baby – If the milk flows too fast or too slow, your baby may struggle to keep up or get frustrated. Flow rate is especially important if you’re alternating between breastfeeding and bottle-feeding, but it should always be safe and comfortable for your baby.
3. Their position is making it hard – Many parents believe the bottle should be held vertically above their baby because that's how it’s often shown in pictures, but this position can make feeding harder. This position doesn’t allow your baby to take natural pauses during feeding, which can make them feed too quickly or feel uncomfortable.
4. They are gassy or uncomfortable – Feeding triggers digestion, and if your baby’s belly hurts, they may cry, fuss, or arch away from the bottle, making it difficult to feed them.
5. Your baby has oral function challenges – If your baby isn’t able to use their mouth muscles efficiently, feeding may be more difficult than it should be.

How to Help Your Baby

Remember, a bad latch doesn’t mean something is wrong with your baby. It simply means there are things you can do to make feeding easier for them. Unless your baby is struggling to get the calories they need or feeding feels unsafe, solving a latch issue is important—but it’s not an emergency. Now that you know what to look for and why it matters, your next steps are simple.

Three Easy Fixes

• Change your baby’s feeding position. Hold your baby more upright or feed them in a side-lying position, keeping the bottle horizontal to slow the flow...
• Try a bottle with a different shaped nipple. A nipple with a gradual shape from top to bottom works best for most babies...
• Adjust the flow rate. If your baby is leaking milk, coughing, or choking, try a slower flow nipple until they can feed without these issues...

Getting Professional Help

If your baby needs a preemie flow to feed without choking, coughing, or leaking—or if you’ve tried all of these easy adjustments and nothing is working—that’s a sign it’s time to seek professional support.

Reach out to a lactation consultant or pediatric feeding specialist with additional training in assessing and supporting oral function.

Finding a professional to help can feel daunting—especially if you aren’t even sure you need one—but it doesn’t have to be hard. (Here’s a blog post on how to find a good provider.)

A good lactation consultant can help with bottle feeding—even if you are exclusively formula feeding. And if you’re combination feeding, they are the best trained to make sure you have the support you need to feed your baby the way you want.

No matter who you work with, you want a professional who doesn’t just help you find the right bottle but also helps you identify the underlying cause of your baby’s bottle-feeding struggles.

Confidently Moving Forward

Whether this blog confirmed that your baby’s latch is good or helped you recognize a problem, you trusted yourself enough to listen to your baby—and that’s amazing.

It’s easy to second-guess yourself when it comes to your baby. But here’s the truth: nobody knows your baby better than you do, and that lets you pick up on things that other people miss.

You don’t have to have all the answers or solve everything on your own. You just need to recognize the signs of a problem so that even if others doubt you, you’ll have the confidence to take the next step and find the right support.

Whatever your next step looks like, there are compassionate professionals ready to support you, and you don’t have to navigate this alone.