Nutritionists have warned against feeding babies so-called ‘knock-out’ bottles packed with cereal, baby food and even in some cases medicine to make them sleep.

It comes after mums shared images online of the ‘dangerous’ concoctions, which are made from formula or breastmilk mixed with solids and were dubbed a ‘choking hazard’ by child nutritionists.

 Charlotte Stirling-Reed, a Nutrition Consultant who specialises in maternal, infant and childhood nutrition, said: ‘Knock-out bottles put babies at risk of choking.’ 

She added: ‘It’s not ideal and not recommended to offer babies solid foods from bottles.  

‘The action of drinking milk is very different to the action of swallowing solid foods, and therefore this could potentially put babies at risk of choking. 

‘Additionally, formula milks need to be made using very specific measurements and so it’s not ideal to alter the proportions of milk/water in a baby’s bottle.’ 

The original post, which has recently been reshared and recirculated online, was first posted on Facebook in November 2019 – to the horror of other parents, who voiced their concerns.  

Mum Alexis Delaney, from New York, posted to say the method – which included adding Tylenol when her little boy was unwell – had worked ‘every time.’ 

Sharing a snap of the concoction, Alexis wrote: ‘Y’all parents today!! Don’t know these knockout bottles! S**t worked every time. Especially when [the baby] is sick, add some Tylenol. Awww man out like the kite.’

Renowned baby expert, sleep consultant and health visitor Jill Irving said any child health professional would strongly advise against the bottles. 

‘The main reasons being it can cause choking or a baby to overeat and hence have an inappropriate weight gain,’ she said. 

‘Parents who add food to their baby’s bottle are often doing so prior to 26 weeks which is when a baby should be weaned and not before.

‘So this is also a big no. 

‘There are absolutely no guarantees that a baby will sleep just because food has been added to the bottle. 

‘Also no medication should be added to a bottle unless otherwise advised by a medical practitioner.  

‘So for example if a baby has reflux then the GP/HV will advise that something like Infant Gaviscon is added to the milk.  

‘If a parent routinely adds medication to a bottle and then the child doesn’t complete a feed then they have no idea if the drug has been taken.  

‘To summarise to add anything to formula milk unless recommended by a child health professional is a big “no”.’  

Specialist Paediatric Dietitian and founder of UK Kids Nutrition, Bahee Van de Bor, admitted she was ‘shocked’ by the photos.  

She advised: ‘Adding solids into a formula bottle increases babies risk of choking. It can also increase a baby’s intake of calories (above and beyond their requirements) and wouldn’t necessarily promote sleep.  

‘It’s perfectly natural and normal for babies to wake up two or three times overnight.  

‘It’s a natural instinct to try to stop babies from crying at night, but research suggests that letting babies cry a little bit with your loving support to teach them to learn to fall back to sleep, could help babies learn to soothe themselves when they do awake.’ 

The NHS recommends that until babies are six months old they are solely breast or formula fed.

Adding ‘extras’ to baby’s formula powder can cause constipation, dehydration and undernourishment. 

Additional reporting by Jen Mills.

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