NU143 Unit 7 Teaching Plan Example

A Family That Chose Formula: A Teaching Plan for a Composite First-Time Mother Returning to Rotating Shifts and Her Husband, Who Will Give Most Night Feeds, Covering Safe Preparation, Amounts, Cues and Bottle Technique

[Student Name]

Purdue University Global

NU143: Maternal Infant Nursing

Unit 7 Teaching Plan

[Instructor Name]

[Date]

The family is composite; volumes and frequencies are typical teaching values and bracketed, and the pediatric provider's guidance governs.

Assessment of the Learners

[Ms. T.], composite, 30, and her husband, 32, have a healthy son born at [39] weeks, [3,450] g, now [24] hours old. She returns to work at [eight] weeks on rotating twelve-hour shifts and decided during pregnancy to formula feed, after discussing options with her provider. Her husband will do most nights. Neither has prepared formula before, and neither has family nearby to show them. They live in a city with treated tap water. They learn well from demonstration and want written instructions for the refrigerator. Both are eager and attentive; she is tired after a long labor.

Respecting the Choice

Ms. T. mentioned that a visitor had told her she was "giving up" on breastfeeding. The nurse acknowledged that the decision was hers, made with her provider and with her work schedule in mind, and that the goal now was to feed her son safely and confidently. Teaching that begins by questioning a settled, informed decision can leave parents defensive and less likely to ask the questions that keep a baby safe. The plan therefore spends its time on preparation, cues and storage rather than revisiting the choice.

Learning Need

Deficient knowledge of safe infant formula preparation and feeding, related to no prior experience, as evidenced by their questions about mixing and amounts.

Objectives

By discharge, both parents will:

1. Prepare a bottle of powdered formula correctly, with the right water and ratio.

2. State a typical feeding amount and frequency for the first weeks.

3. Name three hunger cues and two fullness cues.

4. Demonstrate paced bottle feeding.

5. State how long prepared formula may be kept and when to discard it.

6. Name three signs that need a call to the pediatric office.

Content and Methods

Preparation, by demonstration and return demonstration: wash hands; use clean bottles; use safe water as instructed for their water supply; add water first, then the exact number of level scoops on the label; never add extra powder or extra water, since too much powder can dehydrate a baby and too much water can dilute nutrients and lower blood sodium. Infant formulas are designed to approximate the nutrient content of breast milk, so correct mixing matters (Martin et al., 2016).

Amounts and frequency: in the first days, about [30] to [60] mL every [three] to [four] hours, increasing over the first weeks, following the baby's cues rather than finishing every bottle.

Cues: hunger, such as rooting, hand-to-mouth and lip smacking, before crying; fullness, such as turning away, slowing, relaxed hands and falling asleep.

Paced feeding: holding the baby upright, the bottle horizontal so milk fills only the nipple, pausing every few sucks. This lets the baby control the pace and reduces overfeeding and spit-up.

Paced feeding lets the person holding the bottle follow the baby's lead, which matters most at night, when a tired parent may be tempted to hurry.

Storage: prepared formula used within [one] hour once feeding starts; leftover formula in the bottle discarded; prepared bottles refrigerated and used within [24] hours.

Night Feeds and Shared Care

Because her husband will give most night feeds while she sleeps before shifts, the plan treats him as a primary learner, not a helper. He practices mixing a bottle in low light, keeps a pre-measured container of powder and a thermos of safe water by the bed if the pediatric office approves that method for their water, and learns to burp the baby midway and at the end. They agree on a simple shared log on the refrigerator for feeding times and amounts and wet diapers, so whoever is on duty can see the pattern. The log also gives the pediatric office useful information at the first visit.

Signs to Call

Fewer than [six] wet diapers a day after the first week; vomiting that is forceful or repeated; fever of [38] C or higher in the first months; poor feeding or unusual sleepiness; signs of dehydration such as a dry mouth or sunken soft spot.

Evaluation

Both parents prepared a bottle correctly on the first try. Her husband fed the baby using paced feeding while the nurse watched and named two fullness cues when the baby turned away. Both stated the storage limits and three reasons to call. Written instructions with pictures went home with them, since pictures and short steps help any reader follow a task at home (Weiss, 2007). The plan also addressed her own care: since she is not breastfeeding, she was taught comfort measures for breast fullness, such as a supportive bra and cold packs, and to avoid stimulating the breasts (Perry et al., 2022).

References

Martin, C. R., Ling, P.-R., & Blackburn, G. L. (2016). Review of infant feeding: Key features of breast milk and infant formula. Nutrients, 8(5), Article 279. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu8050279

Perry, S. E., Hockenberry, M. J., Cashion, K., Alden, K. R., Olshansky, E., & Lowdermilk, D. L. (2022). Maternal child nursing care (7th ed.). Elsevier.

Weiss, B. D. (2007). Health literacy and patient safety: Help patients understand (2nd ed.). American Medical Association Foundation.