Nipple Question (bottles vs mine)

[AFWife]

I've noticed that bottle nipples get more, uh, "open" as the child gets older. The flow gets heavier as the months go up... Is it really necessary to buy a new nipple for my bottle? I mean, my nipples don't get bigger or heavier right? So why buy new bottle nipples?

[Ruthla]

It's generally best to use "newborn" nipples when bottlefeeding a breastfed baby of any age. You want them to keep on sucking hard at the bottle, so they don't get too used to bottles and stop wanting to breastfeed. This also helps keep them from overfeeding (which can be a big problem if you're having trouble pumping enough.) You want them to eat less ebm and nurse more.

For an exclusively bottlefed baby, larger nipple holes means that feedings can go faster, allowing more time for other things in life (such as exploring the world.) Sucking needs aren't being met 100% at the bottle anyway- that's what pacifiers are for. They generally use the larger holes as soon as the baby can manage it without a tummyache- mostly for the convenience of adults.

There are some exceptions to the "only use newborn nipples" rules. For a mom with REALLY fast letdown, the baby might get frustrated with a bottle nipple that's slower than mom. For babies who are resistant to drinking from bottles at all, getting grumpy during daycare hours, and then nursing all night, a faster flow nipple might entice the baby to eat a more "normal" amount of milk during the day and thus be happier and easier to care for. But, in any of those cases, it's best to start with the newborn sized nipples and only switch to larger holed nipples if needed.

[kriket]

ITA w/ ruthla.

Also, look for the sloooowest flow you can find. We have one from evenflo that is the only NB nip that won't drown DS. The dropins and the advent are both widemouth and DH doesn't like them. I don't ask questions about that. Bottlefeeding is his domain.

[MamaPhD]

I had asked my peditrician, too, and she said to stay with newborn bottle nipple unless baby seems super frustrated and has problems. Our favorite was Gerber Nuk orthodontic nipples - had to go with orthodontic cuz my sister is dentist. Medela nipples are waaaaaaay too fast flow :-( As far as mommy nipple, I feel I have faster flow now at 8mo than earlier (2-3mo) though not bigger in size. I think boob became more efficient!

[AnnaNova]

i had to go back to work, so now when im gone my son gets 2-3 feedings from a bottle.
about a month into it, i started noticing that he is showing signs of developing nipple preference, even though we had all "0" and "1" sizes of nipples
so i went out and found a bottle with a slowest nipple possible... im not even sure what it is, i think its nuk for newborns (glass, only fits about 4oz), and things have gotten better
my mom is the one that usually takes care of him when im gone, and she says he puts a lot of effort into his feedings, sometimes even gets sweaty and takes little breaks (though doesnt seem to be too frustrated)
and at the breast he has to work much less by now (6 mo as of today
so i agree that unless baby is frustrated, use the smallest nipple you can.

[LilMomma83]

I used slow flow/stage 1 nipples the whole time with DS1 (he still takes a bottle 1-2 times day at 27mos and he has never minded a bit), my newborn still can't even handle a stage 1 very well, so somebody suggested preemie nipples made by Dr. Brown (I use Nuk, because I noticed there latch is most similar to BF with them).

[crayfishgirl]

I don't mean to hijack this thread but I got no feedback to my recent question.

Ruthla: you mention that upping the nipple size may be okay in cases where milk flow is fast and baby is bottle-resistent? I think this describes me (although I wouldn't say "REALLY fast"), and our daughter is definitely displeased and cranky at not having booby during the day. She is 4.5 months and only just starting taking a bottle (after 2.5 months of trying), but she will take only 2-4 oz a day. This doesn't seem to be nearly enough, and she doesn't seem to be reverse feeding. If she focusses on eating, she can drink seemingly okay (according to my husband), but she's too distracted and crabby. I don't want her to starve, but don't want to set ourselves up for supply issues because starts preferring a fast flow bottle over me.

Thoughts?

[hotharmony]

crayfishgirl: I would try different bottle and different nipples, we landed on breastflow bottles by first year and my LO likes them the best. Also you would be surprised at how efficient a baby can be at breastfeeding. But to be on the safe side you might want to ask you Ped if you can do a random weight check, if she is still having 5 or more dirty diapers a day and gaining weight/meeting milestones there is no real reason to worry.

[JudiAU]

I've always assumed the faster flow nipples were for the convenience of the caregiver, i.e. less time to feed a bottle.

We used Second Nature nipples on Green to Grow bottles and there is only one nipple. If the babe sucks harder the flow can increase but there isn't a faster flow option.

Medela nipples are WAY too fast.