Different Bottles

Congrats on your 5 week old. They are so wonderful at that age. My little one is already 14 months...time really flies! Anyway, about the bottles. We used Avent bottles and nipples starting with the no. 1 for newborns and never had any problems. He is still using them today (no. 4 nipple). I do find that if you push on the outer part of the nipple inside the plastic part of the cap before you put it on the bottle, it forms a tighter seal and cuts down on leaking on all bottles...just a thought. Hopes this helps.

SR

We used the Dr. Browns with the low flow nipple. You can buy extra accessories separately for dr. browns at Babies R Us, so the supplies were easily replaced. They do have the BPA free bottles now too.

Best of luck to you and your new little one!

I used the Avent bottles with the slow flowing nipples. You might want to check with your doctor to make sure there isn't a problem.

make sure he is in an upright position when he is eating. Also, you might use your hand under his chin as support while he is eating. Good Luck.
A.

I would ask his doctor. It could be the formula, or acid reflux. I used Dr. Browns bottles. You can by them at walmart a little on the expensive side. They really helped with gas

You need to speak with your doctor about making sure that swallowing is not a problem. They can do a special xray called a modified barium swallow study. You also can call the ECI (Early childhood intervention) group that works in your area. You can get the number online. Also, they may tell you that you need to thicken the formula. I would not do that without discussing it with the doctor or ECI first though.

I had the same problem and had success with the Avent bottles with the least holes (I think it's one). Good luck.

I would request a swallow study from your Pediatrician as soon as possible. It is really no big deal for your little one as they sit comfortably and drink the bottle without being poked or prodded. This will help to rule out any possible serious complications and avoid more money spent on bottles you won't use. The staff at Presbyterian Plano (Texas Health Resources) really helped us out a lot! Best wishes and congratulations!

For us the Playtex Drop ins worked the best and were the easiest to keep up with. On top of which m son has severe reflux and these were the best for him. They have slow, medium, fast, and variable nipples to use. I started with the slow, moved to medium, then to fast, then to variable... and after all that I reallized I should have just started with variable! They control the flow with the variable nipple! So it won't come out unless the are sucking! I think this would really work well for him so that he would have the control of the flow! Hope that helps!

K.
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We're using Dr. Browns bottles with our 6 week old and she seems to be doing very well with them. If I notice she's having to suck faster and faster to keep up with the flow of breastmilk coming out of the nipple, I just gently pull part of the nipple out of her mouth a little bit...not sure if that makes sense.

Best of luck to you and your newest addition!

I would schedule a SWALLOW STUDY through your Pediatrician ASAP. It sounds like your son needs his formula thickened, like my daughter. If he is aspirating (getting small bits of formula down his windpipe) because of the choking he is at very high risk for pneumonia and it is very serious.

It may be the powdered formula. You may need to use the ready made or concentrate. They are thicker, so the babies can keep it down. I know I couldn't use powdered for my twins for months. Also, have you tried making the bottle 30 mins to 1hr ahead of time? If you do this and let it set out on the counter, the gas has time to let out of it before feeding.

Hi. You might like the 1st years breast flow bottles. Even if you are not breastfeeding they are still great. My daughter loved them. The baby has to actually suck with the same motion they use to nurse to make the milk come out -- so their movement will control the flow of the milk. My daughter never choked or had milk leak. The only thing is that you have to be sure that when you put it together to put the niple in all the way or the bottle may leak. Also, some people don't realise there are some tabs on the side of the nipple to make the milk flow back into the bottle.

PS...ignore people who send you rude messages. Every mom has the right to feed their baby however they want without judgement from other people. No one knows your circumstances so its rude for them to give you advice on things that you didn't ask for ;-)

We loved Dr. Brown nipple/bottles. Make sure you get the #1 size nipples. My daughter had acid reflux and swallowing problem, they worked great for us. Hope this helps.

My daughter is 4 weeks old today and the only bottle we have been able to find that worked for her was the playtex ventaire ones. the formula does come out alot slower than with the other bottles though so be prepared to spend longer feeding him. My husband doesn't like the ventaire bottles because he thinks they go too slow, but they are the only ones that don't constantly choke her. Hope this helps....

As Nicki H said, I would check with your doctor about possibly a swallowing problem. My son had reflux, laryngomalacia along with stridor, plus he had a swallowing problem where the epiglottis opening was not opening and closing at the right time, making him choke and aspirate the liquid into his lungs. This is not something to take lightly as it can later cause respiratory problems like asthma if left unchecked. My son had a Modified Barium Swallow Study and they would give him different textures of food and watch him swallow it on an x-ray machine. Once they determined which consistencies he could swallow properly, they gave me special nipples and had me get Thick-It from the pharmacy and thicken ALL of his liquids to nectar consistency. It was amazing, as he could finally eat!

I'm not saying that your son has this problem, but it is certainly something to talk to your doctor about.

Good luck to you!

You may want to try the Breastflow bottles (I bought ours at Babies R Us). They mimic the mother's breast and the baby has to work a little harder to get the milk out, but you don't have that fast flow issue. The Avent bottles (also with the slowest flow nipples) have also worked for us (although we have been succesful with the playtex, but agree that the evenflo ones were too fast).

Good luck!

Three different doctors have told me to use only Dr. Brown's bottles and nipples. We switched and we've had great success. (Also, we ordered them on Amazon...cheaper and free shipping!)

Good luck!

Try the dr browns. They worked best for my baby and he was having a ton of trouble with bottles because he was exclusively breastfed for three months before I introduced one. (My fault)I tried the playtex drop ins and the avent and then the dr browns and he was good to go!

Try the Adiri Natural Nurser or Breastflow. Make sure the nipple is short so that it isn't touching the back of his throat causing him to gag or choke. Also sit him more upright if bottle flow is a concern. Good luck.

Hi there:

My thought was maybe it's not the nipple but if you are feeding him laying back it might be causing that - try sitting him up more and not tipping the bottle up so much - letting him pull the liquid out of the bottle because maybe with gravity it's putting out too much? Just a thought - I hope you find a solution for him!

Try dr browns preemie flow nipples. That was all I found to work-your ds might be too old for them, but if you prefer less parts, try the gerber preemie bottles. Preemie just means slower flow than the slow flow...for dr browns anyway-same nipple size. I know they carry them at Lone Star Baby and Kids if Babies R Us is out.

I just saw some of the previous answers...thick it is good. we did rice cereal first and it made my dd so chubby, and did not help-would not recommend that! thick it has no calories or like 7 per packet! simply thick is another brand too. my dd had very severe reflux almost requiring surgery...best of luck!

Hi N.,

First, sorry about the rude messages! So many moms have no idea all the different reasons why some moms can't breastfeed.

I also couldn't breastfeed b/c at 6wks my son started choking on every drop of milk. It was extremely painful to watch! We tried every bottle on the market and nothing helped. He ended up having a swalling disorder. He is not perfectly fine, but if you have any questions if you think your child my have this, please feel free to email me: ____@____.com

If you think your child is simply getting too much milk, then I recommend using an ultra slow flow nipple and thickening it with Simply Thick, this can be found at the Walgreens at Medical City or only.

Again, feel free to contact me with any questions you may have. I am sorry you are going through this, but luckily they grow out of these problems!

Take care,
M.

When I had to stop breastfeeding my son I found a new bottle called breastflow...I could only find it at Babies R Us at the time but they are slow flow and made to be like the breast so it is easier for new borns. He was on those for a while because he had the same problem with the faster ones, always choking so you might try those, they were great for my son! And I have to say for your support, not EVERYONE gets to breastfeed and I know how hateful people can be about that! I got 6 weeks and am very thankful for that but mothers who GET to breastfeed with no problems just don't understand that sometimes no matter how hard you try you just can't. I am very sorry that people are being rude to you about that, you need support rather than hateful comments that only make the situation worse! They should be asshamed of themselves! We are here for advice and support, not to judge! Anyways, I hope that helps, let me know how they work out or if you find a different one that does! Good Luck! :)

Congrats on the newest addition to your family. We found the Dr. Brown bottles worked best for our now 4 month old daughter. The are a littl odd looking, but she didn't spit up with them and seemed to be able to control better how much came out. They have them at walmat or target, good luck!

We had the same problem. We ended up using Playtex Vent-Aire. Sometimes we even had to make the holes a little bit bigger so our baby could get something out of it. A plus is they are super easy to clean b/c the bottom comes off.

i have not read the previous postings, but we used Dr. Brown bottles...and eventually had to move down to the premie nipple because of one my twins had milk running out of the corner of her mouth (but not choking). That helped...and we stayed on the premie nipple for a while before I moved her on to the regular size.

I have not tried a thickener, but I have heard many people use that. I'm sure you will get lots of advice here - hopefully you can call your nurse and get their opinion too.

A great slow flow bottle is the Playtex Ventair. Make sure you buy the slow flow to start out. They only make these in up to 6 oz, so you won't use them for a very long time. My first daughter did extensive feeding therapy, so I'm really familiar with choking and trying to get a nipple that feeds at a nice pace. I know exactly what you are talking about! You might even be able to just buy a few of the nipples if they would work on some of the bottles you already have. If not, I think a three pack of bottles is around $14, so it isn't a huge investment. They are also BPA free.

i have the same problem did you try with the slow flow nipples because a lot of bottles came with medium or fast flow ,i buy the nipples and i have to change it to slow flow or Philips AVENT Newborn Nipple that the flow of milk is like breastfeed the baby.

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2415436

I use the Born Free BPA Free bottles....after much research! I love them. My daughter is 8 months old now, and we are still using them.

We used Dr. Brown's, and our son never had a problem with them. I definitely think they are worth the money.

About breastfeeding - that's a very personal choice and yours alone to make. NO ONE should judge you for that. I couldn't breastfeed either. I had complications from my c-section and had to be put on really strong antibiotics which prevented me from doing so. But I don't need to throw out that justification to complete strangers. And neither should you.

We had a similar problem with our daughter. So, we purchased the premie nipples and used the Dr. Brown bottles. Those worked pretty well because the flow was much slower. Good luck.

We used Born Free Bottles and Avent. However, we had to buy newborn nipples because they flowed to fast for her. Sometimes the nipples they come with are for older babies. Then when she gets a little older you can replace with the faster flowing ones. Hope that helps!