Wondering When to Change Nipple Sizes.

I never changed nipple sizes. Both my kids used newborn nipples until they stopped using bottles @ about 14 months.

If you are nursing (vs. giving breastmilk in a bottle, it wasn't clear to me from your message), you may want to NOT make it easier to get milk from the bottle. Babies have to work a litle when they're nursing anyway, and it's possible that if you make bottle-feeding easier, they'll be less interested in breastfeeding.

The nipple packages have ages of babies on them. I believe 3-6 is the next step up.

Hi D.-

I asked my doc once about the whole nipple subject and he actually said that it was a marketing ploy. Just something else to grab a parent's attention basically. There is so much out there to do that to us.

I think your son would be ok with a moving up a size. He may not be getting a lot of milk at once which causes him to take longer eating. Just buy the next size up of the same brand of nipple and test it out. He'll probably do just fine. It was trial and error with our daughter too.

We've never changed nipples sizes for my 6 month old. I accidently bought some Stage 2 nipples once and my daughter just choked with them...way too much liquid.

I'd stick with the Stage 1 if you are mostly breastfeeding. Breastmilk is thinner than formula. Some babies just take a long time to eat.

If you see him struggling to eat and fussing while eating, then that might be a sign he needs to move up.
Good luck!

My daughter has used a slow flow nipple since she started eating formula (about four months old) she is now 11 months old and still uses a slow flow nipple. I trird to get her to use a faster flow nipple, but she would gag and then refuse the bottle. So it is really up to him. Try a faster flow and see if he likes it, but don't be conserned if he doesn't like it.

He will let you know if he is acting hungry or fussy when he is eating it means he is not being satisfied the way he wants. I have found so bottles have like an adjustment on them so you don't need new nipples. The more awake he is can also effect how fast you want him to eat. If he is wide awake try the larger nipple he will be able to adjust stick to the smaller one if he is tired or cranky because that is what he is used to. Most of all listen to the baby he lets you know all!!

Just a quick note to check this too, before investing in a lot of new nipples. If the collar on the bottle is screwed on very very tight, air can not enter the bottle well enough and the sucking creates a vacuum that makes it hard for the liquid to come out. Of course too loose is no good either, but there is a happy medium.

Good luck!

Hi D.,
I believe we changed the nipples for my daughter around 3 months. We didn't buy new ones however, I would recommend using a knife or razor blade and cut a bigger hole in the top of the nipple and see what that does. I just connected two dots on the infant nipple and she loved it. As a matter of fact, she is 7 months old now and is still eating out of these nipples. The 6-month-old nipples you buy at the store empty way too fast for her even now.
Good luck!

Hi D.,
I hope this helps you a little bit. I have a 13 month old. When he was first born he was in the hospital twice. While he was in the hospital they noticed how he struggled with his bottle. Immediatley they changed the nipple to stage two and that helped tremendously. The nurse told me when looking at the package of nipples use the ages and stages as a guideline. If I think he is struggling bump it up a notch. They will let you know if they are getting to much to fast. So from there I just monitored how he was eating!! I hope this helps and good luck!!
Sincerely,
A.

When my son was little we found that on certain brands the stage 1 hole was too small but stage 2 was too big. So, we took a needle and slightly enlarged the hole in the stage 1 nipple and it was perfect!