Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Flip

Original poster

Best bottle for breastfed baby...?

19 replies

emsyj · 15/12/2012 22:23

Sorry, this has probably been done to death - I did do a search first of all but couldn't find what I was looking for so just wanted to ask, can anyone recommend a bottle for a mostly breastfed baby? I bf DD for 12 months and she was a bottle refuser (my own fault for not offering regularly/early enough) but this time I would really really like to be able to give one expressed bottle a day just to make sure I can keep a bit of flexibility really.

I've seen recommendations for: MAM bottles and teats, NUK latex teats and the TT Closer to Nature (which DD wouldn't entertain at all, so I gave all my unused set to a neighbour for her baby) - also a friend used Dr Brown's with her bf baby successfully.

Which ones should I buy?? I've read that the MAM ones leak, is that true?

My head hurts now, just tell me which ones to get so I don't have to think any more....!

Thanks

OP posts:

MommyVan · 15/12/2012 22:29

My DD likes the Mam ones, haven't found the bottles leak although the anti colic ones do have a screw-on bottom so need to be careful I guess. Once she was used to those I found she would then take any bottle (had tried others before discovering Mam...).

My older 2 weren't fussy with bottles so it threw me a bit I have to admit!

Hth

KatAndKit · 15/12/2012 22:33

I've just used avent ones and it hasn't bothered him. I'd try one bottle from a few brands before you invest in a set of them as what works for one baby might not work for another.

Original poster

emsyj · 15/12/2012 22:40

That's the sensible route Kat, buy one of each, but for some reason I am keen to buy the whole lot in one go.

(sigh)

Thanks for the rec for the MAM ones Mommy - maybe I will get one of those, one NUK (altho don't want glass, would like plastic with latex teat but seems they are harder to source) and one eye-wateringly expensive Dr Brown's and see how it goes! I have to keep reminding myself that shops will still exist when DC2 arrives so there isn't any huge rush, I just have a strange sense of urgency to get everything right now... Pregnancy hormones.

OP posts:

helebear · 15/12/2012 23:02

Dd wouldn't go near avent, dr brown, nuk or tommee tippee. Vital baby bottles worked for her, they're soft bottles so you can squeeze them to get the milk flowing, which dd seemed to like as it was more like a boob. We started with slow flow teats when she was about 9 months & worked through medium flow to fast flow.

exBrightonBell · 16/12/2012 10:07

Hi emsyj,

Have you thought of the medela calma teats?

I found these to be invaluable with my ds. He was in SCBU for a week when he was born, and really struggled to latch on and breastfeed. The Calma teats (I believe) helped him learn how to suck properly and helped him to get back on the breast. The babies have to suck to get any milk out, so the idea is that they don't get nipple confusion.

Original poster

emsyj · 16/12/2012 12:17

Thanks for the further replies and recommendations. I'd not seen the Medela ones before, thanks - I have a Medela pump and quite a few of the bottles (with storage screw lids, not teats) already so that would be a good one to try.

I've never heard of the Vital ones either, will check those out too.

OP posts:

MB34 · 16/12/2012 14:01

I second the medela calma teats and as ex said, I too believe that it helped my DS learn how to latch on properly!

Original poster

emsyj · 16/12/2012 14:20

Blimey, the Calma teats are ££££££!

Are they really that good....? I guess I only need one or two so expensive isn't necessarily prohibitive, but they are a lot more than all the others...

OP posts:

BuffyFairyTopsTheTree · 16/12/2012 14:51

I used the Medela with the normal medela teats for my DD though she was 7m when I first tried those. She refused Breastflow, Tommee tippee and Avent ones.

AndMiffyWentToSleep · 16/12/2012 14:54

There's also some by 'the first years' which is specifically meant to mimic the breast

shouldIbecrossaboutthis · 16/12/2012 17:50

I use Tommee Tippee for my sons 1 bottle a day, I gave it to him at week 5 and he's fine with it if you hold him as you would for a breastfeed! If you hold him higher he hates it!

neverquitesure · 16/12/2012 17:56

My DD refused the tommee tippee ones and the avent ones but would, reluctantly, take expressed milk from certain people in certain situations if offered in a MAM bottle. She wouldn't take one from me so I can't be 100% certain, but I don't think the bottles leaked. You can unscrew the top and bottom of the bottle though so I can see the potential for disaster.

She was quite happy to drink from an open cup (with help obviously!!) from a fairly young age though so we survived.

Original poster

emsyj · 16/12/2012 18:02

Do you mean the Breastflow ones Miffy? I bought those for DD but got nowhere, I bought a box set of 4 big size ones that remained unopened as the small single I got she wouldn't touch, I may still have them but not sure if I gave those to my neighbour too... I"ve never seen her use them tho. Will check out the top of the wardrobe and see what's up there.

So far I am liking the idea of the MAM ones as they seem to have a reasonable success rate and they're not too expensive - but will keep a list of the other recommendations to try those if we don't have any success with the MAM ones.

OP posts:

ChristmasKnackers · 16/12/2012 18:02

I put mine straight onto a cup after 13 months.... If you go to a bottle then you have to wean off a bottle soon anyway. It was some kind of silly cup, can't remember what it was called.

ChristmasKnackers · 16/12/2012 18:03

And that should read sippy cup!

UnderwaterBasketWeaving · 16/12/2012 18:06

DS would only have Breastflow bottles, when he finally took one at all!

they weren't especially cheap, mind.

Original poster

emsyj · 16/12/2012 18:15

I gave DD a cup from 5 months and she would drink a little from it (eventually), but not ever a full feed - and I was tied to the bedtime feed until she lost interest at 12 months.

Underwater, they had the Breastflow bottles in TK MAxx a while ago (probably 18 months ago now) so I bought a box of 4 large size ones for £10. I had paid £5.50 for a single small sized one in Mothercare a few weeks prior to that. I really hope I still have them, but suspect they were in the massive bag of bottles & steriliser that I gave to my neighbour... Oh well. Worth having a look. Off to look now....

OP posts:

heymammy · 16/12/2012 21:57

If you already have Medela bottles then get a few of the regular teats from Amazon, they are much softer and more pliable than regular bottle teats and were the ones that DS coped best with. They are also longer so go further back into his mouth like breastfeeding.

We did try the Breastflow ones but not hugely successfully, he seemed to splutter a lot and needed to take lots of breathing breaks

Original poster

emsyj · 17/12/2012 17:58

No sign of the Breastflow bottles, I must have given them to my neighbour - although she may well still have them unused as she didn't bf her DS and I've only ever seen her use the Tommee Tippee ones I gave her or later on she bought some Avent ones. I might ask her, although don't want her to think I'm asking for the other stuff back!!!

I think that sounds like a good plan to get the Medela regular teats - I have about 6 of the small Medela bottles so that would be a starting point.

OP posts:

Flip