bottles for breast fed babies

[mummynumnum]

Would really like ds 8wks to start having a bottle of expressed breast milk in addition to normal breast feed. What are peoples tips on the best bottles/teats to try?

Maybe my ds is just a greedy boy (he's almost 5 weeks) but he'll drink from any bottle with a 'number 1' teat, which is a teat for young babies.

I'd heard advice about getting specially shaped teats which look like nipples, but to be honest my ds didn't need them.

I give him a bottle a few times a week in addition to him being breastfed, and he's never been confused between a bottle teat and my nipples.

I know each baby is different, so just try a few different things to see what your child likes.

My DD did have nipple confusion - what worked for us -eventually- were the Breastflow bottles.

I was using Avent, but dd4 completely refuses to drink from them. We use tommee tippee closer to nature now, and she seems to like them

I think it really doesn't matter one bit. Just start on any bottle at all of EBM asap. If they have a bottle soon enough (and it has to be reasonably regularly - i.e. at least once every couple of days) they really don't care what it is. They only get fussy later I think. With DD1 and DS I always gave the odd bottle of expressed milk and never had the slightest problem (even at a friends' house with one of her bottles - different to mine - as I'd forgotten mine), with DD2 I gave her the odd bottle early on, which she took fine, then left it for a month or so and she absolutely completely utterly refused to take a bottle ever again. I must have spent a fortune and tried every one. Eventually I gave up and accepted she was not having a bottle. Much later when she was weaned and I decided to stop BF I went cold turkey. After 2 days she took a bottle. And didn't care which of the huge variety I gave her. The type of bottle is irrelevant. In my experience if they are used to it early enough they will take it - otherwise they just don't want to I think. And once they take a bottle, they are happy to take any type as they 'get it' IYSWIM

I agree with Nelly - don't really think it matters what bottles you start with, just personal choice. I use avent and tommee tippee with no probs although they look and feel totally different. Think the starting early is the key - I started expressing at 4weeks to get DD used to it and had no nipple confusion.

My DS totally refused Avent bottles, though didn't start trying until about 4 months. He has gradually accepted the TT Closer to Nature ones - he only chewed them at first, but now will happily chug back 5oz or so (he's 6m now)

Stick with the newborn size teats because otherwise you may find the baby begins to prefer the bottle and reject the breast.

Other than that, yes, use any kind of bottle and any shaped teat. You may want to look at BPA free bottles.