Nipple size...

hlb622

...on bottles, not boobs.

I'm using a slow flow nipple on Playtex Ventaire bottles right now, but I'm wondering when to move up to a faster flow? How will I know when it's time and/or he's ready?

BTW: These are new to us and working awesomely for paced bottlefeeding; they're muuuuch slower than Medela and Dr. Brown's slow flow.

Emilyraymond

I am not using these with dd but I did with DS. He's almost 4. I think I switched around 4 mos. I chose not the use the ventaire again because I didn't like that they didn't have a med flow nipple. It's (or was) fast or slow. I tried to use like a fork or something to make the slow flow a little bigger cause the fast was way too fast. It sucked.
And also after a while, they would leak out of the bottom of the bottle, like the plastic had become worn out. If I had a bottle sitting out for like 30 min, there would be a big puddle. I hope you have better luck with them. I continued to use them but I switched with dd.

mancila60

We have the same bottles and just moved up to the medium flow. We changed formulas and it is MUCH thicker and would clog up the slow nipples. We switched to the medium flow and haven't had a problem since. The slow ones say 0-3 months and the medium ones say 3+ months. I would say maybe between 3-4 months try some and see how LO does with them. If it is too fast you will know within seconds with our LO it just all came out of his mouth as he was drinking.

ksimo6

We are using ventaire as we'll and just moved to the medium flow (11weeks old). It was taking her an hour to eat a bottle so we switched and have been diligent about burping every ounce. She's now eating a bottle in about 30 minutes and is no longer frustrated with the long eating sessions.

lereade

We just moved LO up to the size 2 Dr. Brown nipples. We decided to move up because LO has increased his intake to 8 or 9 oz per feed and it was taking for.ev.er, also know as 30 minutes or so. Lo was getting bored and distracted because it was taking so long and took so much effort. He's 14 wks today. We actually tried to move him up about 3 weeks ago, but it was too soon for him. He's much happier now and doesn't get bored. 

blondolphn

@lereade, how often is your baby eating? 8 or 9 oz seems like a lot.

jennlin

I used newborn/size1 on dd until she was 15 mos or so. Don't remember if you bf or not, but slower flow is better for bf babies. If not, then any size where your baby is not gagging from extra milk will do.

lereade

@blondolphin yeah he's been on a crazy eating schedule recently. He'll eat 6 or 7 oz at a time, take a break, then about 15 minutes later eat another 2 or so. After the 2 oz, it's about another 3 hours until he eats again. He's gotten into a routine at night where he'll have an 8 oz at around 9:30 and go to sleep in his crib until about 4, which works pretty well for us with our work schedules. Not holding my breath that it'll last long though with the 4 month wakeful coming up! 

sarah_norton

We just transitioned from preemie nipples to size 1 on dr browns. He was getting frustrated and would keep pulling away in frustration. That's how we knew.

kellyk17

My LC said you don't need to switch from slow flow, even when you stop breast feeding. (We supplement due to weight gain issues)

She made it seem like it is really just the companies trying to get you to buy more. Besides how long it takes, why would you move up? Curious of the reasoning.

hlb622

jennlin said:

I used newborn/size1 on dd until she was 15 mos or so. Don't remember if you bf or not, but slower flow is better for bf babies. If not, then any size where your baby is not gagging from extra milk will do.

kellyk17 said:

Besides how long it takes, why would you move up? Curious of the reasoning.

Awesome, thanks @jennlin and @kellyk17! That's really helpful. He's about 50/50 BF/FF and seems to be doing best with the slower flow, so I was curious to know if we could just plan to stick with what we're doing or if that would evolve over time.