Increase Bottle Nipple Stage?

agytay

How do you know when it is time to increase the nipple stages on a bottle?

My 9-month old is largely BF and I am now transitioning her to be bottle fed. It is taking her forever to finish a single 3.5 oz bottle -- like over an hour. She drinks it enthusiastically for about 10 minutes, and then intermittently for the remainder of the time. I am thinking that the flow is too slow and I need to increase it, with the hopes that she will finish the bottle a lot faster.

Any advice? I never had this problem with my first LO. He just gobbled it all down so fast.

vvvvvfee

i'd read you should keep them on the lowest flow nipple as long as they will tolerate it, so they don't get frustrated when they're at the breast. but, it sounds like your LO is getting frustrated, so i would say switch to the next level up. you could also try introducing a sippy or straw cup soon. DS always tolerated the lowest flow nipples, and then we just went directly to straw cups. we had him practice using them with just water.

RDK24

If I were you, I'd try other slow flow nipples before moving up to a faster flow. Your breasts won't flow any faster, after all! My LO took forever to drink a bottle of BM when we used Playtex Nursers. I switched to Tommee Tippee -- with the slowest flow nipple -- and she's much faster now. Lots of variety among slow flow nipples.

agytay

Thanks for the replies. 

She drinks about 1.5 ounces in 10 minutes. After that it takes forever to finish the rest. Because of the amount of time it takes her, it is as if someone is chasing her around all day trying to get her to finish 6 ounces.  I am returning to work that the end of the month, which is why I need her to take an ample amount from the bottle in a decent amount of time. Also, I don't offer any solids until she has finished the bottle so I know she is not getting full off of anything other than milk. We tried other nipples and bottles and she will only go for BornFree. I am going to see how increase the stage goes.