Gag reflex with bottle nipple?

CopperT0p

I've been trying different bottles I have from DS1 with DS2 to see what he might like.  He just chewed on the nipples of the Tommee Tippee and Ventaire ones.  The only other style I have are the nipples that come with the Medela pump bottles.  I managed to get him to drink half an ounce with those on two separate occasions, so those are our most successful so far. I still have to try to entice him to drink from them and he chews on them as well.  I noticed that when he would start sucking would only be when the whole nipple was in his mouth, but then he often would gag on it.  Not gag on the BM, but from the nipple.  

DH has a strong gag reflex (he gags the whole time he brushes his teeth), so I'm wondering if DS2 will just be similar or if this is yet another bottle that is out of the running for us? I try not having it in his mouth quite as far as would trigger the reflex, but as soon as he would start sucking it would pull it in far enough that a few times he gagged.  

Anybody else have this happen with their LO? I guess it's off to try new bottles if this keeps up. 

katags

It's not your question specifically, but the only bottle we had success with is the Lansinoh mOmma bottle. Every other bottle DD would just gnaw on or push the nipple around with her tongue. Somehow with this bottle she was able to understand how to suck. She went from maxing out at a 1/2oz per session with other bottles to taking a full 2oz the first time she saw this one.

CopperT0p

AmyG* said:

sapatel1 said:

DS gags too. I just pull out the bottle and give him a second to breathe. I have to put the nipple in his mouth without any milk and let him get a grip. Then, I only let half the nipple fill with milk. It seems to work. Neither DH or I have gagging issues. We use Dr. Brown's preemie nipple.

try this and if he still gags try a nipple that is a bit shorter, one shaped similar to your own nipple when done breastfeeding in length and diameter.  His palate is not used to something hard like a bottle nipple back that far.

I will try what @sapatel1 mentioned.

The Tommee Tippee worked well with DS1 who was EBF so I had high hopes for DS2. I will have to look into the other bottles mentioned and order one of each.  

sarahlisa00

We have been trying bottles since he was 5 weeks and he's 11.5 now. Have had no luck with ANY bottle! I'm going nuts.

amt0312

Gerber has short nipples that are firmer than other brands. DD can't latch on any wide neck nipples. We use Dr. Brown's nipples on a Gerber bottle because I'll be damned if I'm gonna clean all those parts. Works awesome. Also, NUK has a bottle with an orthodontic shape nipple similar to a pacifier and it has a wide base like other wide neck bottles.

ETA firmer nipples might prevent chewing. An SLP that I saw said to me finding a bottle that works for a baby isn't always about finding one that is similar to the breast because babies suck differently on a bottle than a breast no matter how similar the two may be. Just keep trying different things until you find one that works. It might be the furthest thing from a boob like nipple. Its trial and error . We've gone through about 8 different kinds of bottles and nipples before we got to where we are. Also, we are using level 2 flow because Dr.Browns nipples flow slower than other brands and DD would get frustrated on the level 1's but the texture and firmness of Dr. BRowns standard nipple is what worked best for her.

CopperT0p

He refuses pacifiers too. I don't mind that as much since ds1 never took one and we survived. The bottle I am trying to get so he will take his Prevacid in it with some BM. It would be nice too to know somebody else could feed him in an emergency.

bethughknee

I use the same technique as @sapatel1 except that DD prefers Avent classics. It's the only thing we can get her to not choke while drinking from, as well.

My DD also gags when you try to give her a pacifier. She won't take one from me at all but has very rarely taken one from H or from my mom.

Jen4033

I had same exact issue with DS1 & DS2. They both eventually did take the Playtex Ventaire ones fine. While it was harder with DS2 to get things going with the bottle, I had to try several tricks before he would get it. It wasn't just gagging as the prioblem for us, it was also his refusal to have anything except the breast in his mouth. He got extremely ticked off if it even touched his lip. Here is what finally worked for us.

I let him suck on my finger first to get the right action going. He seemed ok with that since it is also my skin I guess. Then I inserted a feeding syringe with some milk in it with my finger. When he finally got it down to swallow that, then I tried slipping in the nipple from a NUK Orthodontic bottle I happened to have around. (It was the shortest nipple I had available & had already tried Medela, Similac, & Advent nipples with no luck) It took a few times going back & forth but he finally started to suck on the nipple. Once he got that, I swapped over to the Ventaire nipple. If I brush it along his top lip he will open for it & as long as I let him suck the nipple into his mouth (which is what he does at the breast) he doesn't gag.

It took a LOT of patience, but I was so happy I didn't have to go buy new bottles! AND of course so happy that he wasn't going to starve at day care! LOL.

mommabird77

DD gags as well.  I do what @sapatel1 does.  Give her a second to breathe, then try again. I try to angle the bottle just right to get the nipple in right in the middle of her tongue and top of ehr mouth so she doesn't gag as bad.  She gags on pacifiers as well.  Right now we are using born free bottles and that seems to work for her, even though the nipple is bigger.  She gets the milk out more quickly with them than with the tommee tippee ones.

CopperT0p

I have been continuing to try with the Medela bottles and have had reasonable success getting him to drink without gagging now.  I found I have the most success getting him to dream feed from the bottle. If he is just about ready for a nap in the morning and half asleep then he will take it without gagging and if I give it to him half awake before I go to bed he will take it.  I'm hoping with doing it this way for a while he will get used to the bottle.  I also found out I need to give a bit of resistance so he cannot suck the nipple the whole way in.