Preemie flow nipples vs. level 1

jesshowland

Hi all! My daughter was born at 35 weeks gestation and needed preemie flow nipples to start bottle feeding. Now at 7 weeks it takes forever to feed and she falls asleep after only taking an ounce. I tried moving to the Dr. Browns level 1 flow, but it chokes her. Is there a middle ground? Thanks!!

marijaa333

We switched to level 1 early on but then had to pace the feeds - ie. tilt the bottle down after every gulp... 

MrsS728

We are on Level 1s and when she gulps we pull the bottle out. We also sit her up when we feed her which helps with gas (very colicy baby). 

nursej519

My LO was born at 36 weeks and no one ever told me about premie nipples! We were struggling with 1's from the beginning. Things I've learned is to not let her get too hungry because then she tries to gulp it down so fast. I agree with PP too, tilting it down periodically and have baby sitting up more.

jesshowland

Thanks! Yesterday I bought multiple bottles to experiment with (joovy. Tommee tippee, born free) none really seem like a perfect fit. I go back to work soon, so I need to feel confident that she will be safe and satisfied when someone else is feeding her from the bottle.

alyssarenee2011

I had this same problem and we switched between so many bottles and nipples. And the Playtex bottles and nippes worked best for us. They have the slow flow nipple which is faster than the premiee and slower than dr brown level 1. It's working for us

jesshowland

Thanks! Might as well try those too!

rae430

Thanks for posting about this. My LO was full term, but has also a tendency to gulp air, both at the breast and the bottle (even using level 1 nipples). We've been trying to pull the bottle away after 10 gulps and burp him after the first 2-3 minutes to get the bigger gas bubbles out. So far it's really been helping with his gas and he's been sleeping better. Good luck!

Amber Woods

I second the playtex bottles! They work wonders

kspinks7

The playtex bottles have been great for us. We use the breastlike or full sized nipples, they seem to slow her down some. The natural latch which came with the bottles just didn't work right for us at all.

Megaphone2752

I had a 35 weeker too and Avent bottles with level 1s have worked well for us.