Which nipple works best in NICU?

sbphotos · April 2012

So Edzie is practicing breast and bottle feeding now. He just turned 35 weeks and is 3lbs 10ozs, so still pretty small. When he manages to open his mouth big enough, he does a pretty good job at latching on which makes me so proud :-) He doesn't get much milk yet, but I'm certain that will change the more we practice and the bigger he gets.

The bottle situation is a different story. The nurse yesterday was showing me how to bottle feed and I was horrified. The only thing I can equate it to is having someone shove a gallon of water in my mouth and forcing me to drink it all as it runs down my chin. I actually started crying because I was so upset watching him and I made her stop. He looked scared, red faced, uncomfortable and shocked. He started desating as well which he never does on the boob. Plus, all my precious breast milk (my supply sucks) was just running out of the bottle all over his face. He sucks great, but the swallowing all that milk at once was too much for him.

I'm not positive what nipple they use, but I'm pretty sure it's a similac or emfamil nipple (yellow...disposable). One of the other moms told me they also have some Nuk nipples and that her daughter did better with those as they were slower.

Have any of you had better luck with a different nipple?

kle0113 · April 2012

They might have been using a nipple that was too fast for him. I would ask them which size she was using as they should have a preemie size nipple.

In my NICU we used the enfamil nipples and had no other choice until it was almost time to go home and we brought in our own bottles to get her used to them. I was EPing.

adrielegorburu · April 2012

Our NICU used Enfimil slow flow disposables but urged us to bring in our own to practice - it was more a situation of what the baby liked - we tried Doc Browns preemie nipples and slow flow (level 1) avent, gerber, platex, Nuk and I'm sure others as well - the best for us in our situation was Avent but she still did better on the hospital disposables - they sent us home with an entire box but we had to cut each one into and X because of her reflux and the cereal and Neosure we would add to my BM - eventually I found the variable flow for thick liquids Avent nipples and thats what we have been using exclusively. I will tell you though, and Im not sure this this whats going on with your LO, But for DD she was a very "messy" eater and still is - she had some low tone issues with her lips and compensated by sticking her tongue out past her lower lip while feeding, she still spills a ton of her milk down her chin as she eats - we use a bib AND a burp cloth under her chin to keep her from getting soaked - we had oral motor feeding therapy and it only has gotten better with age - but as you can see - she never had a problem gaining weight! lol GL

prepster7 · April 2012

The First Year's Breastflow bottle was best for DS. It was like a miracle solution. He did so much better with this bottle/nipple than any other!

katie4253 · April 2012

It could also be that he still isn't quite ready for feeds. You can certianly try other nipples, but try not to get too upset yet. Getting that suck, swallow, breathe thing is hard. It could be that he was sucking and breathing and forgetting to swallow (hence the milk running down his chin). He'll get there!

We use Platex Ventaire bottles/nipples. They have a wide bottle that is more like the breast too. I really like these bottles.

gringa78 · April 2012

Dr. Brown's preemie nipples worked great for us...also get an SLP or OT feeding consult. That sounded horrific. I would have been in tears.

DrRx · April 2012

Adalyn did best with the orthodontic nipples while laying on her side. The slow-flow ones made her really frustrated and she desatted and/or brady because she would get so tired, and the fast ones she desatted and/or brady because she would choke. Now, she will have an occasional brady and desat with the orthodontic nipples, but that's usually because we don't time her burp right, and they are pretty mild and she self-recovers.

sroddy12 · April 2012

My son had the same problem. The milk would pour out of his mouth and he would desat. This is just part of the process in order to get your baby to learn how to suck/swallow/breathe all at the same time. He will get better at it, I promise. My son still had milk pouring out of his mouth during feedings when we were discharged. He is just now getting over that (3 months old). We used the slowest flow nipples and were taught to side line feed him. It was uncomfortable feeding him as he laid on his side but it all made perfect sense. This allowed the milk to sit in his cheek as a reserve so that it wouldn't just pour out of his mouth. He could swallow that milk as he needed. Also, if you hold the baby bottle straight in his mouth, rather than at an upwards angle, it doesn't come out as fast. Good luck! I know it is very frustrating and hard to watch.

punky917 · April 2012

DS used the Playtex Ventaire wide bottle with slow flow nipple. It worked great with him. I agree with pp that getting an SLP to observe and give advice would also be helpful.

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