Best Bottles for Breastfed Babies

I do feel it is important for me to voice my opinion here that I DO NOT RECOMMEND bottle feeding your breastfed infant except for when you MUST be separated from your baby: ie return to work or school or if baby is ill/in NICU. I am not one to ok occasional bottles so you can go out to eat or go out of town. Yes, I feel it is best for a baby to be breastfed on demand and exclusively for a year.

These are the top 5 bottles my clients prefer:
( In alphabetic order no reviews provided)
Adiri

First Years BreastFlow bottle

Playtex (drop in with brown nipple NOT hard silicone nipple and not VENT AIR bottle) This is what I used with my first child, I like that the starter comes with several nipples to try.

Tommee Tippee

You can take a closer look at each one by clicking on the photo.

Every baby is different, so you must be aware, it may take you a few bottles to figure out which one your baby prefers.

There are several tips that will make bottle feeding and breastfeeding transition well:

• Choose a bottle system that has a WIDE MOUTH nipple. This more closely resembles the breast In other words, the bottle really does NOT matter it is all about the NIPPLE
• Choosing a bottle with a bag system will make breastmilk storage and feeding easier
• Negative pressure systems or slow flow nipples are preferred

This is a photo of an old fashioned bottle (the red rubber nipple) and 3 wide mouth nipples.

Can you see how if the baby was sucking on the red nipple it might cause some sucking problems at the breast? Not at all the same shape to most womens nipples.

I do understand that many feel this is not an option. I felt that I had no other option than to go back to work after my firstdaughter was born. So I did and I was miserable and so was she. So when my second daughter was born, we sold our house, and my car sothat I could stay home with her until she weaned. We did had to downsize bigtime and do without lots of luxuries, like new clothes and going out to eat (literally not one time in 2 years) but this is something I do not regret for one second. I will step down off the soap box now. But I felt it necessary to express my opinion about bottlefeeding in this way.

Take a look at this photo showing you the difference in some bottles mouth.

I personally used the Playtex bag system with daughter #1 and loved it. But if I could do it over again, she would have NEVER had a bottle at all. The other 4 I recommend come from positive experiences my clients have had with those products.

Now that you have chosen a bottle, here are some tips on WHEN to start the bottle and how to make bottles for breastfed babies work

• Introduce a bottle between week 2-5 : no sooner no later
• Have someone else give the bottle and you leave the house
• Continue to give 1-2 bottle feeds per WEEK (not per day) until you return to work

The reasoning behind these tips are to help you breastfeed for at least 6 months. If you introduce a bottle too soon or too often, statistics show it can interrupt or stop breastfeeding. Having someone else give the bottles, will help the baby to take the bottle. If you are in the room, they will smell you and want the breast not a bottle. And if they become very upset, you will feed them and you will not meet your goal of introducing the bottle. If you wait until after 5 weeks it becomes especially difficult for the baby to transition to bottle.

Do you have a bottle that worked well for you that is not on my list? Tell us about it on the comment form below.

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